The Onion: An Anti-Smoking Ad
Is it too satirical?
New Anti-Smoking Ads Warn Teens 'It's Gay To Smoke'
1
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: The Onion: An Anti-Smoking Ad.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/16414
The best satire is supposed to turn the mirror towards us, especially if what it uncovers is painful.
I enjoyed it. It's very clearly making fun of the irrationality of homophobia.
Also, the second PSA was really sexy. So that was nice.
That was funny. It's the Onion.
I know its the Onion... but if I submitted it as hilarious it may not have gotten through.
Hehehe, the uncomfortable thing here is that it might work. But the video shows the ridiculousness of homophobia because our culture focuses on male bonding over certain activities and yet is prejudiced against gays. It's a no-win situation for some young men, if they don't want to do 'manly' male bonding things, they're 'unmasculine' and might be called gay. And yet, they're worried about getting too close incase that's also a bad move and might get them called gay. And the fake ads targeting girls are also uncomfortably close to the truth - we eroticise straight girls kissing, but the idea of being 'a dyke' is still used as an insult.
I watched it, but it didn't seem to be making fun of homophobia.
It reminded me of abstinence-only education courses that basically say "don't be a whore - don't have sex".
exploitative advertising, propaganda, and public service announcements are pretty common, so I'm not sure how this is supposed to be funny.
is it supposed to be funny like "ha ha ha, those queers!" or funny like "ha ha ha, homophobia is just hillarious"?
neither interpretation seems all that funny to me.
Neither. It's not pushing an agenda, it's just a joke about what anti-smoking ads would look like if they were about things kids actually cared about.
I read it as a satire on public awareness campaigns that choose to communicate their message in any way they think will be effective, regardless of how socially damaging it is. I absolutely thought the closest parallel was to abstinence-only messages; they want to prevent a behaviour they deem undesirable, e.g. smoking/underage sex, and so they latch onto the bigotry that already exists in the culture (slut-shaming, or homophobia) as the quickest and most convenient way of discouraging that behaviour. This approach may well be effective, but the campaign organisers completely gloss over the fact that it's totally hateful and immoral.
Woo hoo! In before anyone misinterprets this as serious!
**************
In truth though, this strikes me as a value-neutral article. It is neither lambasting nor supporting the tendency of today's youth to view gayness as being synonymous with undesirable, but rather just acknowledging it.
Well, I find them quite sexy. If those were real PSAs, they might make me want to smoke. *rewatches*
I like drag kings that can weld, too. So.
Homophobic? I don't think so. They're more making fun of homophobia and conservatism, as The Onion usually does, and well.
Humor is a hard thing to do well because it can be so highly subjective. So sometimes it's inappropriate to use humor if your political or philosophical message will be overshadowed by the shallowest perceptions of your joke.
I can't really make any justifiable argument about what the intentions of the video were in this case. I don't know the people who wrote it. That does not mean it is not possible to make justifiable arguments one way or another in regards to the neutrality or point of view of this video.
I liked the way Nettle Syrup said it.:
"...But the video shows the ridiculousness of homophobia because our culture focuses on male bonding over certain activities and yet is prejudiced against gays. It's a no-win situation for some young men, if they don't want to do 'manly' male bonding things, they're 'unmasculine' and might be called gay. And yet, they're worried about getting too close incase that's also a bad move and might get them called gay..."
I think it could be very true that this is what they intended to express.
Nevertheless, if a blog full of feminists are having a hard time deciphering what it means, then is it really a good idea to unleash this on the general public who are generally much more manipulated by intolerant phobias, biases, and prejudices?
Protest signs are usually very simple for a very simple reason: their makers want their message understood. And I know, this is a comedy show for entertainment and not necessarily for political discourse. But regardless, sometimes we need to be careful about understanding how other people could think the worst about what we are saying. Otherwise people who are not allies to us will read something or hear something we say and think that we're on their side and feel bolder in their prejudice.
Am I the only one who wants to hear about the sea creatures song writing tactics?
Actually, that reminds me a lot of MTV Canada's bizarre "smoking pot will turn you gay! and incestuous!!!!" commercial, which can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X153PsvxVo4
I guess that was my point with my previous comment.
this shit already happens, and its not funny.
The onion isn't being satirical. It is simply mimicking popular culture.
I think that if the Onion had presented the "ads" without the context of their "Good Morning" program, it could be argued that they are simply mimicking popular culture.
But having the director there to explain his ads and all the prejudices in them, I think that the "smoking makes you gay" thing is mocking ads like the MTV Canada's ad. (Which, I was forgetting about until it was mentioned, what a terrible ad). The Onion is pointing out the prejudices and the ignorance of a society using "gay" as a negative descriptor.