Elements of satire – I

satire¹ (săt’īr’) –
1. A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
2. Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity.

Satire also happens to be my favorite form of humor. I mean, when you look at the crazy stuff which abundantly infests reality and realize that you can’t change the “system”, the one thing you can do is laugh at it, cause hey, at least you’re laughing.

Besides, I think it serves another practical purpose. If there’s any belief, faith or idea that you think is too “serious” to be the subject of satire and get outraged, then it’s time for you think deeply on why you believe what you believe.

Anyway, the purpose of this series of posts is to list some of my favorite works which contain some elements of satire that I’ve enjoyed. I’ll start with my all time favorite.

Yes Minister/Prime minister

Yes Minister is an absolutely brilliant British sitcom, originally aired on BBC. As far as satires go, this one is a gem. It’s merciless and very funny. For example, here’s a clip (on roof gardens!) that satirizes typical political stonewalling. In fact, since the clips are freely available on youtube, I’ll list a few of my favourite clips. If you don’t have anything else to do, I suggest watching these clips as an honorable way to waste time.

• Rumours of a cabinet reshuffle²
• A Clear Conscience (in politics!)
• What the defence policy is actually about
• Lies, Damn Lies and Surveys
• A politician’s hospital.
• Debate on smoking, politician style

Notes

[1]-
“satire.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 16 Jul. 2007. http://www.answers.com/topic/satire

[2] – or, (this one is for you N), a reshuffle on the cards?