Satire And Cartoon Analysis

Satire ineffectively creates social change, because people do not take it seriously, thus rendering it impossible to make any positive impact. It leads to outrageous consequences that all people should try to avoid whenever possible. Satire negatively influences people because some view it as a meaningless joke, while others see it as an offensive insult. It never truly makes its ideas stick. According to Greenhouse, “The right-leaning newspaper Le Figaro rebuked the weekly for publishing ‘silly provocations.’” Le Figaro believes that the satirical cartoons are petty and only serve to incite various groups of people. Laurent Leger, a journalist at Charlie Hebdo, stated that, “The aim is to laugh” (Greenhouse). Even the satirists themselves believe that their cartoons are only a joke, and that their cartoons do not
The cartoon by Jimmy Marguiles illustrates a missile hitting the city, which is a horrible consequence for something as petty as satire. Although the intention of the author was to show that the satirists will never back down, it also sends the message that satire can cause terrible outcomes, such the destroyed city that Marguiles chose not to depict. This destroyed city is one of many possible outcomes of provocative satire. Another writer declares that, “Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from its consequences” (Munayyer). In other words, the common excuse satirists use to defend their actions is not good enough, because it still causes harm. Fabius, France’s Foreign Minister, states, “Is it really sensible or intelligent to pour oil on the fire?” (Greenhouse), indicating that satire can do the opposite of what was intended, and make a bad situation worse. Satire is a needless and petty thing that does not spread a positive message, and it provokes terrorists and other groups to retaliate, in a much less peaceful