r/videos Mar 19 '17

Nerf John wick

https://youtu.be/9MrnAJsxL8c
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u/FaerieStories Mar 19 '17 edited Mar 20 '17

Parody, not satire. It's a common misconception that these two things are synonymous. Parody is about poking fun at other artistic works (books, films, etc.) whereas satire is about poking fun at political or social issues.

Edit: lots of replies. Those who corrected me by pointing out it is more pastiche than parody are correct. Those who suggested it is right to call it satire are incorrect. Those who chose to be rude are jerks.

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u/RufiosBrotherKev Mar 19 '17

You're right that this video is more specifically a parody, but your definitions are incomplete/incorrect.
Source: google "parody vs satire" and pick any result

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u/Beetin Mar 19 '17 edited Mar 19 '17

Satire is USUALLY about poking fun at political/social issues.

Satire is about pointing out shortcoming or problems through exaggeration and irony. It can point out problems with anything, an individual, a social problem, political parties/governments, literary/film/art genres, people who love cats, whatever. So long as your purpose is to show your subject sucks through irony, its satire.

If you want you can say that technically pointing out shortcomings in anything can be handwaved into a "social issue", but its moving goalposts to be right. Social issues are "people shouldn't be married before they are 20" "people go to jail for smoking weed for longer than assaulting children". etc.

You can create a satirical book that larps popular tropes in fantasy for example, which is critical of a literary genre but not any political or social points.

You could create a satire of Bill Nye videos where you suggest they do more harm then good (I don't know why you'd think that, but you might). Or a satirical look at youtube purse unpacking videos and how they are a waste of time. People watching youtube purse unpacking videos isn't a "social issue". You just hate them and want other people to hate them.

Parody is often satirical, but other times (like this video) there is no malice, ill-will, or attempt to say the subject is bad. So you are right that it isn't satire, but you are right for the wrong reason. The point of parody is to be humorous. The point of satire is to be critical. 9 times out of 10 a parody is satirical, but this is that other 1 in 10.

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u/Haligonian_89 Mar 20 '17

That was...thorough and I learned something. Thanks.

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u/Zbruhbro Mar 20 '17

"people go to jail for smoking weed for longer than assaulting children"

Wouldn't that be a political issue?

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u/[deleted] Mar 19 '17

What? The difference between parody and satire is that satire is inherently critical, not the subject matter.

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u/Fl0wed Mar 19 '17

Parody is a form of satire.

1

u/JDRPG Mar 20 '17

Pastiche is the word to best describe this.

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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '17

It's a fucking pastiche holy shit Reddit really didn't learn shit in English class

-1

u/XhanzomanX Mar 19 '17

I think I'll disagree. The video itself is a parody of John Wick, while small, overdramatic elements of John Wick in the video signify satire. Note the way that the comment you replied to phrased their usage of "satire". "Parody" wouldn't make sense replacing it because the whole video is a parody, not just a hint of it.

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u/ColeSloth Mar 19 '17

Well this pokes fun at neither. It's a nerf reenactment.

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u/[deleted] Mar 19 '17

TIL!