I'll say it again. Satire doesn't have to be funny. There's a difference. The most famous piece of satire ever written was horrific and sad, not funny at all.
Explain how this qualifies as satire.
Registered Members experience this forum ad and noise-free.
CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.I'll say it again. Satire doesn't have to be funny. There's a difference. The most famous piece of satire ever written was horrific and sad, not funny at all.
Explain how this qualifies as satire.
There is crazy **** and then there's just plain ****.
If there are no editors or overseers of some kind,then maybe this so-called corporation consists of about 5 people typing out of a flat in NYC. Either way,if you care so much about that particular point,why don't you just write to them and ask.
It really seems like you care more than I do. Ya see, for me, I just assumed it was all bogus made up crap that needed no editing. I just can't imagine why they'd have an editor. To fact-check utter lies?
Would I have written it or approved it? No. But the fact of the matter is that The Onion crucifies everyone. Have you laughed at stories that made fun of starving kids in Africa, or homicidal housewives, or the actions of our own elected government officials?
This story is no different, with the exception that we feel personally involved. It's perfect fun to laugh at others, but when it hits home then it's not funny.
Objectively, say if it was PURE FICTION that a Pats player was found dead with that headline...pretty funny? Yeah.
Of course, in reality, I'm pretty bummed about the whole deal, particularly since I'm facing with the first mortality of my life soon.
But to get high and mighty and take offense to one thing but laugh at the rest is an example of how cold and callous everyone is, and serves only to personify the perceived inhumanity The Onion is now accused of.
Satire, and for that matter humor in general, is best when it pokes fun at the powerful. While Hill was certainly physically powerful, he was just another man in the grand scheme. That's why this doesn't work and isn't at all funny. This is no different than poking fun at a child who gets hit by a car and dies. That wouldn't be funny either. I like the Onion, but this was a bad choice. Period.
I absolutely agree.
But...The Onion has never restricted themselves to these guidelines. My point, again, was that selectively being revolted isn't exactly grounds to burn down the castle Frankenstein-style...
Eh. The Onion has made fun with war, death, terrorism, and rape before. I was a little taken aback by the specificity of the thing, but on reflection I attribute it too the "this isn't funny, this affects me!" reaction.
Consider two of the other stories I came across while browsing links just now:
"Rodeo Clown Bleeding On The Inside"
"Al Qaeda Also Fed Up With Ground Zero Construction Delays"
Each idea is amusing, but I'm sure there are rodeo and 9/11 websites somewhere that don't find that funny at all.
This thread astonishes me.
I *did* think the Onion bit was funny. It's clearly a dig a Belichick's image. I couldn't understand why so many people too offense.
So at lunch I said to my wife and father-in-law "Did you hear about Marquise Hill?"
They had, they are avid Pats fans.
Then, to see whether I was just completely missing the point of people's objections to the Onion bit, I related the fact that the Onion gag was controversial and then decribed the picture and the headline.
My father-in-law's reaction was to immediately laugh out loud. Exactly as mine had been when I originally saw it. When I said people thought it was disrespectful of Hill, their unprompted reaction was the same as mine, it's a Belichick joke, what's the big deal.
I honestly believe that many here have lost perspective on this.
Major difference, those articles do not ridicule a real person's death within days of its occurence. Those headlines are the kind of surreal silliness that The Onion does well, and do not find humor in the lifeless body of a real human being.Eh. The Onion has made fun with war, death, terrorism, and rape before. I was a little taken aback by the specificity of the thing, but on reflection I attribute it too the "this isn't funny, this affects me!" reaction.
Consider two of the other stories I came across while browsing links just now:
"Rodeo Clown Bleeding On The Inside"
"Al Qaeda Also Fed Up With Ground Zero Construction Delays"
Each idea is amusing, but I'm sure there are rodeo and 9/11 websites somewhere that don't find that funny at all.