After grudgingly forcing myself through Pamela, I have found some comfort in the satires we read in response. Although I did not find them particularly funny I did enjoy seeing other people’s negative opinion on the story put into an artistic form. This got me thinking about how vital satires are and how they do have artistic integrity apart from their purpose as criticism. Growing up I always enjoyed juvenile humor in things such as Mad Magazine. I never appreciated them as satire or parody at the time but that is exactly what they are. During my years of growing up I enjoyed many different television shows but one that seemed to grow with me is the show “South Park”. When it first started it was nothing but juvenile humor and that was all I needed at the time. Now it has grown into an award-winning social satire of the U.S. Although it does retain its immature humor, it has become one of the most popular televised satires of our time.
Satire is truely one of the most entertaining forums of expressing one’s opinions. It is also one of the most effective ways to criticize other people’s creations. I believe it to be better than simply critcizing something because it requires more effort and often can be a work of art in it’s own right.
