Satire is a television and film genre in the fictional or pseudo-fictional category that employs satirical techniques.
Film or television satire may be of the political, religious, or social variety. Works using satire are often seen as controversial or taboo in nature, with topics such as race, class, system, violence, sex, war, and politics, criticizing or commenting on them, typically under the disguise of other genres including, but not limited to, comedies, dramas, parodies, fantasies and/or science fiction.[1]
Satire may or may not[2] use humor or other, non-humorous forms as an artistic vehicle to illuminate, explore, and critique[3] social conditions, systems of power[4] ("social, political, military, medical or academic institutions"[5]), hypocrisy, and other instances of human behavior.
Film director Jonathan Lynn generally advises against marketing one's work as "satire" because according to Lynn it "can substantially reduce viewing figures and box office" due to a presumed negative perception of satire in the [American] industry:
George S. Kaufman, the great Broadway playwright and director, and screenwriter, once said: 'Satire is what closes on Saturday night.' An excellent wisecrack, but it led the way to a general belief in America that satire is not commercial. When you pitch a satirical film idea, don't refer to it as satire. I used to, and I was met with the inevitable response that satirical films don't make money. This view is factually incorrect. Plenty have done so, if budgeted right.[6]
Film, more than television,[7] offers advantages for satire, such as the "possibility of achieving the proper balance" between realism and non-realism, using the latter to communicate about the former.[7] The ideal climate for a satirical film involves "fairly free" political conditions and/or independent producers with "modest" financial backing.[7]
UK
USA
Japan