THE ONION - layers of humor


 https://www.theonion.com/christian-man-persecuted-simply-for-driving-90-miles-pe-1851260175

This satirical piece from The Onion employs various elements of humor to mock the perceived victimization of Joshua Weller, a Christian man pulled over for driving 90 miles per hour in a school zone.


The entire scenario is exaggerated for comedic effect. Driving at an excessively high speed in a school zone becomes a symbol of persecution, creating a humorous contrast between the severity of the offense and Weller's reaction. The "Jesus fish" on Weller's back windshield serves as a satirical symbol. It becomes the scapegoat for his imagined persecution, poking fun at the tendency of some individuals to attribute negative experiences to their religious identity. Weller's decision to "emulate Christ" by accelerating instead of turning the other cheek introduces irony. This plays on the notion that true Christian behavior would involve accepting consequences peacefully, in contrast to Weller's defiant action. The piece incorporates stereotypes related to politics and religion. Weller's assumption that he'll face biased charges and an atheist judge appointed by "Godless Democrats" satirizes the tendency to blame perceived injustices on political and religious affiliations.


It's humorous to draw a comparison between Weller's arrest and the persecution of Christians in the past. In a clever attempt to dehumanize the scenario, Weller is exaggeratedly described as being "thrown into a jail cell just like Christians centuries ago had been thrown into the lion's den."


Overall, The Onion uses these satirical elements to mock the victim mentality, societal biases, and the tendency to attribute personal consequences to external factors, weaving them into a humorous narrative that exaggerates the perceived persecution of a Christian man in a traffic incident.




Comments

Vinaya said…
We picked the same blog!! you picked up on so many things that I didn’t and I think that was interesting to see, like how Joshua believed that he should “emulate Christ”, and that being the reason he pushes his pedal to the floor and turns his cheek.
March 3, 2024 at 8:51 PM
Shovik Ahmed said…
I like how you brought up the tendency of relating negative qualities with religious backgrounds, and how you mentioned it several times in your blog to emphasize how it's a main point of the article.
March 3, 2024 at 9:22 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Last Blog of Senior Year

Image
At the beginning of the year, almost every teacher and adult in my life told me that my senior year would go by fast. I nodded my head and rolled my eyes, thinking it can’t be that fast. Well, they were right. And after all the skip days and waking up at 6.30 am just to show up half asleep to first hour, it’s one of my last few days in high school.  And I wish I could say it is anything but bittersweet.  I’m so excited to move forward in my life and gain new experiences, make new friends, and just become an adult, but I also wish I could rewind and just do all of high school all over again and relive EVERYTHING. (okay maybe not EVERYTHING) In reality, I can’t. I just have to take all my memories, stuff them in my senior box, and reminisce about them every time I see an Instagram post from someone I went to high school with. I learned that you can’t hold onto something forever, whether it’s tangible things or intangible memories. This year has also taught me that things don’t a...
Read more

meditation and planning

Image
6 yawns. That's how many times I yawned the first time we meditated in class. Did that number decrease as the week progressed and we meditated more? No. Did I take something away from that experience? Yes.  This past week, we spent the beginning of every class meditating. And I mean sure I paid attention to what the guy was saying 60% of the time, the remaining 40% I just spent that time planning my long-awaited weekend out.  here's the plan :  sat  - dentist appt - clean room  - hw  - iasa show - sleepover sun   - work on deca  - sleep ( bc I obv won't sleep at the sleepover) Looking back at it, I should've stopped planning and meditated to protect my peace. If you couldn't tell, that meant hardly anything went according to plan.  First, on Saturday my dentist appointment was pushed back by 2 hours so I just waited there doing nothing. Because of that delay, I had to start cleaning my room as soon as I got home bc my mom told me there was no...
Read more

Experiencing Poetry

Image
When I thought of poetry my mind went straight to the Shell Silverstein books I read in elementary. Runny Babit, Every Thing on It, and Falling Up are just a few. I liked reading poetry when it was just reading simple short poems that were funny, sarcastic, and didn't require an analysis asking about the complexity of the whole thing. Now, I can't exactly say the same. Now when I look at any poetry I feel like I need to start annotating and that I need enough annotations so that my paper just looks like it has been annotated in 20 different colors to highlight everything me and what may appear like 7 other people noticed while reading it. Jk it's really not that bad but that's what made me write a short poem inspired by Shell Silverstein (without any annotations).                                   Silverstein's version - School  Rain and Hail,  Cold and Snow Are good excuses not to go....
Read more