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| Kim Jong-Un riding a stallion (via CNN) |
In 2012, The Onion named Kim Jong-Un the Sexiest Man Alive. After The Onion released this article, Chinese People’s Daily ran the same article, only, they added a 55-photo slideshow to further commemorate the Supreme Leader. I’m sure I am in the majority when I say I find this extremely comical. If you know The Onion, you know that it is by no means meant to be taken seriously. However, is it offensive when it is taken seriously?
We are constantly being fed news and it can be the truth or complete bullshit and people will spread it. In an article by Eli Saslow, a journalist for the Washington Post and ESPN Magazine, Saslow talks about various instances on the internet when a satirical post is reposted over and over again until people begin to believe it. This has the potential to lead to many problems. If China’s People’s Daily quickly got ahold of, believed, and re-ran the article satirically glorifying Kim Jong-Un, a lot worse could happen. This brings in the question posed by American philosopher Harry Frankfurt of “do lies hurt us?”
There are some things that The Onion reports on that people could take be very offensive if taken seriously. The most likely type of article to be taken seriously are the political pieces. However, many of the “local” pieces have parts of them that are a bit sensitive. For example, there is a headline that was published on February 3rd of this year that reads “Baby Delighted By Grandfather Making Silly Faces During Stroke.” This is a boldly sensitive topic to make satirical. Many people have been affected by strokes and would never make fun of them. Many topics hit too close to home for some people. This headline is one of many that shows the type of humor one must have to fully appreciate The Onion. Be careful what you believe on the internet and be cautious not to bite the onion!
Hi Elise, great post! I really liked your title as it hooked me as a reader to your argument and the way to described who the authors were for the texts you selected to talk about. I would be a little bit more careful on your formatting as your font-type in the second paragraph is not consistent with your font type in the rest of the blog. While I really liked your use of two readings and the way you seamlessly integrated them into your post, I think elaborating more on the Frankfurt piece can help make your third paragraph stronger, especially around the idea of why a satirical take on sensitive topics might have an impact on people who associate themselves with those topics. Lastly, I think adding some hyperlinks in the second part of your post, particularly when you reference the example article, would provide more evidence and insight beyond the post itself. Overall, great work!
ReplyDeleteYour post is very concise, and I like your connection between Saslow and Frankfurt. I almost want to say the piece was a little too short, but again I think all the relevant pieces were there. Great job on that! A couple of sentences did feel like run-on sentences (paragraph two sentence one, and your last sentence). I enjoyed your post, and thank you for linking to the articles.
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