The Onion Movie (2008) was a successful transition of the newspaper into film. The film did a nice job balancing comedy and satire. At eighty minutes the Onion Movie was short, and there were a few sketches that seemed forced, but otherwise the film didn't have a problem reaching an appropriate length. The Onion Movie developed several in depth gags and even a small story in the newscaster Norm Archer, that gave the film its focus. The film was able to draw on these pieces as it wove in and out of commercials, broadcasts and occasional live action sequences. The issues addressed in the Onion Movie are of the typical sort, such as violence, sex, race and war. The movie goes to the extra trouble of addressing news integrity however, in the story of Norm Archer, and justifies the film's existence by doing so. While some of the Onion's points might be more eloquently expressed in print, bringing the satire into moving image helped to make their questions about news coverage all the more hard hitting.
Norm's story takes shape after an advertisement interrupts his newscast. When Norm confronts his bosses about it, they reply that what he is saying is a "steaming pot of shit." The issue of news integrity is addressed specifically well because of the format of the film. The sketches in The Onion Movie were fairly brief, so good attention was required to not miss the quickly developing jokes. When Norm first appears as a character it is not clear that he will be the main character in the film. As Norm's story is developed, the plight of the integrity of the news is revealed. The "creeping corporate influence" that Norm must fight not only comes in the form of a cute penguin character, but as the characters in all of the rest of the sketches of the film. The film draws on the viewer's memory of these characters as it reintroduces them in the final scene to make its point. In Norm's final broadcast of the film these "corporate influence(s)" have become so pervasive that they invade the studio to help save Norm from terrorists. As the film ends, Norm acknowledges this, stating that these "influence(s) over the news protect us from terrorism." The viewer, paying careful attention to each sketch, is fully primed to grasp the issue. Norm's concern over the penguin becomes our concern as well, and the issues being raised by the rest of the sketches become a full picture of the television programming one might be exposed to just while watching the news.
The power of this tactic comes from its disguise. In order to shift the focus from Norm and leave the appearance of the film chaotic, a number of other recurring characters are used, including Cock Puncher and Melissa Cherry. Melissa appears as a caricature of teenage women pop singers, denying the sexuality of lyrics and videos for songs such as "Down On My Knees," "Take Me From Behind," "Lollipop Love," and "Shoot Your Love All Over Me." The lyrics to the songs, and especially the videos, are grotesquely sexual. Melissa appears again and again throughout the film, though generally in the background on a TV within the camera shot. When Norm is in danger of being killed by terrorists, it is Melissa that comes to his rescue. The characters like Melissa that take the focus off Norm are also balanced with stock characters in commercial segments. In a segment called "Little Known Stereotypes," Native Americans are referred to as drunks and Arabs as terrorists. As most of these short segments go, the humor is more ridiculous in its attempt to make its point. "Black people love taffy," Irish have huge nipples, and Puerto Ricans "can hang from steel beams for hours at a time." These short and snappy sketches are ridiculous in their attempts to convey a message. The pairings of all Arabs as terrorists with Puerto Ricans that hang from steel beams for hours works well though. This tactic provides variety in the pace of the movie and requires the viewer's attention for the jokes to work. When the focus switches back to Norm and it is time to think about the integrity of the news, the viewer is ready.
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