So I’ve been interested recently – strangely, by watching Glee – in how many shows which initially start as satire of a genre, eventually grow to be a genuine part of said genre. From that idea (which I still want to explore further at some point, by the way!) – I found it interesting how most satire does genuinely indulge in classic tropes, even as they make fun of them. So I thought I would explore that!
I suspect this will probably be the first time that someone compares a StarKid musical and a CW musical comedy show with Jane Austen. But truly I think there are a lot of interesting parallels! Northanger Abbey in particular has a really lively wit to it, which I think is just as at home in modern comedy as it was 300 years ago. Anyway. I’ll get into the essay now 🙂
Satire is a genre that has been around for millennia, from Ancient Egypt to the modern day. Works of art which satirise specific genres or styles must parody their tropes by definition, often for humorous effect. This is done by subversion, and the bringing of the audience in a joke, for example by breaking the fourth wall and having a narrator who voices the audience’s own opinions on tropes and clichés. However, in doing so, they often genuinely indulge in the tropes, whether that is in their plot points, characters or ideas.
To explore these ideas, I will use three pieces of different media – the classic novel Northanger Abbey (1817) by Jane Austen; StarKid productions’ theatrical musical Black Friday (2019); and the CW’s television series, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015 – 2019). Though different, all three serve as satirical examples of popular genres – Northanger Abbey, the popular Gothic novels of the time period, Black Friday, modern horror, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, romantic comedies.
Northanger Abbey revolves around Catherine Morland, an unremarkable girl with an obsession for the Gothic, who finds herself visiting the ancient Gothic house of her friend and develops a theory that his father killed his wife. It is available to purchase, and to read for free online.
Black Friday is a horror-comedy musical about a town called Hatchetfield, whose inhabitants become cultists obsessed with a supernatural entity behind the popular Tickle Me Wiggly doll. A proshot of Black Friday is available online on the StarKid Productions YouTube channel.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a musical comedy series, where Rebecca Bunch moves to the town of West Covina to win back her old boyfriend, ignoring her own mental health issues. It is available on Netflix, and the songs are all online.
Horror tropes
Both Northanger Abbey and Black Friday reflect the horror tropes of their period – Northanger Abbey, Gothic novels, and Black Friday modern horror films. Whilst in many ways, both are parodies of their genre, they also create genuinely tense moments, partaking in the genre’s tropes.
An example of this is in act two of Black Friday, when President Goodman enters the Black and White. The theatre is lit to be totally dark, but for a green light in his hand. Ominous music plays, and Uncle Wiley repeats “Howie”. This repetition builds the atmosphere of fear, and heightens the emotion of terror in the audience created like in a typical horror film – its delivery is reminiscent of the line ‘Hello Danny’ in The Shining, for instance. In the same play, a similar scene occurs with Linda and Uncle Wiley – however this one is more satirical, as well as tense. There is red lighting, adding to the tense atmosphere, and Uncle Wiley repeats the interrogative ‘do you see him?’, delivered in a way that mirrors many classic horror films, building the tension. This is then undermined humorously by Linda saying ‘Yes I f***ing see him!’. The use of an expletive undermines the tension and serves to satirically highlight the impracticality of many horror tropes.
In Northanger Abbey, Catherine becomes obsessed with discovering what lies in the drawer in her room in a way that reflects Gothic novels of the period. The use of pathetic fallacy in the weather is significant, for example “a violent gust of wind, rising with sudden fury” reflects the trope of stormy weather in a tense moment. It also builds the tension and creates an image of a world that is threatening to Catherine. Her fear is further expressed by the slightly clichéd collocation “her blood was chilled by the sound of distant moans”, reflecting how her anxiety in the old house is being heightened by the Gothic novels she has read which use such figures of speech regularly. In contrast however, later in the novel, after she suspects General Tilney of killing his wife due to her own assumptions due to novels, Henry highlights her folly by saying “Remember the age and country in which we live. Remember that we are English, that we are Christians…” The anaphora of ‘remember’ emphasises the point of questioning the Gothic tropes of the period and highlighting their inaccuracy. This point is further shown by Tilney’s repeated rhetorical questions, ending with “Dearest Miss Morland, what ideas have you been admitting?” These rhetorical questions highlight Catherine’s mistake in succumbing to horror tropes and by presenting her in this way, the novel serves as a satire of similar novels in the genre, despite also falling into the genre itself.
Stereotypical Characters?
A major feature of the comedy Crazy Ex Girlfriend is satirising romantic comedies. With co-creator Aline Brosh McKenna having written many classic romantic comedy films, this intention becomes more clear. As Rachel Bloom stated, people in romantic comedies are “generally psychotic” so the pair wanted to “deconstruct[..] what It is like to be obsessed with someone from the obsessor’s point of view”. In this way, the character of Rebecca is a parody of not only the trope of the titular crazy ex girlfriend, but also protagonists in romantic comedies. One way this link is established is in ‘West Covina (reprise)’, when Rebecca sings ‘It’s time to kick it into high gear’ at the same time as Paula says ‘Julia Roberts and Richard Gere’. This homophone is used to highlight that in Rebecca’s own mind, as well as how she has presented herself to Paula, she is the lead of a romantic comedy film, yet in this world her actions are not excused for being done ‘for love’ like they are in romantic comedies – which in itself is a way to parody those movies.
Northanger Abbey also uses characters in specific ways to undercut tropes, an example being Isabella Thorpe. At first, she is presented as the fast friend of Catherine, calling her the affectionate endearment “my dearest creature.” The superlative highlights their seemingly close relationship. However, it rapidly becomes clear that she is manipulative and fickle, and she represents a satire of obsession with money and power. This comes to a head at the end of the novel, after rejecting Catherine’s brother James for Captain Tilney due to his wealth, but then getting rejected by Tilney, Isabella writes Catherine a letter, within which she says, after having not spoken to Catherine in weeks, “Your kind offices will set all rights: – [James] is the only man I ever did or could love[…]. The spring fashions are partly down: and the hats the most frightful you can imagine.” The bathetic contradiction in the tone of these sentences emphasise her shallow nature, as she jumps straight from love to fashion. Furthermore, the clearly manipulative and contradictory nature of her claims compared to reality highlight her character as fickle and without any true love for Catherine, which undermines her initial role as her devoted friend.
Fourth wall & satire
The fourth wall is repeatedly broken in many satirical works in order to highlight the reader/viewer’s indulgence of these tropes, and to parody the norms of the medium which it is a part of, where the fourth wall is generally maintained. One example of this is the song ‘Who’s The New Guy’ in Crazy Ex Girlfriend. Upon the introduction of Nathaniel into the show, a character sings “Do we really need a new guy this far into the season/ and by far into the season I mean it’s almost fall”. This pun uses the double meaning of season in a television show and in the year to break the fourth wall and bring the viewer into the show, as well as highlighting and acknowledging the thoughts of the viewers in regards to the introduction of a new character in a comedic way. It also parodies the features of a television show as a medium, and the tropes that occur when introducing a new character to an audience and establishing whether they will have a major role in the story.
In a similar way, in the novel Northanger Abbey, Austen satirises both Gothic novels and novels themselves. This is made clear in the novel’s opening line, “No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her to be born a heroine,” and how it then lists her many traits including “her mother was a woman of useful sense […] and, what is more remarkable, with a good constitution.” This undermines the tropes of novels in which the protagonist has an unpleasant childhood, and in particular that in which a mother dies early in a child’s childhood. This also could be an example of her awareness of tropes used in her own novels – before writing Northanger Abbey, Austen had written an early draft of Pride and Prejudice, featuring a mother renowned for a lack of ‘good sense’. In contrast, though, whilst the novel is a satire of this genre, it is clearly written from an affection for the medium – as shown by the narrator’s comment that “I will not adopt that ungenerous and impolitic custom so common with novel-writers, of degrading by their contemptuous censure the very performances, to the number of which they are themselves adding.” This demonstrates the author’s disdain for the common trope of trivialisation of novels, which was common in the context of her time as in 18th century England novels were not considered to be serious works of art. Instead, by making not only Catherine but also the intelligent Mr Tilney enjoy novels, she is defending her own medium and criticising the unjust devaluation of the novel, even as she satirises them.
Black Friday also frequently breaks the fourth wall. As a theatrical production, breaking of the fourth wall can be even more effective as it is easier to directly interact with the audience. One way this is done to heighten the horror tropes of the piece is during the number ‘Do You Want To Play?’, where, as the ominous lullaby song builds, the actors sing and lean close to individual audience members. This not only strengthens the tense atmosphere, but also adds some humour when Tom Houston’s actor makes a loud shout to ‘jump-scare’ audience members. Another example of how the fourth wall is broken to parody a trope, is when Uncle Wiley takes a bite out of an apple and hands it to an audience member. This is a clear satire of ‘The Snack Is More Interesting’ trope, with the effect becoming more clear and humorous by bringing the audience into the joke.
Ironically, in order for satire of an art form to manifest itself successfully in a similar piece of art, an innate respect for the genre seems to be required – among the critique, for the message to be successfully expressed there is always a central sincerity and authenticity that elevates it from being purely comedic and mocking, to being something deeper and more meaningful. The coexistence of these factors in regards to the tropes of a genre allow for satirical pieces to not only be more effective works of satire, but more effective works of art overall.