The Wonderful Parody

A parody is an imitation of another creative work (be it literature, music, film, or art) which usually aims to amuse by distorting the original. Some parodies are satiric and aim to criticize or even ridicule the original; other parodies are more gentle and amuse without attacking the original. A parody accomplishes its effect by maintaining the style and approach of the original while substituting a very different content.

Parodies abound. The heart and soul of Mad Magazine has always been the parody, and its parodies of movies and television shows are legendary. In this great cover on Friends, Mad makes a few crucial changes to the cast. (See Doug Gilford's Mad Cover Site for a wonderful collection of Mad Covers.)

A performer who has made his career off the parody is "Weird Al" Yankovic, who imortalized Michael Jackson's hit "Beat It" with his parody "Eat It." (Michael Jackson has been particularly vulnerable to the parody. Even Jackson's current legal troubles are not off limits, as demonstrated by this Mad Magazine Cover which makes a comment both on Jackson and the media attention his problems have attracted in one fell swoop.)


Literary parodies also have a long history. By 1969, The Lord of the Rings had attracted sufficient attention that the Harvard Lampoon published Bored of the Rings. Online, The Onion offers biting parodies of contemporary news.

Finally, with the impending release of Star Wars: Episode III -- The Revenge of the Sith, it seems only right to end this post with a link to grocery Store Wars, a very funny parody of the original star wars brought to you by the Organic Trade Association. In this case, the parody is used to delivery a message that you can't miss.