The Onion: "No One Cares About Your Girlfriend Back Home"

In my opinion, some of the best satire originates from the countless stereotypes on a college campus. Loud, obnoxious fratboys, ditzy sorority sisters, drinking oneself into oblivion; the concept has been around for years. I myself have been apart of one or more of these stereotypes, including the subject of this Onion article.

This article is a hilarious exaggeration of the dude that is trying the dreaded "long-distance relationship." All of the traits of this guy are hit dead-on in the article: sustaining to "be faithful" to his girlfriend when presented with an oppurtunity to hook-up with another girl, bitching about her being at parties, glorifying all of her good traits, etc. All of these traits are further satirized in a hilarious fashion here:

The girl isn't even "that hot."
Dorm safety procedures are more interesting than the topic of the girl.
His buddies ignore and abandon them knowing him when socializing with other people.
The final bang, the girl is cheating on him with other guys at home.

The article states that college is a new chapter in somebody's life, and that a long distance relationship is inhibiting him from realizing this new life to its full potential. This notion has some legitimacy, how can you get a gist of a new experience when your still grounded on your previous one?

A girlfriend isn't the only thing that can anchor you down, other things can to, but the article does have an argument that this is a big one. College is a time for new beginnings, to find yourself and who you are, and meet new people. The satire is so great because of the underlying message of it: college is a great thing, realize it to its full potential.

I did try a long distance relationship, and it worked out for a while, but I suppose I can laugh at myself knowing I was apart of this stereotype being satirized. In no way am I saying it's a bad thing to try, I'm just analyzing the satire and its effectiveness.

College satire is funny because there are so many different angles and things to satirize. The article puts this into a light manner and says: "Hey, let loose in college, and enjoy the ride."