These are both parodies of clothing ads and jabs at the ex and not ex republican candidates. The overall message is that Republicans' clothes should be as ridiculous as their policies. I'm not sure if these outfits are actually available from Banana Republic, but if they are then "Banana Republic clothing is as ridiculous as Republican Candidates' policies" might also be the message.
It is interesting that they use each thing as a way to shed light on how ridiculous the other is, like when it says under Ted Cruz's that "there's no denying this outfit will set you apart from other fanatical demagogues in the crowd." This shows how silly the outfit is, pointing out how you will stand out (which could be a good thing, but the outfit is kinda silly), and comparing it to standing out against other 'fanatical demagogues," attacking Ted Cruz for not actually advocating any productive policies.
It uses satire to make a political statement, a very effective tool, and it does it by comparing bad policies to pretentious or just silly clothing, implying that the policies are pretentious and silly, and the same of the candidates. Satire is a very effective way to make a political statement because people will internalize and remember something funny, but not necessarily something serious. This is why satire is an effective form of making a political statement.
There aren't too many implicit messages, because the goal is to make you laugh and not to make you buy something. One possibility might be that black people are lazy, because Ben Carson is the only black person in the piece and he's wearing pajamas while all of the others are dressed up. Also, women wear dresses and men wear suits. These are some implicit messages.
It is interesting to see the messages of a magazine dedicated entirely to satire, because they seem to be serious, even if delivered through satire. It seems like it is hard to have a satirical message, only a satirical delivery mechanism.
No comments:
Post a Comment