This image depicts an officer using uneccesary force to subdue Lady Justice
Police brutality is sadly becoming a common occurrence in today’s society. There doesn’t seem to be a day where there isn’t a case of the police being overly aggressive or hostile. However, people are calling out the polices’ questionable actions on social medias like Facebook and even some websites are bringing attention to the issue in their own way.
The Onion, for example, does what it does vest and is there is no shortage of satirical articles about police brutality on their website. Satire is the use of humor, and exaggeration to ridicule or expose people’s stupidity or vices and has been used since the time of the Greeks. One article titled “Do You Know Why I’m Pulling You Over, Being Wildly Aggressive, And Charging You With Assault Today, Sir?” deals with a police officer where he explains the reasons on why he pulled over a vehicle. What makes the article so satirical is the fact that the situation in which the police officer finds himself in is ironic especially when he says “Now, just sit tight in your car while I take a look here and grow increasingly hostile. I’m just going to start addressing you in an unmistakably threatening tone that is specifically meant to intimidate and provoke, and then drastically escalate the situation so that it quickly gets out of hand.” Although the speech that the police officer delivers may seem amusing and even humorous it reflects the reality in which even a slight movement might be misconstrued as resistance to the police officers and might result in the victim getting pinned on the ground by multiple police officers.
Additionally, most of the speech might be how the audience jokingly perceives the exchange might have happened between the officer and the victim of police brutality. Obviously the little speech is an exaggeration and no police officer would actually say that but that is what makes this article such an effective form of satire. The articles manages to criticize the the brutality of the police and they even manage to do it in an amusing and sarcastic way. This articles use of irony, exaggeration and underlying criticism help shape and fuel and reader’s resentment for police officers in general while at the same time ridiculing them for their excessive use of force.
Image source: http://www.ericgarland.co/2015/04/27/continued-police-brutality-predictable/
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