Poe's Law: Difference between revisions

* The infamous ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|Zelda]]'' video ''[[The Light of Courage]]'' has an interesting case of something being both incorrectly mistaken for a parody and something fully serious at the same time. The animation behind the videos was purposefully kept bad as was the voice acting. However the dialog, grammatical errors, and storyline the videos were based on are all real and was done with the serious attempt to get them made into a movie. Aside from the few who know the story behind The Light of Courage, most people can't seem to figure out whether it's real or not. It was based on a horrible fanfic that its creator took completely seriously, then someone else created the parody by adding purposefully badly done animation and voice acting.

** Also the case for the infamous ''[[Half Life: Full Life Consequences]]'' video, though this one is more universally recognized as a joke.

 

== Film ==

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** There's also a pervasive myth that he was mistaken for a real conservative pundit by members of the Bush administration when he was invited to the 2006 correspondents' dinner; the dinner was in large part a traditional roast of the President, and they knew exactly who he was, although they may not have expected him to be ''quite'' [[Gone Horribly Right|so harsh]].

** Some conservatives realize that Colbert is a parody but believe that he makes correct points in character. In other words, the [[Straw Man Has a Point]].

** The blog [http://literallyunbelievable.tumblr.com/ Literally Unbelievable] chronicles people taking Onion articles at face value and posting them on Facebook. It is as hilariously depressing as it sounds. Poe's Law applies recursively here, as it's impossible to tell whether the Facebookers are just playing along with the joke.

** The most controversial "Onion" example is their "Kelly" political cartoons, which still have people arguing about whether they're expressing or parodying conservative ideas. Although the real focus of the cartoons is less ideological than parodying the artistic cliches of bad, lazy political cartoons independent of any specific viewpoint.

* Endemic at [[Conservapedia]], a site created by right wingers [http://www.conservapedia.com/Examples_of_Bias_in_Wikipedia upset at certain things said in Wikipedia]. As soon as it was founded, people descended on it writing completely-over-the-top articles, which some people took seriously. Their ''serious'' projects include [http://www.conservapedia.com/Bible_Retranslation_Project a translation of the Bible into Conservative language.] For instance, the whole "easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven" thing is apparently socialist, and "blessed are the meek" should really be "blessed are the God-fearing".

** [http://www.boingboing.net/2007/02/26/conservapedias-entry.html Here's] a particularly funny example of (apparent) stealth-parody vandalism.

{{quote|"Clearly, the cause of the mistake is not that the genuine article is no better than a mockery; rather, the cause of the mistake is that some people lack the critical thinking skills and/or experience to differentiate the two."}}

** The caption below the picture of the Black Cat and number 13 on that page is even more hilarious. It quotes a ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' article to claim that Christianity reduces belief in superstitions, yet the "unlucky 13" pictured is a superstition ''that has its origins in Christianity''.

* Popehat closed their [http://www.popehat.com/2009/07/22/north-korean-twitter-account-not-genuine/ fake Twitter account] for North Korea's propaganda ministry after legitimate news agencies started picking up stories from it.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcU4t6zRAKg "John Clarke and Bryan Dawe"] are an Australian comedy duo that satirize politicians and other public figures. A quick glance at the comments on the [[YouTube]] page shows how many people think they're for real. Given that each of those sketches involve John Clarke playing all of the political figures, anyone who watches more than one should very quickly realize that he is not both Prime Minister Rudd and Senator Stephen Conroy, but is in fact a sketch comedian.

** Some cite the interview of Steven by [[Daniel Tosh]] on his TV show ''[[Tosh.0]]'' as definitive proof that the video was fake. The episode involves Tosh [[Perp Sweating|interrogating]] Steven, with the help of [[Michael Winslow]] ([[Hey, It's That Guy!|You know]], [[Adam Westing|that guy who makes the funny noises]]), eventually using a [[Lie Detector|polygraph machine]], and finally resorting to a threat to [[Laser-Guided Karma|shove a remote up his butt if he doesn't tell the truth]]. This is a [[Rule of Funny|comedy show]], and it's not known what occurred back stage.

** Supports often cite the other freakout videos posted of Steven, in which he destroys a microwave, as well as a Christmas tree, and attacks a car with a baseball bat. This would require the parents to be in on the lie as well, which would seem unlikely. This implies that it is [[Occam's Razor|much more likely]] that Steven is simply an out of control teen who acts out, rather then a complex hoax designed to deceive the internet. One wouldn't want to completely assume it's real, though. There is one video where Jack (the filmer) puts the camera in his room and ties the door shut and then gets Steven's attention. However, there was ''another'' video of the exact same thing where Steven has what would appear to be a pickle inside his underwear and Jack did the ''same'' prank. Jack then said that Steven saw the video, made him remove it and ''make another one''... which was the one with the [[Gag Penis]]. For some reason, Steven's acting a ''lot'' more irrational in the "Remake". Wafflepwn (Jack) removed both. Several things seem to be just freak coincidences, such as Steven "finding out" about the videos when he supposedly found out about one of those videos earlier (and is apparently very stupid as both vids had "part", as well as titles and he didn't look for it), conveniently walking in during an interview... and not ''once'' has he ever gone after the camera. And he obviously knows that Jack's filming... isn't it weird that if he ''does'' have such a rabid temper and only has enough control to say "Turn off that camera" or "stop filming", since he apparently ''knows'' his brother has put videos on the internet? One would assume he'd grab that camera and smash it rather than screaming or hitting something replaceable.

* ''[[Cracked.com]]'' has two articles about "Satirists Attacked by People Who Totally Missed the Point," [http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-satirists-attacked-by-people-who-totally-missed-point/ 1-5] and [http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-more-satirists-attacked-by-people-who-missed-point/ 6-9.]

** Also, see [http://www.cracked.com/article_19036_too-stupid-satire-how-media-branded-me-as-racist.html this article] about how the blogger meant to come off as so ridiculous that nobody could take it seriously... ''and the media thought he was being literal.''

** It shouldn't take long to realize that [http://www.cracked.com/article_15739_50-reasons-lord-rings-sucks.html this article about Lord of the Rings] is a parody. But according to the comments, some people still didn't get it.

** Alice Jane Axness writes in "[http://www.cracked.com/blog/in-defense-lena-dunham-people-who-hate-her/ In Defense of Lena Dunham and People Who Hate Her]" that a certain TruthRevolt article, which accuses Dunham of having sexually assaulted her younger sister when both were less than eight years old, is "so mired in the hatred of women that it reads more like a really terrible attempt at satire than anything."

* The jury is still out as to whether ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080709075217/http://www.timecube.com/ Timecube]'' is real or a parody of schizophrenic antisemitic conspiracy theorists. It doesn't help that Gene Ray is a [[Reclusive Artist]].

* @RealPeerReview on [[Twitter]] caught lots of loonie papers, and then re-posted a long series of samples from postmodernist "humanities" papers in the following format:

* ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcCvvJWyx4c&feature=player_embedded PolitiChicks]'', a right-wing "answer" to ''[[The View]]'', has led to endless discussion in the comment section (as well as on [https://web.archive.org/web/20140912000620/http://www.gay.net/politics/2011/11/16/antigay-talk-show-launched-victoria-jackson a] [http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2011/11/video-anti-islam-anti-gay-pro-watching-toonces-drive-a-car.html number] of [http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2011/11/teabagger-politichicks.html other] [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/victoria-jackson-politichicks-web-show_n_1097796.html sites]) about whether it's serious or a parody, with the fact that ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' alumna Victoria Jackson is involved causing some (perhaps mistaken) impression that it's all a skit.

* When G4 held their 2011 VideoGame Deathmatch and pitted ''[[Skyrim]]'' against ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword]]'', the ''Zelda Universe'' fansite posted an [http://www.zeldauniverse.net/zelda-news/skyrim-needs-your-help/# article] sarcastically imploring their readers to help ''Skyrim'', "our favorite game," help win the vote. So many people in the comments took it at face value that ZU had to post [http://www.zeldauniverse.net/zelda-news/on-skyrim-vs-skyward-sword/ another article] explaining that it was meant to be a joke. Incidentally, the comments themselves exhibit this trope as well; some site members tried to partake of the sarcasm in their own comments and got said comments voted down to as low as ''-20''.

* ''Regretsy'', a now-defunct website that used to make fun of ridiculous Etsy products (its tagline was "Where DIY Meets WTF") had a column called "Etsy or Regretsy?", where they interspersed actual bizarre Etsy listings with parodies created by the Regretsy staff, and had the readers guess which were real and which were fake. It was harder than you'd think.

* Quoth ''[[(The Customer is) Not Always Right]]'' - "Either [http://notalwaysright.com/knowledge-on-fizzy-is-fuzzy-part-2 that] was one of the most entertaining prank calls I’ve ever gotten, or… Well, I don’t want to think about it [[The Ditz|if she was actually serious]]!"

* ''[[Cracked.com]]'''s [http://www.cracked.com/article_20203_the-5-most-epic-backfires-in-history-bad-jokes.html The 5 Most Epic Backfires in the History of Bad Jokes]. From the lead: "The problem with sarcasm is that you can do it so well (or so poorly) that people don't realize you're joking."

== Real Life ==

* [[Salvador Dali]] once sent a telegram for Romania's communist dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu, for his adoption of a scepter as part of his regalia. Dali's intent was to mock him, but Ceauşescu, who had one of the biggest [[Cult of Personality|personality cults]] ever, took it seriously, and the text was published in the Party's newspaper. When he ''did'' find out it was a joke, he fired the editor who published it. Never mind that he was the one who ordered it to be published.

 

== In-Universe Examples ==