Postmodern style often addresses its viewers as sophisticated media readers and consumers. Referring to Sturken and Cartwright's chapter "Postmodernism, Indie Media and Popular Culture," and the Onion News Network clip posted above, describe how the text operates on the level of satire. In particular, how does the clip make use of parody and irony?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Blog #3
Postmodern style often addresses its viewers as sophisticated media readers and consumers. Referring to Sturken and Cartwright's chapter "Postmodernism, Indie Media and Popular Culture," and the Onion News Network clip posted above, describe how the text operates on the level of satire. In particular, how does the clip make use of parody and irony?
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This clip of ONN (Onion News Network, a spin-off of the fake newspaper The Onion) serves as a satire of the modern television news. The show acts as a mockery of news reports, such as overly exaggerated stories. They are also all presented in a humorous way. This is where the parody aspect comes in. As far as being ironic, they are reporting fake ridiculous news reports such as a man being elected as one of the most un-influential people as opposed to one of the most infuential.
ReplyDeleteThe Onion News Network clip works as a form of satire because it's poking fun at television news stories. It makes fun of the news and shows just how easily something serious can be viewed as funny. When watching the clip, every joke is delivered in a very dead-pan style and is filled with dry humor. Something doesn't need to be over the top to be funny. In this clip, the ONN Anchor announces Time Magazine's list of the 100 most un-influnential people. This is in itself a parody because Time magazine is notorious for releasing "100 most" lists all the time. This is also extremely ironic that the person is so "un-influential", yet they are devoting a whole segment to this person. The interviews in behalf of this person are not talking him up or making him seem better than anyone else, they are just saying "he's done nothing of important, and probably never will" which is funny because the people who watch ONN know the formula of the News and how it is layed out, and what makes the news the news. Well, shows like this tap into that knowledge and makes fun of it in a subtle way, because they never outright say "Hey! We're making fun of the news" they just do it, and hope you get the joke.
ReplyDeleteThe Onion makes fun of all aspects of society and does it in a serious and professional way. In this clip they are reporting on "Times" 299 million most un-influential people and in everyway this false report makes fun of Time Magazine's list and the way media idolizes people for there accomplishments. This sort of parody relies on the viewer to have some background knowledge of Time Magazine and the lists it usually makes. Also for it to be a parody the actors have to be acting like they would if it was a true news report the subject matter has to be somewhat like the thing that there making fun of. A parody doesn't always have to be as serious as this clip of the Onion, they can make it very obvious that they are making fun of something, but all parodies will never out right say there making fun of something. Parody fit into the Postmodernism movement because as said in S&C "media and technologies of simulation, we lost sight of "the real"."(S&C 308)
ReplyDeleteSturken and Cartwright say “One of the essential aspects of genre theory is...establish[ing] certain conventions and formulas that are recognizable to viewers”. So with that in mind the clip uses parody by using things that we recognize in day to day life. For example the tone and movements of the news caster is very specific to how we would expect a news caster to speak, theres also the classic pause right before someone speaks because of the time lag. There is also parody represented in the subject of the news cast. That is to say that we all know what “Time’s 100 Most Influential People” is so this fake list of uninfluential people is very funny to us right off the bat.
ReplyDeleteONN uses irony in the sense that they are blatantly giving you false news even though it is presented as real news. If someone where to turn the clip on without knowing it’s a fake they wouldn’t realize it was fake for several seconds because ONN puts a lot of focus on making things seem legit...even when they aren’t
This clip from ONN (better known as the Onion News Network, a comedic reflection of CNN) portrays them as a comedic cable news network. The definition of Satire is the use of humor and irony to expose or criticize people’s stupidity and that is exactly what the ONN does. By posing as a-cable news network it is easy to make serious subjects appear and or be viewed as hilarious. The clip has many punch lines but all under the main idea of the news story, which is “Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most un-influential people” which is Ironic because, Time Magazine is actually famous for printing “100 most influential people.” The best part (at least for myself) is that this person is un-influential and they provide interviews from people close to him stressing how he is pretty much a sea sponge that serves no purpose in their lives. It’s ironic because he is un-influential and yet the whole story is about him. A good way to explain this according to Sturken and Cartwright would be the term pastiche. Pastiche is the combination of elements that evokes, according to the text. To dumb it down, by combining news elements with jokes it will arouse satirical comedy.
ReplyDeleteSturken and Cartwright explain parody through the word Pastiche. They say that pastiche is used to question the past or history and by using it within the realm of a parody, viewers are able to become more engaged because they can see the original in its own text and then they can compare and contrast it with its parody.
ReplyDeleteONN or Onion News Network is working as a satire of the popular news station CNN. In this clip from ONN they are portraying a typical a typical newscast but in the form of a parody. The ONN parodies a regular newscast is by having the straight-faced news anchor that remains that way no matter what ridiculous quote or thing comes next. Another way they parody is by having interviews with people that actually know the "un-influential" person, both of these things make it seem like you are watching a real newscast but you know for a fact that it is deliberately made for us to enjoy. This clip is ironic because when it first starts out you think they are going to be talking about real news and then you hear the topic of TIME magazine's annual list of the 299 million most un-influential people. This also shows another way of how parodies take from thing we know about and goes a step further with them, because we all have heard about TIME magazine's top 100 lists.
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ReplyDeleteJoel Augustine
ReplyDeleteBlog 3
Within the text of Sturken and Cartwright’s chapter on postmodernism, the text does not operate on the level of satire. Instead it just gives examples of things that operate on the level of satire and how the transition from modernism to postmodernism has been happening. The text shows how Cindy Sherman’s work in photography creates irony along with reflexivity. Sherman’s creates conditions of the past with presenting the female’s role in cinema, and at the same time she creates this fantasy within the picture. This fantasy comes from her being the artist and the subject, which is also the irony of her work. Sherman’s work is a way of postmodernism because she allows the viewer to interrupt what’s presented inside the frame. Creating this fantasy where her identity is always presented in different roles and while using the same self portrait style, Sherman does not provide us with any information about her, but merely showing us the identity of a false person.
The clip of the ONN, is a great example of showing how irony and parody are used in a postmodern society. The use of the news anchor fulfilling his role in presenting the news is a serious manor, and keeping the style of the news report the same as the media presents it, makes a strong parody for the audience to understand. This for example takes something that we all know about and twist it into a different manner. And in this case the ONN is presenting us with the 299 million most uninfluential people in America. While the news anchor is feeding the viewer false information in a believable manner and also taking a topic that time magazine did and switch it around creates the irony that ONN present. Along with mocking time magazine, ONN is also mocking CNN within the name and style that they present throughout the news cast. This mockery creates the satire feel in which holds to the style of postmodernism. The viewer can take all of these things to understand what ONN is trying to present and how there should be a comic relief for the viewer when watching.
James Lytle
ReplyDeleteSection #807
As mentioned in the Sturken and Cartwright text on page 315 “postmodernism signals the rise of a generalized self-consciousness and reflexive questioning of traditional metanarratives in all facets of everyday life”. In this case, the Onion News Network is making use of the postmodern convention of parody and irony to question the ideas of value in the context of influence. At its core, the clip functions to show the ridiculous in the idea that TIME magazine could possibly determine the value of influence, let alone a list of 100 people in a world of nearly seven billion.
This is achieved through intertextuality by adopting the conventions of a syndicated news network but placed in an entirely different reading. The candor with which the journalist and pundit speak, the split screen conversation, the water mark, and the tickers are all elements directly lifted from that genre. Also, the clip relies heavily on the viewer being familiar with these references, otherwise the humor would not be gotten.
The “Onion” is a news station in America that does parodies and conveys news in a fictional way. It is called ONN instead of CNN. It is very clear that they are doing a parody of a certain casting. A list was released about the “most influential people” that are popular, so the “Onion” did a news cast on the worlds “least influential people.” Also on the ticker that scrolls across the bottom of the screen have comical stories instead of important ones that CNN would normally have and the ONN symbol looks very similar to the CNN symbol. The irony here is the fact that the “worlds least influential people” is broadcasted on the Onion just like the “most influential people” was broadcasted on CNN. According to Sturken and Cartwright the parody of truth follows a historical code and the Onion also follows a similar code of reporting their news.
ReplyDeleteThis video from the "ONN" or Onion News Network (looks strikingly similar to CNN) pokes fun at modern American news stories as well as Time Magazine's so called "Most Influential People." The Onion constantly pokes fun at almost everything in our current society, we see now that instead of just sticking to newspapers, they have adopted the satirical news report such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Throughout the report, the anchor maintains a straight face and presents the matter in a serious way, making fun of the very idea of a "most influential" list, because who really has the right to say who is the most influential person at the time?
ReplyDeleteThis clip obviously has parody within it because The Onion has the sense of humor to mock other serious work. Indeed, this is mocking Time Magazine’s list of most influential people showing us the most un-influential people. The ONN, which is the spinoff of The Onion newspaper, stands in as a mock of CNN, giving the viewer the list in a serious and very realistic manner. Clearly, we know this is just a joke, but this clip is done in such a way of strong parody that the humor is relentless.
ReplyDeleteSturken and Cartwright say that, “the term postmodernism has been used to describe fashions and even politicians who produce themselves through myriad (countless)media images and texts, generating identities as simulacra-hyper real identities with no recourse back to a real person, their composite media image being more real than real.” Our world is becoming fake and tainted by what we should look like, how we should act and what/how we should feel more and more each day. For example, the image of Hollywood (actors and models) being pushed all over the United States leaves young minds with eating disorders and middle-ages people getting plastic surgery to the maximum. The politicians image is almost unreal, being so clean and perfect that no one is dealing with poverty and everyone is living the “American dream.” That was me being ironic.
The irony in this clip is combined with parody shows the stupidity of Time Magazine for showing the world this unrealistic list, only proving to the people who are dealing with actual problems and just bad luck, which Americans do not care. That maybe a little extreme, but the ONN does a fantastic job showing us that to have a list of the most influential people in the world is not realistic. Moreover, the fact that people are watching or buying this list and are reading into it only shows us how the postmodern era has moved in.
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ReplyDeleteIn the clip shown by the Onion News Network, post-modernism is used in a way in which the viewer is expected to understand the satire. This is due to the knowledge of Time Magazine and its well known referenced article on the 100 most influential people of all time.
ReplyDeleteThis take on the Time Magazine article is done in a comedic sense and instead emphasis's 299 million least influential people of the year. The use of irony in this clip is used in a way in which celebrates the title that has a negative connotation. Throughout the video several people gives serious explanations as to why the man is the least influential person they know. This ends up being ironic because it is an insulting take on what is known as world re-known and respected. However, this is all presented in a professional style which imitates real broadcast news. The Onion is an example of post-modern in the way that it mixes genres which are known to people. The Onion "uses the old text to create a layered intertext between the two works (S&C 330). The clip is an example of parody that imitates the genres of new programs to make its own form of entertainment. Within this news programs allusions of other iconic entities are made in this case being Time Magazine. Through these references the viewer is aware and understands the cultural, ideological, and epistemological connections made to it.
Mikayla Husting
ReplyDeleteSection 807
The Onion News Network clip is a parody of real news channels. It displays fake and humorous stories often filled with irony. ONN is a parody of real news channels because it uses pastiche, “an imitation that announces itself as such and that involves combining elements from other sources.” The ONN clip uses actors that portray a news anchor, a correspondent, and “real” people. One of the most ironic things about the Onion News Network is that, if someone didn’t know that The Onion was fake, they may actually believe the stories told.
“One of the key strategies of pastiche is a questioning of the status of the original.” The ONN clip is mocking real news stories, and TIME magazine’s list of “The Least Influential People” is a satirical comment on actual lists of the world’s most influential people. Lists like these don’t affect our daily lives at all, so why are they displayed with such importance?
Another use of irony in the clip is that the list of the least influential people contains 299 million people, whereas real lists of influential people usually contain less than one thousand people. The irony comes in the form of the question, “Who determines when the list stops?” How do these magazines determine which people are more influential than the rest? In the case of the ONN clip, who determined which people were less influential than the rest?
This clip is making fun of other more serious news casts by giving us the news on things that are not needed to know by us, nor important or wanted to know. It refers to top 100 lists that are commonly done in Time's Magazines it does this as the top 100 most "UN-influential" people which turns this reference to top 100 more of a a parody poking fun at Time's for doing so on seemingly pointless things, while also making it ironic, or slightly odd at being near opposite of thought outcome, bu having it be an entire article dedicated to un-influential people. The completion of a parody is to add in a slight undertone to larger under draw of humor. It's mostly never out rightly funny, just humorous when thought of in comparison to normal situations, and ways.
ReplyDeleteKelly Danen
ReplyDeleteThis clip makes use of parody simply by doing an unrealistic story in a realistic way. Particularly, the Onion News Networks logo looks extremely similar to CNN's logo. The presentation of the "fake news" is also very similar to CNN's style of presenting real news. This is also very ironic because of how seriously the company presents the fake news. The onion also pokes fun at Time magazine's "top 100 most influential people" by claiming that Time magazine has released the "Top 299,000,000 most un-influential people" list. Once again, not only is it a parody, but also very ironic because of how unexpected it is. When presented with a setting that is similar to a real news show, you would expect real news.