Five Satires and a Rant

“Satire is moral outrage transformed into comic art.” — Philip Roth

1. Borat (2006)

This crass but brilliant mockumentary utilizes clever editing and great improvisational comedy to clip together hilarious interactions of the sexist, racist, homophobic protagonist with people in the real world, exposing their prejudices along the way.

2. Parasite (2019)

Bold, fascinating fable about social classes glues your eyes to the screen and keeps you both entertained and unsettled until the credits roll. It is intellectually tasty due to its fun-to-watch storyline, fantastic execution, complete range of emotions, and astoundingly layered themes, making this a cinematic masterpiece.

3. Get Out (2017)

As provocative as it is terrifying, Get Out cleverly translates its theme of modern racism into brilliantly crafted horror. By hiding the themes within the horror, the film is both entertaining at first glance and ingenious when you reflect upon it, making the viewing experience unforget(out)table.

4. The Truman Show (1998)

Fantastic writing, directing, and acting melds together to turn the gimmick of living in a TV show into an emotional, riveting story. Although there are quite a few silly moments, the theme (ignorance is bliss, but reality is better) is always treated seriously.

5. Fight Club (1999)

Smart, twisted, and twisty, this exaggerated tale of manhood, inner demons, and consumer society uses disturbing, chaotic violence as a device to make us fall into the ideas that the film itself is satirizing. Fight Club is a punch in the gut: painful and yet enthralling in a way you feel guilty of craving.

Although these are five of my favorite films of all time, a bad satire can be unsatisfying due to the focus on making a point rather than telling a story. However, these stories aren’t consciously focused on the social commentary, so it reveals itself in a way that is much more natural. In addition, four of the five films (sorry, Borat) feature likable protagonists in extraordinary situations and aren’t aware of the satire. Therefore, we are simply entertained as we watch and are fed the satirical events, and only identify their significance after the experience is over. For Borat, a similar phenomenon occurs: we laugh at his and the Americans’ ridiculousness before fully grasping the weight of what we just saw. If a film didn’t do this, the audience wouldn’t suspend disbelief and the plot wouldn’t be effective emotionally. Like a stew, satirical writers must give the audience time to marinate so the end result is as flavorful, enjoyable, and provocative as possible.