So it has come to my attention that most of the guides of writing satire that I have previously linked on this blog have been good as guides of inspiration, but that some of you would appreciate getting a more straight-forward, "this-is-how-you-do-it" step-by-step guide to writing satire. Well fret not if you are one of the people desiring this, because I have found you a good guide here. It consists of a six-step guide of how to write good satire, as well as a short explanation of what satire is. I think that this guide, from yourdictionary.com could also help you get started with writing satire; it helps you avoid the mistake of writing an ironic or a sarcastic text instead of a satirical text. Lastly, I think it would be worth it giving this page a glance; it discusses the importance of knowing your audience and knowing the limits of good taste. I hope that this will help you on your journey to satire-writing-greatness.
A few
months ago I posted a blog post about the sad fact that there are almost no
British examples of satire on this blog, and I promised to do better in the
future. However, this is not a promise I have kept (mostly due to that I forgot
about the promise to be honest). But today I will write a bit more about
British satire, more precisely about satire in the movie Monty Python's Life
of Brian. If you haven't seen this movie already, you definitely should,
since it displays that it is possible to make fun of religion and satirize
religion without being (very) disrespectful and provoking conflict. The movie
is about the life of Brian (as one might guess from its name) who is born on
the same day as Jesus Christ, and people continuously believe that Brian is
Jesus Christ, or a Messiah of some sort, throughout the movie. I don't want to
give away too much, so that you feel that there is still a purpose in watching
the movie, but I will tell you about my favorite scene in the movie, which also
just happens to be a great example of satire.
Somewhere in the middle of the movie, Brian is chased by some people who
believe that Brian is their savior and Messiah (Brian has just held a speech in
the town square, attracting followers). Brian has little interest in being
these people's God, and he is also trying to escape some Roman soldiers who are
chasing him, so he is running away from his followers as fast as he can. In the
midst of this, Brian drops his shoe, which his followers find and take as a
sign. The followers all agree that the shoe is a sign from God, but they don't
know what the sign means. After a somewhat long debate, one girl among the
followers states that she does not think that the holy sign is a shoe, but a
gourd, and she convinces some of the other followers of this. The group is then
divided up into Shoe-followers and Gourdeners. In other words, the scene is an
excellent example of how different religious beliefs and different branches of
religions can be satirized: Are the different branches within religions really
as different as their adherents would make you believe? Or are they,
essentially, formed as a result of debates over things as unimportant as shoes
and gourds?
FOLLOWERS: ...Look! Ah! Oh! Oh! ARTHUR: He has given us a sign! FOLLOWER: Oh! SHOE FOLLOWER: He has given us... His shoe! ARTHUR: The shoe is the sign. Let us follow His example. SPIKE: What? ARTHUR: Let us, like Him, hold up one shoe and let the other
be upon our foot, for this is His sign, that all who follow Him shall do
likewise. EDDIE: Yes. SHOE FOLLOWER: No, no, no. The shoe is... YOUTH: No. SHOE FOLLOWER: ...a sign that we must gather shoes together in
abundance. GIRL: Cast off... SPIKE: Aye. What? GIRL: ...the shoes! Follow the Gourd! SHOE FOLLOWER: No! Let us gather shoes together! FRANK: Yes. SHOE FOLLOWER: Let me! ELSIE: Oh, get off! YOUTH: No, no! It is a sign that, like Him, we must think not
of the things of the body, but of the face and head! SHOE FOLLOWER: Give me your shoe! YOUTH: Get off! GIRL: Follow the Gourd! The Holy Gourd of Jerusalem! FOLLOWER: The Gourd! HARRY: Hold up the sandal, as He has commanded us! ARTHUR: It is a shoe! It is a shoe! HARRY: It's a sandal! ARTHUR: No, it isn't! GIRL: Cast it away! ARTHUR: Put it on! YOUTH: And clear off! SHOE FOLLOWER: Take the shoes and follow Him! GIRL: Come,... FRANK: Yes! GIRL: ...all ye who call yourself Gourdenes! SPIKE: Stop! Stop! Stop, I say! Stop! Let us-- let us pray.
Yea, He cometh to us, like the seed to the grain.
