Thinkingoutsidethecoop.weebly.com



Scriptwriting Group Assignment #1

Poking the Bear – An Exercise in Satire

Some people mock others to be cruel (or to cover their own insecurities), others mock to teach a lesson, some mock because they are terribly awkward at expressing affection, and still others mock as a way of relieving the tension and frustration that can exist between themselves and the person or group they are mocking. Usually, I suppose, there is some combination of these factors at play.

When we direct this mockery at the misbehavior of a larger group of people, people in positions of power and/or in the public eye, with the noble hope that the behaviors we are ridiculing will change and basic human decency will prevail, our mockery becomes satire and largely goes misunderstood and/or ignored. When we are just doing it to get a laugh, it becomes a YouTube video and gets millions of hits from people who never get out of their houses long enough to fight injustice in the world.

Our goal is to create something that will represent the best of both worlds. Would we like to make the world a better place by raising awareness of our faults and promoting better behavior? Sure. Is that likely? No. Should we try anyway? Yes. Does Mr. Brenner enjoy these little conversations he has with himself before he even introduces the assignment to his students? Most definitely. Do they cause him to forget what he was writing and go off on random tangents of little value and even less interest to his students? Uh . . . yup. Does he care what those mewling little twerps think? Well of course he does – that’s why he is always so patient and kind and considerate of their feelings . . . never uttering a mean or cynical word about their writing, their personalities, their intellects or their appearance because he knows what a devastating impact that would have on their fragile little psyches. I mean, can you imagine having someone who is so brilliant and beautiful and talented as Mr. Brenner say critical things about you? It’d be like Zeus himself smashing his mighty hammer down upon your head.

But I digress.

What we really want is to create scripts that will make us laugh, expose the irony and hypocrisy of our behaviors, encourage better behavior, and ultimately leave us amused and enlightened rather than insulted and angry . . . or just completely confused.

For this project you and your classmates will split into groups of 3 – 4 people. People with split personality disorders or people who are overly ambitious can be in more than one group (but no more than two) . . . and two or more personalities in the same person do not constitute a group unless there is a separate, distinct individual with his or her own personality who is also a member of the group. Anyone who is possessed is in the wrong class and will not be allowed in any group until her or his demon(s) has(have) been exorcised.

Once you have your groups, you and whoever is willing to put up with your shenanigans will generate ideas for, then draft, revise, and finalize an equivalent number of scripts that satirize some aspect of Coop High School. Your goals are to be funny, to demonstrate keen awareness and insight, to invoke change/improvement in what you see as a fault, and to humbly remind us that we are all human . . . and therefore silly.

Suggestions: Brainstorm ideas on your own – pick your best two or three – play around with them, maybe flesh them out a bit – don’t use real flesh, that’s gross – and then bring them to your group. When someone suggests an idea, don’t dismiss it – instead see what you can add to it to make it funnier. If each person in your group does this, you should end up with a few fairly funny ideas to work with. If you just meet and hope to come up with something, more often than not there will just be some awkward quiet, a few bad jokes, a few worse ideas, and everyone will walk away a little dissatisfied.

Each script will be graded and points will be awarded the group. The group will then have to decide how to divide those points so that each member gets exactly what he or she deserves . . . or if not what they deserve, then at least what everyone in the group can accept without whining too much about how unfair life is.

If you would like some examples of social satire, then you can watch the following YouTube videos, I recommend:

“Man Cold” ()

“It’s Not About the Nail” ().

The first explores some of the irony of stereotypical male behavior set against stereotypical male self-perceptions and attitudes. The second does the same for women.

Key and Peele are also very good at this sort of thing.

“Dueling Hats” () mocks the behavior of a certain segment of the population bent on impressing others with sartorial displays of wealth and status that are likely inaccurate and definitely wasteful.

There are also:

“Sad Cat Diary” ()which satirizes our anthropomorphic projections of feline feelings (or just the sadness of cat owners).

Monty Python’s “The Dead Parrot Sketch” ()which satirizes the ethics of salesmen.

“Everything That Will Kill You ... from A to Z”() which satirizes educational poetry for children.

I’m sure there are many other examples on YouTube, so if you’d like to send me links to some of the funnier ones, that would be great. I would search for them myself, but as delicate specimen of Hedysarum boreale (a member of the Fabaceae family), I need sunlight and fresh air to survive . . . unlike so many of you.

You could also spend some time watching old episodes of MASH or not-so-old episodes of The Colbert report; perusing The Onion on-line ( ); or reading Swift’s classic satire “A Modest Proposal.”

Your final drafts are due May 4th. Here’s the Rubric/Checklist/Vague Pronouncement of the Criteria by which This Project Will Be Graded (even though we all know that your grade really depends on whether or not you buy me that pet pygmy ocelot I have wanted since boyhood):

Satire Scripts

Mechanics and Formatting (no points for these; major errors or any more than an average of one minor error per page will cause you to fail this assignment – you can get outside editing help . . . I highly recommend it)

They’re funny (47 points) ________

They’re insightful (they capture a true irony of human behavior) (26 points) ________

They’re not egregiously insensitive, insulting or crude (19 points) ________

Practicality (can we actually stage or film your script) (33 points) ________

Creativity, originality, and other subjective notions about your work (23 points) ________

They’re funny (12 points) ________

Total: (out of 269 points) ________

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download