Ryan Higa is a popular YouTuber in today's society. More widely known by his username, NigaHiga, his videos get thousands of views a week; ranging from vlogs, to music videos, to skits he has made up. But one thing that all these different videos have in common is that they are dripping in satire. Ryan uses his videos to poke fun at infomercials, current topics, or other things of today's culture. By creating crazy scenarios and adding a lot of humor, his videos make people laugh at just how silly some of the things in our daily lives are.
Take this video for example. Here, Ryan makes fun of the newly popular saying "First World Problems". People use this saying as a way to express daily complaints that really aren't that big of a deal when you look at the big picture. It's most commonly shown on Twitter as a hashtag along the lines of #firstworldprobs . By using exaggerated acting, fake hotlines, and a "helping kit" Ryan opens our eyes to see just how ridiculous we sound whenever we tweet about our "horribly hard lives".
Another example of satire in Ryan's videos is in the fake infomercial The Snuggo. The Snuggo is a clear spoof of the popular "Snuggies"today. It shows us both how silly we look wearing them and how ridiculous the people in the commercials sound themselves.
The satire found in Ryan's videos is comparable to that found in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain uses satire to make people aware of the irony in the things they know as "human nature". One example he gives is showing them how horribly they go and treat their slaves but then turn around and try to teach their kids about being "good Christian people". To these people, this is just daily life for them because it's what they were taught as a young age. But when Twain exaggerates it a bit in his book, it has the potential to open someone's eyes to how foolish this seems. Another is when Huck stumbles upon the family feud between the Grangerfords and the Sherpardsons. The two families have been fighting for so long that they don't even remember what they are fighting about. While the fight is a bit exaggerated, it shows how ridiculous the families are for fighting but not knowing why. These examples are similar to Ryan's videos because they poke at things we as humans do or see in our daily lives but don't realize how silly they are. Twain and Ryan both send their messages through humor, exaggeration, and relatable things in our lives, making us realize just how we look.
Sources:
- Videos taken from youtube.com
- Hashtag is a live link to tweets on twitter with #firstworldprobs
- Ideas and better understanding of the satire used in Huck Finn found on here
- Huckleberry Finn is a classic by Mark Twain. If you have yet to read it, I highly recommend you do.
