Shallow Parody: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Super_Mouse_6320.png|link=Mighty Mouse| |
[[File:Super_Mouse_6320.png|link=Mighty Mouse|frame|[[Don't Explain the Joke|See, it's funny because]] it's [[Superman]], only he's not a man, but a mouse! Ah ha ha... Genius satire.]] |
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* ''[[Mad]]'' magazine (and the [[Mad TV|TV series]]) sink to this. It can be justified, as the parody has to fall close to the date of the work's release, and often the writer(s) are working on early script drafts or leaked information. |
* ''[[Mad]]'' magazine (and the [[Mad TV|TV series]]) sink to this. It can be justified, as the parody has to fall close to the date of the work's release, and often the writer(s) are working on early script drafts or leaked information. |
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** For example, the parody of the first ''[[Harry Potter]]'' movie included a scene that was in the book, but was left out of the movie. |
** For example, the parody of the first ''[[Harry Potter]]'' movie included a scene that was in the book, but was left out of the movie. |
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** ''Mad'' parodies used to be written after the film was released and thus published a few months later, in part to keep on top of what movies were well-known enough to warrant them. One late-1970s article had them "selling" prematurely written parodies of movies and TV shows that ''weren't'' popular (''Gable and Lombard'', for instance) at a discount. This lag still applies to TV shows -- their parody of ''[[ |
** ''Mad'' parodies used to be written after the film was released and thus published a few months later, in part to keep on top of what movies were well-known enough to warrant them. One late-1970s article had them "selling" prematurely written parodies of movies and TV shows that ''weren't'' popular (''Gable and Lombard'', for instance) at a discount. This lag still applies to TV shows -- their parody of ''[[8 Simple Rules]]'' was in the October 2003 issue... [[Too Soon|just in time for John Ritter's sudden death]]. |
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** The ''Watchmen'' parody claimed that "The book is still great" while making fun of many of the things that were directly lifted from the book. This is a recurring trend; MAD will often make fun of a work at the time of its release, then later unfavorably compare newer works to it, but it is rarely this inconsistent. |
** The ''Watchmen'' parody claimed that "The book is still great" while making fun of many of the things that were directly lifted from the book. This is a recurring trend; MAD will often make fun of a work at the time of its release, then later unfavorably compare newer works to it, but it is rarely this inconsistent. |
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*** On the same note their ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' parody included the subplot from the book about some of the dinosaurs stowing away on a commercial freighter, a subplot that was dropped quite early during the production of the movie. |
*** On the same note their ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' parody included the subplot from the book about some of the dinosaurs stowing away on a commercial freighter, a subplot that was dropped quite early during the production of the movie. |
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** Pretty much any ''Cracked'' magazine parody, for that matter. They did little more than re-tell the movie or TV show straight up, with [[Parody Name|parody names]]. |
** Pretty much any ''Cracked'' magazine parody, for that matter. They did little more than re-tell the movie or TV show straight up, with [[Parody Name|parody names]]. |
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* The [[Lucas Arts]] ''[[Sam and Max]]'' strips frequently fell into this, possibly deliberately. Being produced for the [[Lucas Arts]] company newsletter and ''Sam And Max'' not starting out as [[Lucas Arts]] characters, Steve Purcell was allowed to draw them only if he parodied whatever games were coming out at the time. Because of this, he preferred to take the basic setting of the game he was parodying, dress Sam up as the main character of that game, and then just have the characters do their own thing - being more like one-off, themed adventures about fighting monsters or being bikers instead of parodies of ''[[Maniac Mansion]]'' and ''[[Full Throttle]]''. Notably, the ''[[Monkey Island]]'' parody had Sam and Max in pirate costumes going to a desert island... full of monkeys. [[Tropes Are Not Bad|To be fair, the strips are probably more hilarious for not being true parody]]. |
* The [[Lucas Arts]] ''[[Sam and Max]]'' strips frequently fell into this, possibly deliberately. Being produced for the [[Lucas Arts]] company newsletter and ''Sam And Max'' not starting out as [[Lucas Arts]] characters, Steve Purcell was allowed to draw them only if he parodied whatever games were coming out at the time. Because of this, he preferred to take the basic setting of the game he was parodying, dress Sam up as the main character of that game, and then just have the characters do their own thing - being more like one-off, themed adventures about fighting monsters or being bikers instead of parodies of ''[[Maniac Mansion]]'' and ''[[Full Throttle]]''. Notably, the ''[[Monkey Island]]'' parody had Sam and Max in pirate costumes going to a desert island... full of monkeys. [[Tropes Are Not Bad|To be fair, the strips are probably more hilarious for not being true parody]]. |
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* In a glaring example of [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], ''[[Rat-Man]]'''s first story was a parody of Tim Burton's ''Batman'', which the author had never seen. Despite this, it won the [ |
* In a glaring example of [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], ''[[Rat-Man]]'''s first story was a parody of Tim Burton's ''Batman'', which the author had never seen. Despite this, it won the [[wikipedia:Lucca Comics and Games|Lucca Comics]] award for the best script and set the foundation for what in Italy is considered one of the funniest comics ever published. |
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* It's very amusing indeed to read old comics and magazines from the early/mid-1960s and come across a Shallow Parody of [[The Beatles]]. One can just imagine a stodgy, middle-aged writer writing one in hope of [[Take That|shaming those silly kids]] for falling for [[It Will Never Catch On|this ridiculous fad.]] Shallow Parodies of the Beatles usually have them all dressing, looking and speaking identically (hilariously, this usually means that they all look and talk like Ringo Starr), and have them endlessly singing "Yeah Yeah Yeah" (far from the Beatles' best or most notable song, but likely a victim of [[Popcultural Osmosis]]). Later parodies would have them playing concerts in their "Sgt. Pepper" uniforms (which they never did) and occasionally would depict John Lennon in his iconic 1969-era look while the rest of them still looked like they did on the Ed Sullivan Show. Nowadays, of course, parodies like this have effectively died out. |
* It's very amusing indeed to read old comics and magazines from the early/mid-1960s and come across a Shallow Parody of [[The Beatles]]. One can just imagine a stodgy, middle-aged writer writing one in hope of [[Take That|shaming those silly kids]] for falling for [[It Will Never Catch On|this ridiculous fad.]] Shallow Parodies of the Beatles usually have them all dressing, looking and speaking identically (hilariously, this usually means that they all look and talk like Ringo Starr), and have them endlessly singing "Yeah Yeah Yeah" (far from the Beatles' best or most notable song, but likely a victim of [[Popcultural Osmosis]]). Later parodies would have them playing concerts in their "Sgt. Pepper" uniforms (which they never did) and occasionally would depict John Lennon in his iconic 1969-era look while the rest of them still looked like they did on the Ed Sullivan Show. Nowadays, of course, parodies like this have effectively died out. |
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[[Category:Parody Tropes]] |
[[Category:Parody Tropes]] |
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[[Category:Shallow Parody]] |
[[Category:Shallow Parody]] |
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[[Category:Trope]] |
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