What Is Social Commentary? Definition, History & Examples

Social commentary is the use of popular culture and mass media to criticize aspects of society.

This can be done in a number of different ways, such as criticizing the government and/or large corporations, or simply showing how people are dealing with problems like poverty or racism.

Social commentary is used by many commercial companies to sell products to consumers. Companies such as Disney and Coca-Cola have been known to use their products as social commentary in order to appeal to their target audience.

Social commentary has been around for centuries, but it’s only recently that it’s become more common in modern media. For example, the 1960s saw many films about political corruption or drug use that had no relevance in today’s society.

In contrast, modern films like The Dark Knight are based on current events (such as terrorism) and are therefore more relevant today than ever before.

Social Commentary Characteristics

 Social commentary is a film genre that focuses on social issues. This can be anything from discrimination, to poverty and prejudice.

In a way, social commentary is the opposite of entertainment. Entertainment is about escapism, while social commentary is about reality.

Social commentary films are often bleak and depressing, because they try to show what’s really going on in society rather than what we want to see or what we think people should be like.

Social commentary films often have an anti-hero as their protagonist. The anti-hero is usually someone who has been affected by society’s prejudices or injustices and tries to fight them by any means necessary, even if it means breaking the law or going against authority figures.

The anti-hero usually comes from an ordinary background and has no money or power of their own; they’re just trying to get by day by day while making sure they don’t get caught up in the system.

   

Art With Social Commentary

Art with social commentary is a good way to get people thinking about their own life, and how they can make the world better. It is also a good way for artists to express their feelings about the state of the world, or what they think should be done about it. This kind of art can be used in many ways, such as making posters, billboards, or even paintings.

The most common form of social commentary art is graffiti art. Graffiti is usually illegal and therefore it often causes problems for those who see it. However, there are some places where people can go to see graffiti art without having to worry about being arrested or fined by authorities.

Another form of social commentary art that has been around since ancient times is murals. Mural paintings usually tell a story or depict famous historical events in history. They are often painted on walls which have been abandoned buildings or in other public places such as museums or parks.

How To Present Social Commentary

 Social commentary is the way we show our thoughts and feelings about the world around us. It’s a way of sharing our experiences, opinions and ideas about society and the people in it.

Social commentary can be easy to write or make. You just have to be passionate about what you’re writing about and express those feelings in a way that others will understand.

If you want to learn how to present social commentary, here are some tips:

Be yourself – No matter what subject or theme you’re writing about, your writing style should reflect who you are as a person. If you’re shy and nervous when speaking with people in person, don’t expect your readers to like your work if they don’t know what kind of person wrote it!

Know your audience – Before posting anything publicly on social media, make sure you know who your target audience is and what they want from your piece. If you’re writing for teens or college students, their interests may be very different than those of adults with advanced degrees in English literature!

Be clear – Make sure that each sentence has a clear beginning and end so that readers can tell where one sentence ends and another begins without any confusion whatsoever! This goes for both written text as well

Social Commentary Examples

 Some of the most powerful social commentary examples are in the form of a slogan. The best slogans have meaning for everyone. They can make you laugh, but they also make you think, and that’s what makes them so powerful.

Here are some great examples of social commentary slogans:

“Waste not, want not” – Our global economy is based on consumption, which means we’re always buying something new. We waste everything we don’t need and want to buy more things we don’t need or want. This slogan makes you consider what you really need in life, and whether you might be wasting your money doing so.

“If it’s yellow, let it mellow” – This is one of my favorite quotes because it reminds me that if something is bothering me or triggering my emotions, then it’s probably time to get over it already! I’ve used this quote as a mantra many times when I’m feeling angry or upset about something – it doesn’t take much effort at all to heal my feelings once I’ve let them mellow a little bit!

“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” – This quote reminds us how important taking action towards goals can be even

Cinema Critiquing Consumerism

 In today’s world, we are bombarded with advertisements, images, and messages all day long. From social media to television, we are constantly being fed a stream of consumerism.

With so many ads permeating our lives, it can be hard to not feel like you need to buy something every time you walk out of your house. But what if the ads weren’t there to sell us products? What if they were there to sell us ideas about how to live our lives?

In Cinema Critiquing Consumerism, director Andy Serkis shows us that cinema has long been used as a tool for promoting certain ideas about society. In this film he examines the relationship between humans and their technology through the lens of cinema.

He explores how we as a society have come to accept certain technologies as inevitable parts of everyday life and how these technologies have shaped our perception of ourselves and our place in the world.

The director takes us on a journey through history where we see how cinema has been used as propaganda by various governments, dictatorships, and organizations throughout time.

We see how movies were used to reinforce stereotypes about groups who were considered different or distant from mainstream society: women in The Wizard of Oz (1939), Jews in Lisztomania (1897

Social Commentary Movies

 Social commentary movies are movies that take a look at social issues and make them the focus of the movie. Social commentary movies can be very emotional, but they also have a detailed plot and characters that are easy to follow.

Social commentaries are usually based on real life events or people who have experienced those events first hand. This can be done through the use of a fictional character, an actor playing themselves, or even through interviews with actual people who have gone through these situations.

The most popular social commentaries in recent times are:

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – This is a prison drama film starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman as two men who spend their time getting high and drinking together in prison. It tells the story of one man’s determination to survive against all odds after being framed for murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Social Commentary Examples In Literature

Social commentary is an important part of literature and can influence us in many ways. Some examples of social commentary in literature include:

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (1894)

In this story, Kipling uses the jungle to show how humans have changed the natural world and even torn apart their own families. The main character Mowgli is raised by wolves, who teach him what it means to be human. Mowgli has a great love for animals and he teaches them how to be wild again through his actions.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

In this novel, Mary Shelley uses social commentary to show how people should not create life from dead matter. It also shows how humans should not use science for personal gain or power but for the greater good of all human kind. She also shows how society views those with different beliefs as monsters or freaks instead of true artists or scientists.

Portrait Of A Lady On Fire – Social Commentary

 The novel Portrait of a Lady on Fire, by Zadie Smith, is a social commentary on the state of modern Britain and the world. It tells the story of an unnamed narrator who is not quite satisfied with her life. She has many dreams but does not believe that she can achieve them.

The book starts with an introduction to London and how it was before World War II. Then it moves forward in time to when this narrator was a child. The book then goes back further in history to describe how her family came to live in London and why they did so.

This novel is very much about class differences, as well as people’s attitudes towards money and success. It also describes how people choose their careers based on what they want out of life rather than what they need for survival or economic status.

The Social Commentary Of They Live

The film, They Live, is a commentary on the power of commercialism and consumerism. The main character John Nada is a homeless man who works for a construction company in Los Angeles.

He has no money, but he manages to get by. He wears glasses that have been left behind by a former employer who was killed because he had discovered the truth about aliens that lived among us.

John Nada is also an alien who comes from Mars and has been stationed on Earth since the 1960s, when all of mankind was still unaware of what had happened. The aliens come down to Earth every fifty years and offer us technology, which we refuse at first because we don’t know what it does or how to use it.

When John discovers that his glasses can see through people’s eyes and reveal their true nature (as humans), he realizes that humanity is being brainwashed by TV commercials every day. He starts wearing his glasses around town as a way of protesting against this manipulation by corporations

How Bong Joon-Ho Critiques Class

 In the film, Bong Joon-Ho presents a satirical view of modern society in which class is the central issue. His movie is a critique of the capitalist system that has been built on the exploitation of labor and human beings.

The movie begins with a description of a new worker in Korea who has been hired to work at an electronics factory. The worker’s name is Ahn Min-Woo, and he begins his job at 7:00 AM every day.

His job is to assemble circuit boards by hand. After three hours at work, he goes home to eat dinner before returning to work again until 11:00 PM.

At first, Min-Woo seems happy with his job and life in general. However, things begin to change when he meets with his supervisor, Mr. Park Hyeon-Jin (played by Yoo Ah-In).

It turns out that Mr. Park used to be an engineer like Min-Woo but now works as an executive officer for a group called “New Future.”

Mr. Park explains that New Future was started by wealthy businessmen who decided that they wanted to make money by making technology more efficient rather than just developing new products themselves or selling them overseas for profit (as most

What Is Social Commentary – Wrapping Up

 Social commentary is a form of literature that aims to raise awareness about social issues and make the readers think about them.

The main objective of social commentary is to provide an insight into the society, its characters and issues.

Social commentary novels are usually written by authors who have experienced some kind of injustice in life and want to share their experience with the rest of the world.

The characters in these novels are usually based on real people who have gone through similar situations, which makes them more relatable.

The readers can identify with these characters because they have similar problems, feelings or values as those portrayed in the story.

This makes it easier for them to identify with what’s going on in the story and make an informed decision about whether they feel like taking action or not.

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