TV Show Analysis #3

The Colbert Report
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Amped Up for Michelle Obama

The title of the excerpt from “The Colbert Report” is “Amped Up for Michelle Obama.” In this excerpt, Stephen Colbert, the host, tells the audience that his guest for the night is first lady Michelle Obama. He then makes a joke about the secret service. To demonstrate how the secret service is there, but is unseen, Stephen Colbert puts his hand in his suit coat as if he were going to take out a weapon and all of a sudden, lasers from sniper guns are all over his body. Colbert tells the audience that Mrs. Obama is in the studio to discuss the one year anniversary of “Joining Forces” which is a program that supports military families. She launched this program with Joe Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden. He then jokes about how child obesity is solved since the military families are the focus of Mrs. Obama. He then says, “Kids, go to town on that Oreo pizza, it’s good for you!” The manner of the satire used in this show is that Colbert is not really mocking Mrs. Obama’s person, but rather mocking the many things that she dedicates her time to. It is obvious that child obesity is still a problem in this country, but he is making fun when he says it is over. The show is having Mrs. Obama speak about the program because it is the one year anniversary of the launching of the program which seems to be a success. The ideological perspective of this excerpt is probably leaning more towards the Democratic/liberal side because President and Mrs. Obama are both Democrats. This relates to current political event because the one year anniversary has just occurred and since it deals with the military, it is in the news. The military is always current whether it is about wars going on or nice stories about parents returning to their children and vice versa. This relates to class because this seems to be some sort of tactic and game plan by the Obamas to create ammunition for his upcoming race for president. Helping military families is always looked at by the public as a good thing and thus, the people will base Obama’s character on this fact. In class, we have discussed many ways that politicians try to obtain the public’s votes and support and by having Mrs. Obama discuss something like this would definitely help Obama with getting more support from the people. The ironic part of this excerpt would have to be Colbert telling the kids to enjoy the Oreo pizza because child obesity is still a problem in this country. It is also ironic because he was saying that since child obesity is solved, children can “pig out” so to speak on junk food. The show was able to portray their point in a funny manner and was able to provide the audience with entertainment and knowledge.

TV Show Analysis #2

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Endless Suffrage 2012- Rick Santorum Drops Out

This excerpt, “Endless Suffrage 2012- Rick Santorum Drops Out” was taken from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” This was aired on Wednesday April 11, 2012. In this excerpt, Jon Stewart is discussing Rick Santorum’s decision to stop his campaign and is making fun of Santorum’s redefining the concept of “winning”. Stewart makes fun of Santorum’s logic when showing the viewers a clip of his ending campaign speech. Stewart also makes fun of Santorum by saying things like, “the sweater wearing prude and c*ck block…” In his speech, Santorum said, “…we were winning in a different way…” and in response Stewart said, “…you were losing. Like winning, but in reverse…” Santorum then goes on to say, “This race was more improbable than any race for president ever…” or something along this. Stewart responds, “Really? Any race, ever? Like, were you alive in 2008? When a black guy named Barack Hussein Obama beat a 48 term war hero senator? Were you alive then, because that was pretty f-ing weird.” Stewart then said that Santorum was not even the most improbable thing in this GOP primary. That title, I believe, still goes to a Pokémon singing pizza magnet whose big idea in this race was a number.” Stewart then went on by making fun of Herman Cain’s “999” plan for fixing the economy. Throughout the excerpt, Stewart is making fun of not only Santorum, but also Cain who dropped out very early in the race due to personal problems. Stewart is making fun of Santorum’s definition of “winning” because normal people believe that the person who is in first place is winning while Santorum and his family believe they have won in a different way. Although Santorum is out of the race, he is still an easy target for creating jokes. The ideological perspective the is being represented by the show seems to be more of that of someone who is in between a liberal and a conservative because if the show were super conservative, they would be praising Santorum and his extreme conservative views. This relates to current political event because now that Santorum is out of the race for the GOP nomination, everyone is certain that Mitt Romney will most likely be the candidate to run against Obama for the presidency this November. This relates to class because throughout the year, we have been waiting for this day to come where the country finds out which of the many candidates running would become the GOP nomination. Finally, that day has come. The entire excerpt is satire because it is obvious that Stewart is mocking Santorum’s definition of winning and Herman Cain’s 999 Plan. The overall point of the segment was made and the audience understands completely that Rick Santorum is out of the race.

TV Show Analysis #1

Weekend Update: Really with Seth and Kermit

This video is an excerpt from Saturday Night Live and is called, “Weekend Update: Really with Seth and Kermit.” In this excerpt, Seth Myers and Kermit the Frog are criticizing Congress for passing a bill that says pizza in school lunches is considered a vegetable because of the tomato paste used on the pizza. Congress previously rejected new USDA guidelines that would force public schools to provide more fruits and vegetables as alternatives to unhealthy snacks. Seth then invites Kermit the Frog to join him the segment they call, “Really?!” Seth then says, “School pizza barely qualifies as a pizza…” and things along this line. He also says, “If pizza is a vegetable now, then what is broccoli? Penicillin?” Kermit then takes over and says, “If pizza is a vegetable, then what is a fruit salad? Twizzlers and a grape soda?” Seth then says, “At this rate, eating French fries will count as taking French.” Seth then went on to comment about the rate of child obesity and that if Congress does not believe it, then they should go down to the local playground and look at all of the broken swing sets. Kermit then said, “At the local pool, those aren’t swim suits, those are sausage casings.” Kermit then said that he was going to be in trouble for that one. The entire episode aired on November 19, 2011 and Jason Segel was the host. Both Seth and Kermit are making fun of Congress for saying that pizza is considered a vegetable by comparing it to multiple things. The show is trying to prove a point that pizza should not be considered a vegetable because this country already has a problem with obesity, especially in children. It is difficult to tell what ideological perspective is being represented because a majority of the people believes it is stupid to consider pizza as a vegetable. This relates to current political event because this recently happened and although it is not extremely recent, it is still relevant because the pizza is still considered a vegetable. This relates to class because we have been doing ECongress for a while and some of the bills we went over in class were just as silly as what Congress passed. Satire is used greatly in this excerpt because throughout the whole thing, Seth and Kermit are making fun of Congress. It is clear that Saturday Night Live got their point across about their views on the topic.

Political Cartoon Analysis Entry #6

Obama vs. Romney 2012 Prom
The title of this cartoon is, “Obama vs. Romney 2012 Prom” and was created by Dave Granlund. In the cartoon is a caricature of Romney and Obama wearing tuxedos with a corsage. Obama’s corsage is blue and Romney’s is red. The colors of the two corsages represent the political party they are a part of. The location of the two corsages can also represent each man’s political ideologies. Since Obama’s corsage is on the left side, the viewer can say that Obama is a liberal and since Romney’s is on the right, it could symbolize that Romney is conservative. Both Romney and Obama are linking arms with the Statue of Liberty who is wearing a “women voters” paper. The Statue of Liberty looks frightened. The cartoonist seems to be making fun of the process of obtaining certain voters during major election years. In this case, Romney and Obama are both trying to gain the votes of women voters. The cartoonist is calling it “Prom 2012” because he feels that the person who gets the most women voters will win the presidential election. Since both candidates are male, it is as if they are asking the women to prom. In this case, not having a date to prom is compared to not winning the presidential election. The viewer can tell that the two men are Romney and Obama because the one that looks like Obama is holding a card that says, “Obama” on it while the one that looks like Romney is holding a card that says, “Romney.” The cartoonist is trying to portray the message that those running for president will do what ever it takes to become the president such as fighting over one person. It is kind of funny because two men are pulling on the Statue of Liberty as if she were a toy. Obama and Romney seem to be using women as a pawn in their little game. This relates to current political event because everyone knows that Romney is the Republican nomination to run against Obama for the presidency this year. This relates to class because throughout the year, we have been discussing the Republican candidates and predicting which one would run against Obama in November. Finally, the time has come where we know which candidate would be the lucky winner and that candidate is Romney. The cartoonist is using satire by comparing the election to prom as well as comparing the women voters to the Statue of Liberty. His ability in using satire has provided a clear message of the cartoonist’s beliefs about the election.

Romney and Women Voters

The title of this cartoon is, “Romney and Women Voters” and was created by Jimmy Margulies. In the cartoon is a caricature of Mitt Romney saying, “Why can’t I attract women? I thought they like it when a guy brings flowers…” He is saying this with a grave in front of him with the words, “Planned Parenthood Funding,” written on the tombstone. The viewer can tell the man is Romney because the man is wearing a button with the word, “Mitt” on it and the man looks like Romney. The artist is trying to portray the idea that Romney is not getting the support from women voters because he is not funding the Planned Parenthood organizations due to the fact that they provide women with the option of abortion. Planned Parenthood does not only provide the option of abortion which is why women are angry with the fact that there is no funding for this organization. Planned Parenthood provides women who are unable to afford medical check-ups such as mammograms. It seems the cartoonist is more of a liberal because many conservative voters agree with stopping the funding of this organization. This relates to current political event because Romney is most likely the Republican candidate who will be running against Obama in the presidential election. If he is unable to get the support of the women voters, he most likely will not win the election. This relates to class because we have discussed many possible ways that the candidates could gain the votes of different types of voters as well as the entire election process. This cartoon is ironic because Romney gave flowers to a grave which is what he believes women wanted. Ironically, giving flowers to a grave of Planned Parenthood is not what women want and he seems to be naive to this fact. It is also ironic because as he is talking, he has a smile on his face. If I were him, I would be sad that I would be unable to attract the women voters. Overall, the cartoonist was able to portray his message through the use of irony in his cartoon.

Political Cartoon Analysis Entry #5

Student Loans

The title of this cartoon is, “Student Loans” and was created by Kirk Walters. In the cartoon, there is a man who is just out of college. He is asking his mother, “Like, could I live in the basement until I pay off my college loans?” and his mother tells him, “Your grandfather beat you to it” while pointing at his grandfather. The grandfather is sticking his tongue out at his grandson and is holding a paper that says, “Seniors carry $36 billion in student loans.” The grandfather is also wearing a cardigan with the letter “S” on it. The young man symbolizes the stress and sadness of the generation of young adults who are having trouble paying off their school loans. The old man symbolizes the elderly and their money troubles, even though it is not the same as the money troubles of the young adults. The artist is trying to portray the problems with our economy because young adults are faced with money issues and the stress of being in debt. The artist is using a word play when he created the grandfather and the situation where he already lives in the basement by calling him “senior” because typically, college seniors are worried about the debt they are in more than other college students. It also shows that college students are having a lot of trouble trying to figure out ways they can live normally while paying off their loans. Since the young adult’s grandfather is living in the basement, the young adult probably has no where else to go which causes him more stress in figuring out how he can pay off his debt. I cannot really tell what ideological perspective is represented by the cartoonist because I feel all college students who are having trouble paying off their school loans feel the same way. It does not matter whether they are Republican or Democrat or some other affiliation because a majority of students are worried about how they will pay for school and how they will pay off their school loans. This cartoon relates to current political event because the troubles with the economy are always spoken about whether in the news or with friends. Since America is still dealing with the aspects of the recession, people are still worried about money. This also relates to current political event because the Republican candidates who are running to become the nominee to run against Obama this November are always talking about ways they can fix the economy and they are always talking about ways to get the younger voters involved which would be the get them interested in something they feel will benefit themselves. This relates to class because we have been discussing ways to get the young adults to become more involved in the voting process and by creating a way to somehow get college students more money for school will definitely get more of these new voters to actually get out and vote. Irony can sort of be seen in the grandfather because the cartoonist is focusing on the fact that the word play with “seniors” relates to college loans. The irony is that the elderly actually have worries themselves with the economy, but not the same way college students have such as social security. Overall, the artist was able to portray his message about the worries of college students while doing it in a funny way.

Ewwwwww

The title of this cartoon is “Ewwwwww” and was created by Cardow. In the right hand corner of this cartoon are the words, “How Mitt Romney Copes…” and the cartoon is of Mitt Romney taking a shower saying, “Ewwww…I just spent another day touching ordinary Americans and POOR people!” while holding a bottle of “Anti-Bacterial body wash.” The man in the picture obviously symbolizes Mitt Romney, one of the Republican candidates because it tells the viewer that this is how Mitt Romney copes. The whole purpose of this cartoon seems to be bashing Mitt Romney because although he says he will help the poor and other similar things, the cartoonist believes that he is full of lies and is just saying that to please the people. The cartoonist seems to strongly dislike Romney because the cartoonist sort of made the figure of his body that of a person who does not exercise which is something men usually try to focus on. It seems that the ideological perspective represented by the cartoonist seems to be a liberal one because the cartoonist is obviously bashing Romney which is essentially bashing the Republican candidates. Republicans tend to be more on the conservative side so it seems that Cardow is more of a liberal. This cartoon relates to current political event because on every news website, there is something that deals with the GOP primaries and the candidates. This cartoon relates to class because throughout the year, we have been discussing the chances of the candidates as well as the pros and cons of each candidate. The satire in this cartoon is that Romney is cleaning himself as much as he possibly can because ordinary Americans and poor people are “dirty” to him because they are not as rich as he is. The cartoonist is trying to make fun of Romney and is using the shower to do so. Overall, the cartoonist portrayed the view of possibly many other people through the cartoon successfully.

Political Cartoon Analysis Entry #4

Mega Millions Lottery and Newt

The title of this cartoon is, “Mega Millions Lottery and Newt,” and was created by Dave Granlund. This cartoon shows Newt Gingrich, one of the Republican hopefuls, holding a “Mega Millions” lottery ticket. Newt has a button on his suit with the words, “Newt 2012” written on it. Newt Gingrich is saying, “Had better odds of winning this than winning the white house!” while pointing to his lottery ticket. The significance of the title of this cartoon is that it is basically comparing Newt Gingrich to the odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery. It is really funny that Gingrich is saying that he has a better chance of winning the Mega Millions than he does winning the Presidential election. The artist definitely believes that Gingrich should stop trying to become the Republican candidate to run against Obama because he has no chance of winning. The odds of winning the Mega Millions lottery is about 1 to 1 billion and the fact that Newt believes he had a better chance of winning the Mega Millions lottery is basically saying that his chances of winning the white house are 1 to 1 trillion. I cannot really tell what ideological perspective is represented by the cartoonist because Gingrich is not even close to being in the lead as the Republican candidate. If this cartoon was to criticize Romney, then I would believe that the cartoonist is more of a liberal, but since this cartoon is technically an attack on Gingrich’s campaign it is difficult to tell. This cartoon relates to current politics because the Presidential election of 2012 is months away and Gingrich is a Republican candidate hoping to become the candidate that will run against Obama for the presidency. It also relates to life in general because this weekend was when the winning numbers for the Mega Millions lottery was released to the public. Many people have bought these lottery tickets because they hoped that they would win the extreme amount of money. Gingrich is hoping that he will win the “extreme” Republican nomination. This relates to class because throughout the year, we have been discussing controversy and strategies surrounding each candidate. This cartoon is somewhat ironic because Gingrich believes that he can pull through and become the Republican nomination so the fact that in the cartoon Gingrich is saying he had a better chance of winning the Mega Millions lottery than winning the white house is pretty ironic. Overall, the cartoonist was able to prove his point through the use of his creative artistic skills and provide a way to make people laugh during a time where people need to smile.

Romney Toys

The title of this cartoon is, “Romney Toys,” and was created by Darkow from the Daily Tribune. In this cartoon, there are a bunch of children’s toys such as an etch-a-sketch, slinky, yo-yo, slinky dog, play-doh, and operation. In the top right corner are the words, “Toy Story” and “If Mitt’s campaign can be compared to this toy…” with an arrow pointing to the etch-a-sketch. The other words are “What other toys apply?” With each toy, there is an explanation of how it relates to Romney. For the slinky, the cartoon says, “flip-flop all the time!” for the yo-yo it says, “His support for issues goes up and down!” Next to the slinky dog (which looks like Slink from all of the Toy Story movies) says, “Actually, you just tie him to the roof of your car and drive to Canada!” The words next to the container of Play-Doh are, “Takes any shape he wants!” Finally, next to the Operation game board, the words are, “Where Romneycare is nothing like Obama-Care!” At the bottom right corner are the words, “All toys made in China.” The title of this piece, “Romney Toys,” is significant to the cartoon because the cartoon is showing all of the toys that could be used to describe Romney, according to the cartoonist. It seems the artist is trying to portray the idea that Romney is too similar to too many toys which could show that Romney plays too many games with what he is doing. These toys represent Romney’s actions and the things he has done throughout the Republican nomination race. It is not like the thing described in the cartoon has never happened because they have happened. Many people believe Romney is a flip-flopper when it comes to the issues which are portrayed throughout the entire piece. Since Romney seems to be the front runner of the Republican candidates, it could be seen that the cartoonist is a democrat because it seems that the cartoonist is trashing Romney’s integrity and reputation. If the cartoonist were a Republican, I believe that the cartoonist would not want to give the Democrats any ammunition for if Romney does become the Republican nominee to run against Obama. It is pretty interesting that the cartoonist was able to find that many toys that could be compared to Romney. This could make people second guess themselves if they feel Romney would be the best Republican candidate to run against Obama. This cartoon relates to current political events because recently, Romney’s campaign was compared to an etch-a-sketch which could be a way to get Romney less supporters. This relates to class because like mentioned before, we have been discussing the actions of the Republican candidates during the primaries and caucuses that could lead to their fates, whether good or bad. This cartoon is somewhat ironic because Romney, an adult and hopeful for president, is being compared to toys which are typically played with by children. This could foreshadow that if Romney does become President, he will be used as a toy by Congress which could change the way voters view the system our government is run by. It is ironic that he is being compared to toys because he is trying to get a position of government that could be seen as the “parent” of this country. It seems ironic that Romney is being compared to toys. This cartoon overall portrays the views of many people in this country who are not Romney supporters and thus, the cartoonist did his job.

Political Cartoon Analysis Entry #3

Skyrocket

This cartoon is titled, “Skyrocket” and was created by Olle Johansson. The cartoon shows a man in a car and next to him is the gas pump flying up in the air as if it were a rocket. It seems that the word “skyrocket” is being used to show that the gas prices are “skyrocketing” meaning that the prices for gas are being raised at a very quick pace. The cartoon shows the gas pump as some sort of rocket which is emphasizing the cartoonist’s point that the gas prices are rising at a quick rate. The man in the car seems to be an average guy watching the gas prices skyrocket and the expression on his face is an expression of disbelief. This symbolizes the public’s disbelief that the gas prices are actually increasing instead of decreasing, which is what most of the public believed would happen. It seems the cartoonist is trying to portray the unhappiness that the public is feeling based on the high gas prices, but he is trying to get the message out there by being humorous. This relates to a current political event because the Republican candidates trying to become the GOP nominee to run against Obama in this year’s presidential election are trying to win the votes of the average people. Gas prices and where the country gets its resources from is a big issue that the Republicans are trying to show that they have a better plan than Obama’s plan. The Republican candidates should try and figure out a plan to lower gas prices. This relates to class because throughout the year, we have been discussing the entire process that each candidate is going through as well as discussing possible secrets from their past that could ruin their chances. Although he is no longer in the race, if Herman Cain had a great idea for lowering gas prices he was unable to tell the public because of his many sexual relationships that he had with multiple women. This scandal led to his decision to stop campaigning and take his name off of the ballots. Satire is very relevant in this cartoon because the cartoonist is making fun of the gas prices by turning the gas pump into a rocket. Looking at this cartoon is pretty funny because the audience knows it is true. Typically, the things that are true are easier to make fun of because everyone will have to laugh because if they do not laugh, they would probably cry because it is sad that it is true.

The Road We've Traveled

This cartoon is called, “The Road We’ve Traveled,” created by Michael Ramirez. In the cartoon, there is a big, black hole with the word “debt” in the center. At the bottom right of the cartoon is a road with a car crashing through the safety bars into the big hole. In front of the safety bars are two signs. One of the signs has an arrow on it pointing to the right with the word “only” below it and the other sign is an arrow pointing left that is being crossed out by those “no smoking” red circles. The car that went into the debt hole has a bumper sticker with “USA” writing on it and an American flag hat going down with the car. “The Road We’ve Traveled” is significant as the title of this piece because the cartoon is saying that America has traveled into the big, dark hole of debt and it may take a while for America to get out of that hole. It seems that the cartoonist believes that America has driven into debt because the American people do not know how to follow directions. This is evident through the highway signs saying that the car is only allowed to go right and is not allowed to turn left. It seems that the cartoonist is criticizing America as well by making it look like Americans are oblivious to important situations directly in front of their faces because even though there were signs telling the car not to go that way, the car still went and kept going even though the safety fence/bars should have told them to stop going the way they were going. America does not listen to others and only does what America wants to do. This cartoon relates to current political event because America is in debt and it seems impossible to get out of it. This relates to class because the Republican candidates running to become the nominee to run against Obama in November have been mentioning their plans to get this country out of debt and to fix the economy. This also somewhat relates to class in the way that the Philadelphia School District is already in debt that they have had to cut certain aspects of school life including certain sports programs and janitorial staff. It is said that the school district of Philadelphia is already $400 million in debt for next school year. It is outrageous that the country does not have the money needed to fix the economy and something needs to be done.