Satire Films inc.

Satire is everywhere, whether we like it or not.  Satire can be defined as a humorous commentary and/or critiques of human behavior, flaws, and societies. It can bee seen by nearly any form of the media, from daily programming to newspaper reporters. One unique form of such however, is the film industry, which not only displays satire, but also gives the opportunity in the field alone to become satire targets.

Within my high school career, I have been in two classes that have spent deliberate time on film study. Now, granted most of the time it was focused on the difference between screen shots and the physical outline of the movies, but one week we spent the classes watching famous, or "classic" movies. That is when we had unknowingly begun an independent study of a unique form of satire: movies and parodies.

when it comes to the film industry, there are certain guidelines, techniques, and trademark expressions that are passed between directors, producers, even in the actors; and can still be seen over generations. However, some of these things have become to the point where they are too relevant, and are accepted as standard. some examples are obvious: explosions belong in an action movie around the climax, and the more alone time a character has on screen in a scary movie, the more we  feel for that character, making whatever happens to them seem amplified to the audience.

Then there are the subtle “hand-me-downs" of the film industry, usually coming from directors, where certain scenes or camera angles are taken from one movie and are put into the other under the label of a "method" or an "indirect reference". One of the examples of such occurring is how Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds" is referenced in movies to create or form familiar connections to overall chaos when in a different movie. 

link to source of picture

Finally, there is the example of the bad “hand-me-downs” within the industry: a prime example being not a movie, but a director and Producer, by the name of Michael bay, a leading modern director and producer in Hollywood that has made blockbusters in the industry such as Armageddon, The Island, and the Transformers movie series. Although he is a well known producer and “respected” in Hollywood, he is infamously known for his trademarks that show up in every one of his movies: the over dramatization of special effects (preferably explosions and slow motion) the portrayal of sexism in the portrayal of feminine character, and racism. His “infamy” has been long spread to the corners of the internet,  spawning many different forms of media about him (the most common being in the forms of captioned pictures, cartoons, and internet memes, one example being the picture above) and has spawned many forms of parodies of his work; a notable one being a video from abridged series* maker LittleKuriboh  on Youtube ( also currently known as CardgamesFTW) when he made an April fools video about selling the rights to the abridged series to Michael bay, and exploring the outcome in one video. To sum it all up in a few sentences, it would be much like this:


Picture a television show from the early 2000s era about cartoon kids and the plot revolving around playing card games.  Sounds innocent enough, right? Now picture it with explosions at every word a character says, with the main character being someone like Shia Lebouf, lame attempts such as appealing to stereotypical crowds in order to be “hip” with the younger audience, inexplicable plot points involving aliens, and the only girl character reduced to saying nothing but “jiggle jiggle”, and being in a swimsuit for no reason that is explained. All of that with the soundtrack provided by Linkin Park.



I don’t know about you, but my childhood was not filled with that type of standard being accepted in children’s programming.

The entire video is satire in itself: it makes fun of everything Michael Bay puts into his movies (which is really unorganized chaos when you really think about it- this was pointed out by Doug Walkers** rant about why Bay SHOULD direct an upcoming movie) and at the very end, questions Bays directing methods in an indirect form of acting it out through the use of the characters. Another video clip of satire being used to question Michael Bay’s directing methods was mentioned in an episode of South Park, where Michael Bay is brought in by the government in order to help brainstorm ideas- and all of his involve describing special effects as the entire plot, and in the end, nothing is resolved.

Mark Twain has also brushed upon this particular topic (though not in the same circumstances) in the world of satire in his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (You’re probably wondering how I went from Michael Bay to Mark Twain, but relax, it’ll make sense soon. Hopefully.) There are many scenes and scenarios in the novel in which our protagonists much face that involve questioning the set standards of the society in which they have lived in. This especially applies to Huck when he decides to write a letter in order to cleanse himself of his sins against society, but refuses to deliver it stating that saving a friend is worth all of the fires of hell. This is also portrayed in the characters themselves, the two most noticeable being the Duke and the King. Not only do they portray the (underrated) satire theme of how show business cans lead people astray or into thinking of a certain mindset by having them trick crowds into told for getting what they truly want-money. On a lighter note, they also remind me of Michael Bay himself: they are both so fake (and the audience knows this) that it sometimes hurts to watch them.

Side notes:

* - an abridged series is also another from of satire, taking the entirety of a television show, usually a cartoon series, and pointing out its flaws in a comical way to a point where it is still entertaining to watch as it moves in order of the series.

**- Doug Walker is a well known movie reviewer on the internet, and is famous for his over dramatic reactions to circumstances but if needed takes the time to explain it to the audience further. Unfortunately, the video in which I have found his opinion about Michael Bay has strong language, and this is not welcome in the typical setting of a high school classroom. he may be found at thatguywiththeglasses.com