Political satire is very common nowadays and it is one of the most unique sources of entertainment for the general masses. A political satire is basically a sarcastic critique or examination of the political dynamics of a particular country. The main purpose of such satire is to expose the hypocrisy and irrationality of the political personalities or the parties. There are many kinds of political satires that currently exist in the world (which will be discussed later).
The most common entities which are targeted in a political satire are the political parties, politicians, legislation and the political media as well. Political satire can be done in various ways. Sometimes it may simply mean making fun of a political party’s representative such as making fun of his or her dress up etc. In some cases satires are intended to expose a person’s fault. For example political people preaching respect of women are exposed by showing their own misconduct with women etc.
The Greatest Challenge
The biggest challenge while going for political satire is to create a balance between apt political analysis and humor. If the balance is broken and if the satirist makes too many jokes then that can turn out to be an absolute mockery. Similarly a simple political analysis without any comedy at all can also damage the work of a satirist as that will turn out to be a simple political attack.
Forms of Political Satire
As mentioned earlier political satires can take various forms. Political satires have a long history and most of the forms of political satires have been there for centuries. The first from of political satire can be termed as Prose satire. This type of political satire is often seen in the newspapers of today. This type of satire often takes the form of a newspaper article.
The second form of political satire is Editorial Cartoons. This kind of satire was developed back in the 20th and the 19th century. Most of these satires contain a panel of single cartoon. This kind of satire is commonly seen in the Newspapers of Today.
Another famous form of political satire is through television shows. In these shows fake news is created and the shows are run as if the news is real. These shows gain popularity usually during the election season.
Political Satire is a well-known art that has been there for quite some time now. In every Era or age you will find people satirizing their political system in one way or another.