The genre that I selected was satire. Sketch comedy will dabble in satire but also draws on other things to create comedy, such as re-occurring characters that are constantly put in uncomfortable situations, impersonations and just plain weirdness (also a favorite of mine). I would have to say the big 3 of satire (for me at least) are South Park, The Daily Show and Colbert Report. These shows are so clever and never fail to make me laugh. Unfortunately, many students also love South Park, but for completely different reasons than I do. The satire is usually lost on them and what they are left with is the idea that ugly generalizations about groups of people are not only OK but funny. They don’t pick up on the sarcasm and they don’t usually have the background knowledge needed to understand the points being made. Satire is a great way to voice dissent and criticize important and seemingly untouchable figures of power.
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