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Social satire comedy movie

Description: This warm-hearted comedy presents an alternate universe which is the same
as the modern day U.S. except that no one knows how to lie and everyone speaks exactly
what comes into their heads. There are no "white lies," there is no fiction, and everyone can
be absolutely trusted. There is also no religion.
As the movie opens, the audience is introduced to Mark Bellison, a slightly overweight
young man with a pug nose who is unsuccessful at work and unlucky in love. In short order,
Mark is rejected by a beautiful woman, gets fired from his job, and is about to be evicted
from his apartment. The movie shows how Mark discovers the ability to lie while poking fun
at modern society and some of our most cherished institutions.

Rationale for Using the Movie: This humorous film is an excellent example of social
satire, a literary genre that began with the plays of Aristophanes and has continued in all art
forms through the ages. Examples in literature include, Candide, Gulliver's Travels, The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Catch 22. This film, like all good social satire, has
meaning beyond the laugh, spoofing social status, social conventions, religion, advertising,
and more.
Possible Problems: Like all good social satire, The Invention of Lying challenges strongly
held beliefs and important institutions, including religion. It will infuriate some, but give new
perspectives to all.
AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL SATIRE

Social satire can be introduced through direct instruction or by having students

research the genre and provide examples for the class in various forms of expression
such as the visual arts, literature, drama, music, television, film, political cartoons,

comic strips, and jokes. The class can be divided into groups and assigned to find and
present to the class an example of social satire in each of these forms. Other groups of
students can be asked to report on how satire works.
An excellent way to start any presentation about social satire is to show the following
picture.

Ask the class the question, "What is this artist trying to tell us?"
Tell the class that this is an example of a genre of art called "social satire", which is the
effort to use humor in a way that makes us look at our lives, our institutions, or our culture
in a different way. Social satire exposes the contradictions and foibles in our institutions, our
society, and ourselves.
Techniques of social satire include irony, hyperbole, demonstrating incongruity, for example
showing the differences between how we behave and what we say we believe in, and
fantasy.
Ask students to give specific examples of social satire on television, in movies or from books
they have read. [Examples can come from TV programs such as The
Simpsons, Southpark,Family Guy, movies like Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop
Worrying and Love the Bomb, poetry, such as "The Unknown Citizen" by W.H. Auden, or
literature such as Catch-22,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Animal Farm, Gulliver's
Travels, Don Quixote, Candide, Mark Twain's "A Toast to the Oldest Inhabitant . . .", Alice in
Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, "Game" by Donald Bartholemew, "A Modest
Proposal" by Jonathan Swift, "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, and "The Princess in
the Tin Box" by James Thurber].

Tell the class that one of the earliest practitioners of social satire was a Greek playwright
named Aristophanes, who poked fun at the gullibility and greed of the people of Athens in
their willingness to follow whichever leader promised them the most food and benefits.

Aristophanes
There are magazines and websites devoted to social satire. One website is The Onion.
Many cartoons and comic strips are works of social satire. Doonsbury is an example. Political
cartoons can contain social satire. Jokes are a source of social satire.
An Exercise in Social Satire on Both Sides of the Political Spectrum:

Note to Teachers. Different levels of students will appreciate different levels of humor.
The following exercise is suitable for honors or AP level classes. If the class does not
have the background or frame of reference to appreciate what follows, try using the
"Only in America" jokes in Discussion Question #4. Another alternative is to ask the
class to find jokes that are examples of social satire. Be sure to instruct students that
racist and sexist jokes or jokes demeaning a particular nationality or the handicapped
are not acceptable.
Discussion Questions:
After the film has been watched, engage the class in a discussion about the movie.
1. In a world in which everyone believes everything you say without question, what would
you do? Would you tell "white lies" to avoid hurt feelings? Would you lie about anything
important?Suggested Response: There is no one correct response.
2. When Anna interrupted her wedding asked Mark to tell her what the man in the sky
wanted her to do, why wouldn't Mark tell her? After all, she would have believed him

without question.Suggested Response: He didn't want her to choose to marry him based on
a lie. The marriage would have felt false all his life.
3. In what ways does Mark misuse his power to lie? Suggested Response: To steal money
from banks and casinos and to make up stories that he sells as the literal truth. It can also
be argued that in making up a religion based on "the man in the sky," Mark was abusing his
power. On the other hand, he thought he was just trying to make people feel better about
their lives and deaths. Otherwise, Mark was pretty good about not using his power to lie to
his own advantage or to hurt people.
Possible other discussion questions
Are we better off as a society or culture in a world that allows no form of deception or
communication of falsehood whatsoever? Ways to approach this:
People regularly tell others what they really think of them. There are no white lies in this
world. Is human nature adaptable enough to allow for this, or are people too prone to
offense or depression given such brutal honesty? You can answer this question with regard
to the character Frank.
How much does hope and aspiration depend on self deception, or, at the very least, thinking
rosily about ones self and ones future? Are we more likely to succeed if we have these
things operable? If so, is this a case for deception of self or others?
If creating fiction is impossible or unacceptable in this world, what about discourse
concerning the future? Technically speaking such talk is about things that are not the case.
More precisely, about things that are not the case YET. They may be about things that you
intend to do in the future, (say you make a promise to meet someone next Tuesday for
lunch) but you have to admit you do not KNOW that the future will turn out as you think
(that you will be able to keep that promise). So, given that you are not sure about the
future, can you in good conscience talk about it or make that promise? Can you, in good
conscience make any predictions in the IOL world? Why or why not?
Similarly, social progress, political and technological, does seem to depend on aspirations,
predictions, rosy thinking and talking about things that are not. Would these be impossible
in this world?
Advertisement in the IOL world allows neither deception nor even mild departure from truth.
Good or bad?
A presupposition of the film is that the big lie Mark tells about the man in the sky is not
true (or at least he does not know it to be true, and is lying in presenting it as if it were
true). Be that as it may, the big lie does much work toward alleviating suffering of those
that live in that world. Marks mother dies at peace due to the story.
Late in the film, Marks big lie has taken root around the world, and given hope to millions,
yet he believes it is false. Is he obligated to tell the rest of the world what he tells Anna at
the end of the film? Why or why not? Better yet, given that word spread in the first
instance, when he initially fibbed to his mother, wont that word spread again, assuming
that Anna will tell others? What are the likely effects of this? Positive or negative?

Possible assignments
Any of the discussion questions can serve as a writing prompt. Additional assignments
include:
1. Students can be asked to bring to class one example of social satire from three different
modes of expression and to write a short description of the moral or reformist point behind
each example.
2. If you believe that the satire in the movie is in any respect off the mark and makes fun
of something that you hold dear or agree with, describe the scenes in the movie that relate
to this and why you believe the criticism to be unwarranted.
3. Take three attitudes or customs of our society that are satirized in the movie and
describe the scene and what is being satirized.
4. Students can create a work of social satire and present it to the class. This can be a
drawing, a skit, a poem, a song, a dance or however they want to express themselves.