"Commentariat". I love that!

February 1, 2012 1:26 AM

When the commentariat attacks!: 14 entertaining cases of collective Internet satire. As evidenced in the recent Star Wars Uncut project (previously), crowdsourced satire can produce hilarity of mind-boggling magnitude, far beyond what any one mind could muster. The AV Club has collected a few remarkable and side-splitting examples.
posted by Silky Slim (25 comments total)

They left out one of my favorite examples, the reviews of Salted Water for Boiling on Epicurious.
posted by arianell at 2:00 AM on February 1, 2012 [6 favorites]

Also the venerable How to Good-bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? or Effective Way? which, in a fit of depression-induced overzealous hipsterdom, I actually purchased ten years ago.

I'm still depressed, though the book is fun to keep on the coffee table.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 2:29 AM on February 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

So, did you constrict anus 100 times everyday and if so, for how many days? Inquiring minds must know.
posted by flabdablet at 3:18 AM on February 1, 2012

The Amazon wtf and oddities tags are rich veins to mine if you are seeking that particular type of comedy gold.

Or if you are looking for a fresh whole rabbit to go with your Tuscan Milk before you go for a joyride in your Badonkadonk Land Cruiser.
posted by louche mustachio at 3:36 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

Does it have to be your own?
posted by clarknova at 3:36 AM on February 1, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was going to ask how one might contract someone else's anus, but I realized I already know the answer.

I guess it would good-bye depression if you are into that sort of thing.

I also just discovered the joys of the customer image gallery for the Accoutrements Horse Head Mask. I must say, it did a number on my depression. Whether anything contracted or not is none of your business.
posted by louche mustachio at 4:09 AM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

Oh no I just clicked on the Horse Head Mask link and now I fear my every Amazon search will include "customers who bought the Horse Head Mask also bought", with a catalog of the deranged.
posted by chavenet at 4:30 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Star Wars Uncut was satire?
posted by DU at 4:34 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

I also just discovered the joys of the customer image gallery for the Accoutrements Horse Head Mask.

"Page 1 of 14"

It seems this is the horse head mask image goldmine I've been looking for!
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 4:52 AM on February 1, 2012 [4 favorites]

Star Wars Uncut was satire?

For a brief, horrifying moment, I thought Star Wars Uncut was a completely different kind of project. It's still kind of horrifying but in a different way.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:36 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

Odd bit from TFA: "The majority of the reviews, though, are a reminder that satire should probably be left to the professionals."

Doesn't this directly contradict their thesis?

Star Wars Uncut was satire?

Mostly, although some segments are played more or less straight. Have you seen it? It's like watching the original while your ADHD roommate keeps hitting the "Alternate Reality" button on the remote.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:45 AM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

I have seen it. It is funny. I'm just not clear what is supposed to be being satirized. Star Wars itself? It seemed more celebratory to me.
posted by DU at 6:04 AM on February 1, 2012

I'm just not clear what is supposed to be being satirized. Star Wars itself?

How about "parody?"
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:15 AM on February 1, 2012

The 'Also Viewed' on Tuscan Whole Milk is a treasure trove
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:01 AM on February 1, 2012

Writing fake sarcastic reviews and whatnot can be fun. Back in 2007 the Motley Fool website created social stock rating site called CAPS, where anyone could write "pitches" predicting a given stock to outperform or underperform versus the market. I thought the whole thing was a dumb idea, and most of the pitches were not based on any kind of actual analysis other than "I like this company" or whatever. So I created an account called OneStarHero that purposely picked a lot of terrible stock choices as "outperform", and wrote a bunch of sarcastic pitches based on silly puns, many of which became the top voted pitches for those companies, and none of which were deleted even though they were all obviously jokes (there was basically no moderation at all there). Early on I actually became the highest rated player on the site for one day, which inspired a gloating blog post, after which I predictably tanked and wrote another blog post declaring that I was pulling all of my money out of the stock market.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:01 AM on February 1, 2012 [2 favorites]

i like that there is money in producing ironically bad things like that wolf shirt

i bet the future is just absurdly dumb and ugly, but it's okay because everyone is in on the joke

you can't say we haven't earned that fate
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 8:08 AM on February 1, 2012 [3 favorites]

For a brief, horrifying moment, I thought Star Wars Uncut was a completely different kind of project.

Boba Fett always gets his man.
posted by psoas at 8:24 AM on February 1, 2012

This is literally my favorite kind of thing.

Like, I actually like Dawes a lot. But waaaay not as much as I like AV Club commenters pretending to like Dawes.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:32 AM on February 1, 2012

Please post more example itt KTHANKS.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:32 AM on February 1, 2012

Wait, is Dawes a real band? I had assumed all along they were whole-cloth created by the AV Club to joke on "sensitive" country-rock of the Poco-Eagles-Wilco continuum, and that linked promo video of theirs was seriously dry, pitch-perfect satire. "Ballerina in Phoenix"? Shots of their Wranglers? Not to comment on the band themselves, I'm just gathering evidence in support of the upcoming singularity.
posted by metaman livingblog at 12:10 PM on February 1, 2012

I love the word "commentariat". What is the origin?
posted by francesca too at 1:32 PM on February 1, 2012

Googling "funniest amazon reviews" produced the Guardian Angel (next)
posted by jeffburdges at 8:29 AM on February 2, 2012

Oh no I just clicked on the Horse Head Mask link and now I fear my every Amazon search will include "customers who bought the Horse Head Mask also bought", with a catalog of the deranged.

That's a feature, not a bug.
posted by louche mustachio at 8:47 AM on February 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

So when (and where) is the MeFi IRL horse head mask pub crawl?
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 10:29 AM on February 2, 2012

I covered the Cult of the Horse Mask here on MeFi almost 4 years ago:

http://www.metafilter.com/69099/Cult-of-the-Horse-Mask

Now they have returned. I fear for my head.
posted by I-baLL at 12:39 PM on February 2, 2012 [1 favorite]