Blog Assignment 5: The Acceptability of Remediation

Remediation is an interesting topic, as it has become so common for most media to be recreated in some manner. The majority of remediation today is a form of tribute to the original, and a way for anyone to have their ten minutes in the spotlight, especially where youtube is concerned. I am going to write about two Saturday Night Lives skits that are recreations of previous media and how both can be seen as mocking the original, but how due to the content one is more acceptable in terms of recreation than the other. I think that there is a large gray area when it comes to acceptable and unacceptable media recreation, as some people tend to be a little more sensitive to certain topics than others. There are some topics that remain untouched, as we know that it would be unacceptable to recreate or mock them, like 9/11 for instance, but there are other circumstances where we feel the need to make fun of certain situations, like the most current mockery of Charlie Sheen interviews. It also depends on location, as in the United States and Canada I believe it is way more socially acceptable to reuse and recreate media, than in other countries. Like we see in Novak’s article, there are some culturally significant situations where a lighthearted recreation can be taken as racist and insulting (Novak, 2010). We really can never know for sure if a reuse will be accepted or not, but thinking about the original piece of media and the meaning behind it is very necessary to avoid conflicts like Novak describes (Novak, 2010). I think it comes down to timing and topic when we characterize where reuse of media is acceptable or not. When talking about racial, gendered, or political topics, there are always going to be people who find the new media unacceptable, where others find it entertaining.
Saturday Night Live, more than any other media outlet, is known for its parodies of major media events in the world. One very funny and famous one is of the “Single Ladies” video by Beyonce. Beyonce, along with SNL cast members and Justin Timberlake, recreated her video, but instead of her usual female backup dancers, Timberlake and a couple other male SNL cast members dressed up in leotards and danced alongside Beyonce. This, for I think most people watching it, is a great example of how media can be recreated acceptably and for much comic relief. Beyonce herself was in the recreation, which added to its hilarity as she does exactly what she did in the original music video, but now alongside men in leotards. Just changing the backup dancers changed the entire idea of the video, especially as it is named “Single Ladies”. Maybe the only unacceptable part of the video could be the men in tight leotards and lack of good dance moves, but I find it difficult to think anyone would find this insulting (Wonderpetpower, 2008).
The other SNL video is a parody of Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric. Although from my point of view, this video is very much acceptable, I do think that to some it could be seen as the opposite. Politics especially are a sensitive topic, and making fun of a vice-presidential candidate, to some, is seen as disrespectful and unacceptable. I think from a Republican perspective parodying Palin’s interview is detrimental to their campaign, and a lot of media outlets were making fun of Sarah Palin during the 2008 election. I can see many from Alaska also finding the parodies of Palin as insulting, as not in this video, but in other circumstances many poked fun at Palin’s red neck-like actions, due to her being from Alaska. I would hope that people realize that it is a joke, and not harm is meant in these videos, but to some politics is a very serious topic, and it is not acceptable to reuse the original media events just for entertainments purposes (Bipinsen, 2008).
There are many other circumstances where reuse can be seen as unacceptable, like I said though; it is a large gray area, as it depends on where you are and the person who is watching the reuse to decide what is appropriate and what is not.