Social commentary is the act of using means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace about a given problem and appealing to people's sense of justice. Social commentary can be practiced through all forms of communication, from printed form, to conversations to computerized communication.
Two examples of strong and bitter social commentary are the writings of Anglo-Irish writer Jonathan Swift and German priest Martin Luther. Swift decried the appalling conditions faced by Irish Catholics under the rule of the Protestant Ascendancy in A Modest Proposal, while Martin Luther decried corruption in the Catholic Church in his Ninety-five Theses.[In 1531, Martin Luther claimed that Pope Leo X had vetoed a measure that cardinals should restrict the number of boys they kept for their pleasure, "otherwise it would have been spread throughout the world how openly and shamelessly the pope and the cardinals in Rome practice sodomy." ] Examples of social commentators from the lower social strata are Charles Dickens and Will Rogers.
Forms
This list is far from exhaustive. Examples of social commentary may be found in any form of communication. Artistic works of all mediums are often defined by what they say about society. Despite being wordless, the memorable image of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 may be considered one of the most profound commentaries of the power of the individual.
Visual artwork
Inspiration for some artists can come from issues that are present today. Deborah Silverman, Professor of History and Art History at the University of California in Los Angeles, states that the "Analysis of particular visual forms expands to an interpretation of art and artists as carriers of cultural history in the crucible of modernity." This notion has been present in art throughout time. An example is Vincent Van Gogh's 1885 painting 'The Potato Eaters'. This picture depicts a group of poverty stricken people gathered in a small room around a table. Vincent Van Gogh created this piece of artwork in order to present a confronting time to the viewer. A modern example is
street art, also known as
graffiti. With an international reputation, artist and political activist
Banksy is known to produce street art that raises public issues such as slave Labour, loss of childhood and the effects of war.
Photography
Social commentary photography's purpose is to "expose social issues on ethics, society, religious, the way of life, how people live and other similarities."
Sometimes this includes the harsh reality of society such as homelessness, discrimination, war and defenceless children. "Social Commentary artists try their best to create artworks in order to convey messages to the community."
Due to the fact that the photos are of real life situations, the contents can be perceived to be more confronting than other visual forms of social commentary. An example are the works of photojournalist and war photographer
James Nachtwey. James Nachtwey's works include the Rwanda Genocide (1994),
the Somalia famine (1992) and the Jakarta Riots (1998) and the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Direct publication
Public speaking
Most
public speaking constitutes social commentary of some form. Many
will describe the ills of society and offer religious solutions. Many politicians may speak in a similar fashion – in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar one can see
Mark Antony's funeral speech as a commentary. The larger audience offered by radio and television has diminished the significance of public speaking as a means of social commentary.
The United Nations General Assembly is one of the biggest global organisations that focus of planet Earth and humans. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) strive to make the Earth a better place, however without the input of many passionate individuals the UNGA would not be able to achieve this.
Fiction
Allegorical
works such as
Animal Farm clearly contain a social commentary and one can find some degree of social commentary in almost any novel.
To Kill a Mockingbird can be interpreted as a commentary on racial issues, especially given the date of its publication (1960). Another example of social commentary is
Thomas More's
Utopia in which he uses the Utopia to satirize the values of 16th century Britain. Social commentaries have been searched for even in
fantasy novels such as
The Lord of the Rings, though such connections often require much conjecture, or in modern fables.
Non-fiction
Directly speaking to a topic in the social discourse in writing by defining the audience, the bounds of the topic, and the presenting facts and opinions based on the primarily author and possibly on another's perspective.
Radio, television and film
Fictional works in these mediums have a similar scope to that of their literary counterparts and documentaries to the non-fiction works described above. Television and films often use powerful images to enhance their message, for example,
Michael Moore's films utilise this to great effect in promoting his political beliefs. Some examples of films include
Food, Inc.,
The Story of Stuff featuring
Annie Leonard, and
Morgan Spurlock's
Super Size Me. And to a lesser degree, the prominent Italian exploitation film
Cannibal Holocaust uses graphic violence, shocking imagery, and underlying topics in anthropology to express
Ruggero Deodato's distaste for modern society – more importantly – what it has become. West Indian calypsonians participate annually in songwriting competitions with the common use of
double entendre, humour and metaphor as well as monikers to avoid legal complications (see
Calypso Music). The
slasher film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre also uses
animal rights social commentary, in the form of the movie being a
metaphor, the chainsaw victims being treated like animals in
slaughterhouses and then put into fridges,
Meat tenderiser, and hung on
and in an interview,
Russell Simmons said: "The way that woman was screaming, ‘Aaaahhh,’ and she's running away—that's how every animal you eat is running for his or her life".
The
shockumentary Mondo Cane also provided social commentary, as in one frame, there are
Dog walking in
San Francisco and in the other, in Papua New Guinea people are eating
dog meat, using cultures different from Western culture to shock the viewer and make them feel uncomfortable.
was made to promote "
Christian values", and uses language in the film such as "
Barbarian".
Dystopian fiction
A lot of books and games from the
Cyberpunk, including 2020 video game
Cyberpunk 2077 use social commentary usually as a means of questioning technology (ex: "Will technology make us selfish?") or questioning
Business ethics megacorporations, as in most Cyberpunk plots the megacorporations are
Antagonist and
Demonisation and Cyberpunk also sheds light on poverty-related issues.
The video game series
Watch Dogs, in which the protagonists are
Cyber-vigilante that rebel against an all-seeing government, uses social commentary against mass surveillance. 1999 film
The Matrix and 1932 book
Brave New World provide commentary on the Blissful ignorance effect, where in
The Matrix, the protagonist named Neo can choose the red pill, a dark truth, or the blue pill, a blissful lie to stay in the Matrix or to wake up in the real world and in
Brave New World the character has a choice whether or not to take soma, a drug used by the totalitarian government to keep the people happy and docile, both inspired by
Plato's Cave which some consider a
metaphor for life.
In a similar situation, the fascist government of video game We Happy Few use drugs to keep people in a state of mania, to forget a certain "incident" that occurred and secret police are dispatched to kill people who remember the event or don't take the pills and the citizens are forced to wear masks that mold faces in permanent smiles.
Rap music
A lot of hip hop associated with
gangsta rap or
conscious rap uses sociopolitical commentary, such as N.W.A's protest song "Fuck Tha Police" or
Chamillionaire and
Krayzie Bone "Ridin", typically against
Racial profiling and
police brutality and music from gangsta rap artist 2Pac also speak of the poverty in
inner cities and racism in the United States and 1991 2Pac song
Trapped discusses an incident in which 2Pac was assaulted by a police officer and talks about police brutality in the United States.
In a 1988 interview about societal perspective, rapper 2Pac said “More kids are being handed
Crack cocaine than being handed diplomas.” and "Society is like that. They’ll let you go as far as you want, but as soon as you start asking too many questions and you’re ready to change, boom, that block will come".
In the interview, he also states his opinions on government action, requesting
School reform on
Drug education,
Sex ed,
scams,
Religious cult,
police brutality,
apartheid,
American racism,
poverty, and
food insecurity.
Other
School curricula such as foreign languages, are written off by 2Pac, saying that he doesn't need to learn
German language, he says he can hardly pay his rent, let alone book a flight to
Germany.
Monologists
An early radio
monologist was the American
Will Rogers, with sharp and good-humored observations upon society during the 1920s and 1930s. Current American monologists include:
Discussion shows
There are a number of discussion shows that do not have a call in segments, but which sometimes have discussions (beyond mere interviews) with personages of current interest. In the United States of America, some such shows include:
Talk shows (call-in)
In the late 20th century through the present, radio and television phone-in shows allow limited discussion and sometimes debate on such issues, although if involving politics or issues exploited for political purposes the discussion is often directed by the "moderator" toward a specific point of view, typically by terminating non-conforming phone calls.
In more balanced forums it is common that a panel of well-known social commentators or experts on aspects of a topic will respond to comments from listeners after an introductory interactive discussion directed by the moderator, with only the obstreperous or extreme caller summarily terminated.
Newspapers and comic books
What is probably the most common social commentary is that of the
editorial section of newspapers, where columnists give their opinion on current affairs. The letters section of papers allows a similar platform for members of the public. Editorial cartoons, such as those in
The New Yorker, perform a social commentary, often with a humorous slant.
The conventional comic section is more limited, but sometimes with social commentary, often subtle and oblique, or more bold, abrasive, and consistently pointed as in, Li'l Abner, Pogo, Doonesbury, Bloom County, and Boondocks or in comic book such as Howard the Duck. Many other even more explicitly provocative comics (usually with a far left of center point of view) appear in various free weekly newspapers such as the San Francisco Bay Guardian and the East Bay Express (in the San Francisco Bay Area) and the Village Voice (in New York City), and similarly in many other locals, often those with a strong university or college presence.
The Internet
The
WorldWideWeb performs a similar function to the letters section described above. It is ripe with social commentary because it allows the dissemination of ideas by anyone with a computer to a potentially enormous audience, as well as instant comment and discussion. Its international scope is particularly attractive, with language the only major barrier to communication. Discussion and debate occurs in many
Internet forums and
chat rooms.
Famous social commentators
See also
Sources
