Introduction
Satire is essentially used in a number of literature works to show vice or foolishness in organizations, humans, or even governments. Satire uses ridicule, irony, or sarcasm. For instance, it is used to effect social or political change, or to prevent it. A satiric can actually direct satire toward a person, a whole nation, or even the world. Sometimes it is serious, acting to expose or as a protest, or can be comical once used in poking fun at someone or something. For this reason, there are various faces of satire including satire in literature and political satire. This essay analyzes “NSA's spying on Germany's Chancellor” video by Stephen Colbert.
In the video satire has been portrayed by the use of of irony, ridicule, and sarcasm by both Colbert, NSA officials, and the president. Colbert has gained attention for both satirizing the United States political system and participating in it too. He demonstrates satire in this video by the use of comedy, irony, sarcasm, and ridicule. He wonders why Europeans have “their nut-hugger jeans in a bunch” over leaks that United States has been on leaders including Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. This statement is sarcastic, ridicules, is ironical, and has comedy in it. In this video, Colbert also uses attention to detail and exaggeration to satirize U.S involvement in the spying activity. He exaggerates circumstances through which U.S tapped the German’s chancellor phone.
The arguments in the video are political arguments that use refreshing tactics. Colbert has used more comedy and exaggeration in the video to bring out satire. The arguments that he has used are arguments by emotion, logic and character. Colbert is recognized for his political satire. The German officials fume over the revelations that NSA has been listening to the phone conversations that German’s chancellor, Angela Merkel has been making since 2002. They fear that NSA has been spying on the chancellor, an activity that they fear started long before Merkel became a chancellor, and although it is unclear how deep the snooping went. The secret NSA documents show the Chancellor’s phone number on the list that dates back to 2002. One of the ironies that we get from Colbert is that her phone number was still listed during the time when she met with the U.S President in Germany earlier this year. Colbert mocks these officials by stating, “Merkel should be flattered. Someone looked at the chancellor of Germany and said, ‘I’d tap that.” By doing this, he makes them appear foolish or stupid. Colbert directs his satire towards individuals, Germany, and the entire world in this video.
As mentioned above satire uses irony. Irony is present in the video for instance; through Colbert, we understand that NSA spying activity had been taking place on fourth floor of US embassy in central Berlin. In the video, Colbert brings out satire in two ways that is verbally and dramatically. It is ironical that this activity is carried out only a stone’s throw from the government’s headquarters in Germany. This is situational irony because we least expect the spying activity to be carried out in the German soil. Moreover, the findings by NSA including phone calls and SMS messages were directly reported to White House in the Washington. This is ironical because President Obama knew Chancellor Merkel’s phone number was being tapped and what’s more, he had personally approved this spying. Situational irony in this case is that the person who the Chancellor and the Germany government least expected to know about the spying activity that is, the U.S president even approved the spying activity. Thus, satire is clearly brought out here by this situational irony.
The German officials fume more after realizing that the U.S President had been informed about the NSA’s tapping of the German Chancellor’s mobile phone already in 2010. According to some reports, the white house had ordered NSA to prepare detailed dossier on Merkel because the U.S President did not trust the German Chancellor, hence he wanted to know all about her. The satire here is brought by Colbert’s verbal irony. The President had convinced the Chancellor in a phone conversation that he was not aware of such an activity and even assured her that he would have used his power to stop it if he had known it in advance. The president uses his persuasive skills to fool the Chancellor, the German intelligence service, the Germany government, and even the entire country. Therefore, what the President means when talking with the Chancellor over the phone, is different from the words that he uses. This brings out satire in the video.
Apart from using irony, satire also uses ridicule. The statements by Colbert in the video ridicule the German officials. We expect Statements like, “Oh, big deal” to ridicule those who have been hurt by the spying activity. Satire is also brought out by NSA who in responding to firestorm of the controversy over its spying activity on the European allies, it fools German and other countries it has been spying by saying that it would use its power to do everything to avoid being caught doing the same in the future. According to Keith Alexander, NSA head, there exist two important jobs for any spy agency, one being spying on the individuals and the other being avoiding detection. By reporting this, he ridicules the German officials, who are very angry about being spied. The head of NSA goes on and confirms that they have abused trust of a number of U.S closest allies, but instead of apologizing for doing so, he says that none of this would have taken place if German had not realized it. This is satirical because by saying this, he fools the Chancellor and German government(Heinrichs,267).
The satire in the video has also been portrayed by the use of sarcasm. Some sharp statements have been used to drive a point home. For instance, General Alexander says, “I had a meeting with my top people today and said, ‘I want you to put the same energy you put into spying on Germany, France, and Spain into keeping them from figuring out what we’re up to,’ ” he said. “ ‘Anything less than that will be unacceptable. “This is satirical considering the fact that the statement makes the German officials become angrier. The German officials expect an apology from NSA, but by issuing such a statement, they only fool them with cutting statements and this is how satire comes about.
Furthermore, the apology that General Alexander offered to the chancellor is full of sarcasm. He tells her, “I know how upsetting it must be for you to know that your closest ally has been listening in on your phone conversations for the past eleven years,” he said. “I give you my solemn promise that in the future you won’t know. “This statement has irony in it. By telling her that in future, she will not know that her allies are listening to her, he ridicules her and through this, we get the satire. In this statement, the NSA head argument is by logic, emotion, and character. He uses his opponent’s argument to his advantage. In addition, he utilizes pathos by showing concern to the chancellor’s emotions and them altering the mood to suit the argument that he is making (Heinrichs 45). Through this, he clearly brings out satire in this piece of work.
Work cited
Heinrichs, J. (2007). Thank you for arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson can teach us about the art of persuasion. New York: Three Rivers Press.
Colbert, S. (2013, October 28). Germany's NSA Outrage - The Colbert Report - 2013-28-10 - Video Clip | Comedy Central [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/430017/october-28-2013/germany-s-nsa-outrage
