Satire in the Movies
With today's technology, it's hard to avoid anything these days. No matter where you turn to; be it the Internet, television, cell phones, anything, some things will always be present in our lives, one of these things being satire. Everyone knows of the oh-so-popular Weird Al parodies and clever Saturday Night Live skits, but some of the lesser knows satire-filled pieces are movies.
If you're like me and spend the snowy afternoons bundled up under a blanket watching ABC Family with your dog, you may have seen a movie that I happen to find extremely satire-filled. Without boring you with the predictable lovey-dovey details, My Fake Fiancé, which features comedians Melissa Joan Heart and Joey Lawrence, is about two people who meet at a wedding, ironically enough. They are both intrigued by the amount of gifts and money the couple receive and come up with the idea to stage a fake marriage, just for the gifts. In the end, though, like all popular love movies, the two end up falling in love and living happily ever after. The satire in the beginning is much more easily recognizable, as you can almost hear the screen writer judging couples who marry for the money rather than the love. I can't help but think that the ending is just a continuation of satire. Isn't it ironic how two people, completely uninterested in love, just so happen to find love when faking their own wedding?
Author Mark Twain uses satire to enhance his famous work The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, using the same techniques found in the movie. Twain shows a bit of his views on slavery in the novel, but rather than taking the chance of offending many people, as the book was written during a very racial time, he uses satire. He subtly throws his two cents into the novel, but still keeps it comical coming from a young teenage boy. Because of his use of satire, some of Twain's comments may be missed by those who aren't educated enough on the topic. If you feel the need to become an informed reader so you can pick up on these nifty tricks, feel free to click here.
