All Jokes Aside

Today, I came across a trending video on YouTube called "If Google Was A Guy". I found it a creative parody, and a funny approach to what people search on the internet. It's a short video, so I suggest you watch it, but if not I'll give you a short summary: There is a guy sitting at a desk, with the nameplate "Google" in front of him. It shows people in a line waiting to ask him questions in the way they would type it into google, and the man at the desk (Google) is quite judgmental of some of the things people search.

At one point in the video, there is a woman sitting at the desk, and says "Terror Pictures", which prompts another man in a suit to rise from behind the desk, to represent the NSA, and to show that they follow our searches and watch what we look up on the internet. When she corrects herself, saying, "Whoops, Terrier pictures", the man goes back behind the desk, the whole situation being a false alarm. It's quite an entertaining video, and although it is supposed to be a joke, it's quite true about the NSA and the power they have over our privacy.

Obviously, the people who created this video have a strong opinion of the NSA and are completely against the power they have, but instead of creating another more serious video they slipped the man in there to make a joke about it, and I think this is even more efficient. It's also funny because it comes off as a joke, but this reminded me of a time when my father was telling me something serious and told me a joke about it, but I knew that it wasn't a laughing matter.

I think it's interesting to see that the people who created this video make a joke about the NSA and the things they do, but in a way it's an efficient way to get a point across. Humor is a great way to inform someone of something without coming on too strong. One article I read stated, "Humor is one language that everyone can understand. It breaks down barriers between people. If you can share a laugh with someone, you've connected with that person. It is also a model of efficiency. It can generally get your point across with less effort and verbiage" (Creation).

Do you think this video was a powerful and efficient way to inform people of the power the NSA has, and how it is too much? Or did it undermine the importance of the issue at hand?