Many of you are probably familiar with The Onion. For those of you who aren't, The Onion is an internet-based fake news program with a humorous, satirical bent (somewhat similar to The Daily Show with John Stewart and The Colbert Report). Its standard modus operandi is to present absurd news items in the deadpan style of traditional news networks like CNN.
This video brings together tropes from disaster news reporting and horror movies. More specifically, it presents cliched horror movie music and dialog in the form of a national disaster report. Because The Onion often deals in satire, one finds oneself asking a few questions of it:
Is this satire? If so, what is it satirizing and how? What does it say to us, the viewers? Does it make an argument? If so, what is that argument and how is it made? Why use comedy/satire at all?
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I was definitely a little stumped at first about the question of what this video is satirizing! While the video was clearly humorous, since it depicted news casters making repeated references to cliches of horror movies (e.g. e.g. cell phones ringing ominously, ballet dancers, shower curtains, etc), I wasn't entirely certain whether it was making fun of horror movies for being predictable or something else. However, I think the interview with the young hiker, where all of the news cameras and microphones were extremely prominent, as well as the shots of "FEMA" made me think that the clip is satirizing the media. To me, this video seemed to satirize how the media can be very alarmist--taking things that probably mean nothing and making them into a huge news story just for ratings. The extremely dramatic language that the newscaster used, as well as the headline language such as "DISASTER IMMINENT" seemed to highlight the absurdity of the media's overreaction to certain events.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex; the clip definitely satirizes the media's sensationalism. I was also struck by how, as Alex also points out, it satirizes horror movies. It does so, in part, by making the implicit parts of a horror movie's 'horror' explicit. Most obviously, the newscaster and reporter talk about how the music is "caused by" various things: lonely teenagers, late-night highway driving, etc. The reality of horror movies is, of course, that the cheesy, stock horror music is simply an invention. But a viewer of horror movies must become immersed in the general scary atmosphere in order to actually be scared. The Onion satirizes horror movies, then, by showing a viewer what he/she chooses to believe in when watching one: that the horrific situation results in scary music, when really the music itself helps create the scary situation. The absurdity of that belief becomes even more apparent (in the eyes of The Onion) during the hiker interview because the camera and sound crew of a horror movie are clearly not in their proper, invisible places. So it seems to me like The Onion is picking on the willingness of horror movies viewers to believe in something that is clearly too artificial and melodramatic to be real. I found their use of music to be a good tool for making this point, since music is so often an invisible part of movies.
ReplyDeleteThis video was extremely funny to me. I felt as though I didn't catch on to some of the satire that was trying to be shown but what I did understand was very humorous. My favorite part of the video is how they immediately change from this suspenseful, life threatening story to a more casual headline of erectile disfunction. This is so typical of news headliners today. Everything is blown up and exaggerated to the point that it is hard to watch. Another quality which really stuck out was the music playing in the background. First of all there is no music during headline stories on a news station so this is just adding more drama to the clip.
ReplyDeleteAt first when I watched the video I was not sure of the direction that is would go. It soon became apparent that the video uses satire against both scary movies and the media. I found it interesting how every new topic on the news station was "Breaking News" and the music in the background became more and more suspenseful. This shows how the media will do virtually anything to get ratings and followers, just by making a small story seem like a world headline. The video made sense to me in the end when the woman being interviewed was consumed by a dark cloud, I felt that this tied in the satire of scary movies and the media in an effective manner.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Natalie's thoughts, how this clip satirized both the media and scary movies. One particular scene that stuck out to me was when the news anchor stated how the chances of young teenage girls hacked to pieces by maniacs were now increased to 600% ever since the music began playing. 600% is an unreal, exaggerated percent, mocking numerical details the media can use to inform listeners. I feel the news likes to incorporate numbers and percents in their reports because we (viewers) are able to understand how the past and present differ from one another easier. Although the numerical data can be helpful at times, I feel this video is making fun of the fact the media uses the numerical data to an extreme. How do we even know these numbers are right anyway? This point is proven exactly with the ridiculous percent given in the video. Scary movies are presented with the scary music, scene in the woods, awful acting, etc. I feel a lot of scary movies display horrible acting and the lost teenage girl in the woods plays the part perfectly. As a result, this unrealistic news clip satirizes both the media and scary movies.
ReplyDeleteAnother good tongue in cheek style clip that you can expect "The Onion" to produce. Playing off the staple scary music found in horror films this clip did an excellent job blowing the analytic research of the fear factor. As the news reports progress I found it quite comical how each news reporter used numerical data to describe the chances of attack, with a unrealistic 600% chance of attack viewers alike are strongly encouraged to remain indoors according to some form of "professional" research.
ReplyDeleteIn total they did an excellent job highlighting the excessive use of numerical data from unverifiable sources to help fluff up dry and boring news cast.
I found it interesting how the video touched on almost every stereotype of things that could happen before something bad happens in a horror movie during this short clip. One of my favorite parts was when the newscasters gave advise like: do not let your phone ring suspensefully, the call is fine but immediately after something bad will happen. Also their mocking of FEMA's general ineffectiveness at solving any sort of problem. In this case, just reading off cliched lines in hope that one of the lines will shut off the music. The ending is also a great parody of how the news will immediately leave a unimportant story that they have been building up as being immensely important if they have technical difficulties. I also found it to be a good caricature when they are talking about the music "sending panic across the country" and their video shows people looking very confused but calm followed by a clip of a response with no context that seemingly agrees with what the newscasters are saying. All in all I find this video to be a realistic portrayal of how the news and government would react if ominous music were to break out.
ReplyDeleteSatire can be defined as the the use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to poke fun at people's stupidity or at a certain issue such as the "ominous" and "suspenseful" music this parody touches on. Like in the majority of Hollywood horror movies music can be heard giving warning to the viewer to expect some thrilling scene that is likely to make them gasp. The thing that makes this video so accurate is the stellar job they do mocking the major news stations and how they report their news. Key terms like "sending panic," "high alert," "disaster imminent," and statistics such as "chances have increased by 600%." It's humorous but if presented in some other form, many of us may not understand how true the video really is. This spoof not only does a great job making us realize how silly horror music is, but also how much newscasters can control our emotions simply by the headlines and words they use to tell us the news. This is a very amusing video!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with David in the fact that the video seems to play on every single stereotype of a horror film. I thought that the video was hilarious from start to finish. I think it is funny that one of the news anchors is speaking in front of the White House, making it seem like the newscast is extremely important. I also love how they bring FEMA into it. This is by far the funniest part to me when the FEMA director tries to find the musics source by using riddle. The one thing that I found the most interesting about the piece is the amount of people that had to be in on the video to make it. This is the first video I have seen on The Onion, and it seems like a very well organized and funded operation.
ReplyDeleteJoe makes a great point by highlighting the use of key terms. Any fan of Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert will instantly be reminded of segments in which clips from several news stations are played back to back, all containing the exact same buzz word or phrase. One can imagine that if this story were airing on other channels the exact same buzzwords would be repeated over and over again. The Onion really does an excellent job, through satire, of expressing opinions that many people share. That is the beauty of satire: everyone knows that news stations are absurd and that most of what they report throughout the day is glamor and drama, but instead of complaining and raging about it, the Onion has found a way to make people reflect on it in a humorous manner. Humor is one of the most effective critical tools, and as far as modern authors are concerned, the writers for the Onion do some of the best work.
ReplyDeleteThis video captures the insane paranoia that our culture thrives on. Yes, its possible that the satire could be directly linked to scary movies and the media, but i think its much more general than that. It has become part of the "American way" to blow any sort of oddity out of proportion. Whenever we hear about something abnormal happening in the world, our society draws [potentially uncorrelated] conclusions as to what it means. In most cases, the media tends to assume the worst. Just as "ominous music" means that something terrible will surely happen, news stories are constantly leading us to believe that a variety of horrible things are going to happen in our near future. The fear they instill in their viewers is what keeps them watching their news show. The Onion does a fantastic job of sarcastically recreating this reality.
ReplyDeleteSatire to perfection. This particular clip manages to satirize not only the media in such an exemplary and striking manner, but horror movies too. The use of exaggeration to emphasize on the fact on how the media tends to embellish not-so-extraordianary news is exquisite. The finely detailed and flawless use of "typical" words that are frequently mentioned during the news is magnificent. Also, the clip makes a meritorious attempt in trying to imitate how the media accounts for the usage of statistical facts and figures that are exceptionally magnified and purposely overemphasized. These are all certain factors that need to be take into consideration when observing how the clip has administered satire concerning the media. As for the satire used to mock horror films, the clip manages to implement an invaluable type of tools efficaciously in order to simulate habitual and characteristic scenarios we would notice when watching a horror movie. One of the parts of the clip that really caught my attention in particular includes the scene where the news reporter conveys the following idea: "...but be very carefully after you hang up. When you are standing there relieved that is when the horrible event is mostly likely to occur." This type of scenario is so typical of horror movies. Overall, I strongly believe that the clip successfully uses satire to "mock" the media and horror movies.
ReplyDeleteJust like many others, I too feel that this clip satirizes the media and scary movies. On the media side of the satire I found that the headlines were very satirizing. Another aspect to the media part was the facial expressions of Andrea and Jane. Andrea's facial expression was the same throughout the entire clip. Even when she was reporting on ED. I feel that this is a very good example because the news anchors on ONN, NBC, CBS, etc. are the exact same way. I liked the way that they tossed in the headlines and quotes from the Associated Press and The New York Times. All too often I find myself looking at the headline of a news article in the paper and reading it based on its headline. It isn't until I finish it that I realize, "wow I don't even care about the issue." The line from Billy Madison summarizes this nicely, "everyone in this room is now dumber for listening to it." I feel that The Onion does the same exact thing in their clips; they draw the listener in with the breaking news and then entertain their audience.
ReplyDeleteThe Onion is, as always, poking fun at the sensationalism of mainstream media. How news stations will take anything and bombard you with 'information' in an attempt to instill fear in their audience -- anything to boost ratings. This particular piece is parodying the more cliché aspects of horror films, specifically, the 'ominous music' that is played to build suspense before something frightening happens. The entire clip is riddled with clichés, such as the lost teenage hikers and the wealthy teens in a red convertible or the obscure statistic regarding one's chances of being stabbed to death by a knife welding maniac. All in all, I think this is just one more side-splitting satirical short from The Onion.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to agree with Hana Moss with her response. The video does capture the odd paranoia that our society live and breathe for. In today's society it's become our "way" of blowing up any oddity out of proportion no matter the situation, but yes it is possible that there is satire that could be directly linked to media and scary movies. Any event that is adnormal in society that happens society does draw conclusions as to what it is or means like Hana said. Most of the time the media has a trend of assuming the worst out situations. For example, new stories everyday that have us constantly on our toes making us people believe that terrible things are happening or going to happen. The media keeps the society attention though by doing this.
ReplyDeleteSurely this clip pokes fun at many different things, but the one that stands out to me the most is scary movies. I've heard many times people say that the only part of a scary movie that is scary is actually the sound, and that if you watch one without volume, there is no scare. This video shows that that belief is not true. That scary music is present, but because scary images are not, the viewer does not get scared. I also think that the bottom news line throughout is an unfair representation of the media. Of course the media exaggerates details at times, but the stories on the bottom seem either silly, or completely fabricated.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who does not watch The Onion, I was confused at first on what this video clip was trying to instill onto the viewers. Only after some seconds into the video, it was obvious that their intent was to satirize the news media with the use of horror film scenarios. They were poking fun at how the media over sells what they find to be “breaking news” and how they instigate an exaggerated fear or chaos to the viewers in a serious matter. What interests me is their choice of teen based horror films to get their point across. Of course, I found this clip most comical due to an accurate depiction of the media today. However, it gave me the impression that they thought of the media as almost juvenile; or maybe that is the whole humor of The Onion.
ReplyDeleteI have never watched The Onion before, so this video seemed quite odd to me. At first, it does seem to be a legitimate news show, not some show based on satirizing the news. I think that in this video that they were focusing on "over-doing" horror movies with the over dramatic music and bad acting. I agree with Ichi4188 in that this video does seem to make the news media seem juvenile and "over done".
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ReplyDeleteI was shocked by this fake news becuase i did not know "The Onion" before. At the first time, I chose to watch this video without reading the introduction below. As a result, from watching this Vedio, I realized the ways to make a shocking news. First of all, use a topic that people all worry about it.In this news, they presented an unpredictable threat in nowadays seemingly peaceful society. The unknown ominous music drove people to suspect every part of society. It satires this society-there are still so many problems that people unknown, such as DOD's consipiracy, biological weapons, children's problems, terrorism and aliens. As a result, when people facing such unusual events,the only thing they can do is worry. Obviously, government is not transparent enough.Second, guide the audiences to find the horror themselves rather than showing them. At the beginning, almost all the audiences did not regard the background music as the central part of this news. However, as time passed by,we all felt uncomfortable as the music ascending. Finally, authority let people believe what they see. It undoutfully satires nowadays mass media. When they want to exaggerate a news, they like to use overaction of the people, series repetition and authoritative comments.As the Marx saying goes-thousands of repetition let lie comes truth.
ReplyDeleteThis video is comical because it seems to be a satire of numerous things. First of all, it is poking fun at horror movies and their repetitive nature. In addition, this video making fun of today's media and some of its completely pointless news stories and the over exaggeration of numerous events. The "erectile dysfunction drug" at the end is extremely funny because it doesn't pertain to anything the news anchor was previously talking about, but ironically we do see this often times happening in real life news. Overall, this was a very comical short video.
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