Is Parody Dead?

Is Parody Dead?
Released	May 8, 2013
Running Time	12:38
Previous Review	Top 11 South Park Episodes
Next Review	Jurassic Park
Link	http://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-editorial-is-parody-dead/

(shortened version of the opening)

NC: Hello, I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I remember it so you don't have to. Well, I think since this last weekend we all know what the big blockbuster to beat this year is:

NC (vo): Scary Movie 5 the fifth in the record breaking saga that seems to bring in less and less money every single time one is released.

NC: Wait a minute, how can that be? The other spoof movies have been doing so well like

NC (vo): Haunted House, and Vampires Suck, and Van Stelsing,

NC: and--by God! What the hell happened!? What the hell happened to good spoof movies!?

NC (vo): Some of our best jokes, satires, and even characters used to go into them. Even legendary comedian Mel Brooks made some of his biggest hits with spoof movies. But, now it seems like when ever someone hears terms "spoof", "satire", or "parody"; the first thing that pops into their heads aren't great classics like Airplane or Spaceballs. It's films that have become almost like bad words like Epic Movie or Meet the Spartans.

NC: Which is why I have to ask the painfully sad question.....is parody dead?

NC (vo): It certainly seems that way. I'm noticing more and more that when people even see parodies attempted there's this big resitence to them, like they're afraid all the satarists is just make references to other things and not actually do anything comedic with it; just make the reference.

NC: So, I guess the best way to understand faults in parodies these days is to take a good close look at what exactly they're doing wrong. What makes films like....

NC (vo): Hotshots or Robin Hood: Men in Tights work, and a film like Disaster Movie and Dance Flick not. There have certainly been satires of films in the past, dating back all the way to Chaplian days if not further. But, the first movie to satirize one film through out most of it, and create the spoof formula we're all most familiar with is Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein.

Victor Frankenstein (portrayed by Gene Wilder): That's "Frankensteen"!

NC (vo): The comedy came from the idea of taking something that was so massive, so scary, and so dramatic; but instead looking at it from a different point of view that asked "what if the little mistakes and funny flaws of humanity were much more prevalent in the story"? What if the blind man made a few accidents during his scene, what if Igor was in such denial he didn't even know he had a hump? These are ideas that all stem from the original source material, but instead gave it a comedic edge.

NC (vo): Other filmmakers would take their shot at doing feature length spoofs as well. The Zucker brothers and Jim Abrams were following suit, satirizing Airport with Airplane, Top Gun with Hotshots, Rambo with Hotshots Part Deux, and so forth. All these movies were big hits, and it seemed like parodies were coming out bigger, funnier and faster. But, maybe they were starting to come out too fast. When the movie Spy Hard came out, less qualified filmmakers suddenly realized how easy it was to make a parody look funny, even if the humour was lacking. Let's see: here's some slap stick, a few puns...

Miss Cheevus: You're going to look like Swiss cheese when they find you.

Dick Steel: That's no gouda.

NC (vo): scenes that look like scenes from other movies, and of course a touch of gross out humour. There also seemed to be an emphasis of shoving as many movies parodies as possible. Not because they had anything clever to say about it, or do with the material; but because "hey if Hotshots just satirized one movie; imagine what a flick satirizing tons of movies could do"!

NC: Well, I tell you exactly what it could do; it could be a piece of shit.

NC (vo): Becoming too crowded and too unfocused. And you put less time into creating good jokes and characters, and instead try to make more time cramming in as many movie references as you can. But, the advertising seemed to worked. People went to this movie because they thought it was done by the same people that did Hotshots and Naked Gun, but when they got in, they were sadly disappointed. But, who cares: this was new Hollywood. Once they had your ticket that opening weekend, nothing else mattered. That's the way things are done now. So, they didn't need a movie to be funny; they just needed it to look funny.

NC (vo): Because of this, low grade parodies were made. As fast as possible and as cheap as possible, hopefully fooling you into thinking you were seeing material from the great spoof masters. And to make matters worse, even the great spoof masters were starting to lose their touch. The Zucker's-Abram team split up, and they all went on their separate ways to do their own parodies. And, all of them were slow, lame, and pretty weak. Even Mel Brooks seemed to be slowing down with a really awkward satire of the Dracula movies, and yeah: neither of these were going Leslie Nielson any favours either. So, for awhile, the movie parody seemed to be slowly dying; with nobody trying to do anything new or inventive.

NC (vo): That is, until Keenen Ivory Wayans came along to direct Scary Movie. A very specific kind of satire, as it didn't just make fun of scary films as a genre; it made fun of scary films of only the past few years. So, it didn't wait to see if these movies would withstand the passage of time, and therefore be worth satirizing. They instead took the zeitgeist approach, and mocked whatever was popular at the time.

Cindy Campbell: What are you waiting for huh!? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?

NC (vo): Yeah, how many people under the as of twenty-five even remember what that's satirizing?

NC: It also was, shall we say, a bit more obvious with its humour.

NC (vo): If there was a character they thought was dumb from another movie; they'd make him a retard in this version, and it didn't hint that a movie character was going to make the wrong move; they literally put up signs saying that they'd made the wrong move, and the gross out humour wasn't just over the top; it was off the fucking hook.

Bobby Prinze:SHIT!!!!!

(Cindy is launched into the air as Censor bat censors the rest of the scene)

NC: God that's disgusting.

NC (vo): And it was a monster hit. Suddenly ficks like Airplane, and Spaceballs, and weren't the films to mimick anymore;'it was Scary Movie. And the irony was that the film everyone thought would save parody flicks, actually made the situation worse. That's right: hastily rushed knock off after hastily rushed knock off soon followed. And if Scary Movie did obvious humour, logically, there's would have to be more obvious to be even more outrageous. So much so, that even Scary Movie hastily shoved out a lame ass knock off with it's own sequel. And just like everyone else was doing, it was even more obvious and more gross.

NC (vo): Thus, this gave birth to the new norm of God awful entertainment, usually referred to as: the "Movie movie". The film series that focused on not satirizing a specific movie, but just what it is popular at the time. More concerned about getting the movie out first; then getting it faster and smarter. Films like Epic Movie, Disaster Movie, Date Movie; all trying to simulate the Scary Movie formula, mailing what's popular with what's totally disgusting. There were rumours that the makers of these films didn't even see the films that they were mocking. They just saw early production pictures from the set and shouted "make it look like that!. And you know: I really wouldn't be shocked if that was the truth. The need for their movie to put in references from other movies got so bad that they didn't even need to have anything in common with it. I shit you not: Meet the Spartans combines 300 and Meet the Parents. What the fuck do those two things have in common!?

NC: Again: the zeitgeist must flow!

NC (vo): Now, there's nothing wrong with cashing in on the zeitgeist everyone ice in awhile, but when you make it your main focus, and try to work it into every single solitary thing you do, you get....

(TMZ, which NC gives the middle finger)

NC (vo): Now, granted none of these movies were as big of a hit as Scary Movie or the Hotshot films, but obviously there must be an audience for them if they keep getting made. So, why are there still people being duped? Well, you know the phrase "a sucker is born every minute": there's a lot of truth to that. There's always somebody, whose going to come across a spoof movie for the first time, and like the idea that something they enjoyed is being satirized. So, the more references to other films, a parody can fit in; the more likely you are to connect with something you recognize, and therefore will possibly go see it. And ten spoof movies now are so easy, and so fast to make because of that reason that there's no point to try and make a film that funny, or even a big hit. All it has to do is make a profit. And as long as there's dumbasses out there saying "ooh, I recognize that; they're going to make fun of something I like, and do it in a clever way". They will always be putting no effort into them.

Note: The Transcript is not finished yet.