Forrrrrrrr sho

Satire, demonstrated in The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, is what people love to watch.  People making fun of other people and saying rediculous things appeals to people.  The main reason for this popularity is because of how funny these can be.  Reporting on news and at the same time, mocking it, creates a hilarious atmosphere especially in these two shows. 

People want to see others be outrageous and rediculous because they themselves are not outspoken or courageous enough.  It’s like when people talk about how funny it would be if someone did that, or how crazy it would be if he actually said that.  These shows are simply doing the out of the ordinary things, and have made a career out of it.

The discussion we had in class really deepened my knowledge of what’s going on Iraq.  I didn’t realize that the situation in Iraq involved more than just that nation.  Neighboring countries Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Israel, and others are all involved, directly or indirectly with this situation.  Because of the widespread Sunnis and Shiites in all of these countries, it makes the conflict much larger than it appears.  The different Muslims in all of these countries can potentially become active in this battle for power.  The way that Israel is involved is that the U.S. is allies with them and they are pretty much hated by the majority of their neighboring countries.  The U.S.’s decision on this has really affected these Sunni and Shiite countries’ opinions of the U.S.  Most of them have turned anti-U.S. and this will make the transaction of turning Iraq into a well developed and stable country.  The problem grows much deeper than I ever have known before, and no good solution is possible.

I found a very interesting article online that dealt with the issues of racism.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/weekinreview/10nagourney.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

It was about the likelihood of seeing a black president, and also talked about seeing a female president.  Some very interesting facts were brought up in the article that I hadn’t really thought about until before reading it.  For instance, Geraldine Ferraro, a female senator, thinks that a female president will be much more likely to happen than having a black one. 

“I think it’s more realistic for a woman than it is for an African-American,” said Ms. Ferraro. “There is a certain amount of racism that exists in the United States — whether it’s conscious or not it’s true.”

She goes on, stating that women are more than half of the nation’s population, far outnumbering the black population.

However, having said all of this, there is a very good chance that Barack Obama will be our next president.  Unfortunately, part of his campaign will have to be making himself appealing to the white population.  Some seem to think that he already has;

He has a warm and commanding campaign presence that, as he showed in Illinois, cut across color lines.

This upcoming election looks to be a very unique one and I will be interested to see what the final results will turn out to be.

Satire is popular simply because its funny.  Stereotypes are made and talked about behind these different ethnic groups’ backs.  In attempts of satire such as Borat, these stereotypes are brought right to everyone’s faces.  Also, the people that are saying these ridiculous untrue things are real people and are saying what they actually think about other ethnic groups.  People are able to use this as humor by using these stereotypes and appear very out of the ordinary.  Who actually walks around criticizing social groups?  The reactions of the people are what make the satire funny. 

The reason Scary Movie isn’t considered satire is because of the issues it deals with.  Satire is based on the largest and worst social problems going on during that time period.  Scary movies are definitely not a social problem.  So while the comedy in Scary Movie and different satires can be very similar, it still cannot be considered satire.

This assignment should be an interesting one.  I don’t know too much about the actual lives of slaves.  Back in seventh or eighth grade we read Frederick Douglass’ narrative and found it very interesting to find out about the personal life of a very successful former slave.  I expected them not to be treated well, but some of the stories that Douglass had to tell were really horrible and unbelievable.

  All I really expect from these narratives are really just more of the same type of similar stories.  Their individual life stories will obviously be different but I’m assuming that the terrible living conditions under which they’re working will be fairly comparable.  The other slaves probably won’t turn out to be as successful or famous as Douglass but it will be interesting to compare them.