The word "parody" is derived from the Greek word "parodia," which was used to describe epics written in a mocking or satirical tone. Epics have been a frequent target of literary parodies, such as Cervantes' "Don Quixote" or Swift's "Gulliver's Travels." Both works adopted the grandiose tone and larger-than-life circumstances of grand stories and applied them to ridiculous or self-deluding subjects. There has been a rich history of parody in music as well, most notably in the work of Gilbert and Sullivan, who used riffs from the operas and musicals of their time to poke gentle fun at such pomposity. Parody has become an indispensable part of modern popular culture, as comedians dissect cliches and stereotypes that have lingered in the public conscience for too long.
Parody depends upon imitation: the ability to evoke the object being parodied closely enough to induce recognition, but with enough leeway to broaden or deflate its characteristics. Accordingly, good parodists are naturally good mimics, able to shift their tone or style to reflect a number of different works. For example, the musical parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic has sustained a career for nearly 30 years due to his uncanny ability to sound exactly like any rock musician of the period.
Beyond that, parody requires an ability to recognize the tired, cliched or pompous aspects of a target, and to point out such foibles via the same methods and techniques that were used to create them in the first place. Bad parodists will simply regurgitate the targeted material, counting upon familiarity to generate a laugh. More sophisticated parodists will illuminate the target's perceived flaws with an eye to pointing out why they are worthy of ridicule. Not only does that tend to be funnier, but it helps the audience better understand--and even appreciate--the targeted piece.
Parody functions most effectively as a type of satire, mocking not only a specific piece of work, but the broader social trends that work embodies. In so doing, the parody expands its role to become an agent of social change. Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," for instance, is on the surface a parody of dry, high-toned political treatises. But in a larger sense, it skewers the inhumanity behind such treatises and the ignorance of pain and suffering upon which their solutions often depend. In a more modern setting, parodies of news programs, like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report," ostensibly deflate the pomposity of self-important journalists like Anderson Cooper and Bill O'Reilly. But in so doing, they also point out the necessity of a vigilant press and how much social damage can be caused when the media abandons its responsibilities to the public. Bad parody often skips this important sense of satire, focusing solely on one piece of work, and thus limiting its impact to a very small piece of cultural minutia.
Parody also plays a part in the creative process itself, helping to tear down old ideas and replace them with newer, fresher ones. An artistic genre is created and enjoys a period of cultural vibrancy before its ideas and conventions begin to calcify. The same ideas are then repeated over and over, and the same themes and styles are explored until every ounce of intellectual vigor has been drained from them. At that point, parody can be inserted to upend those tired conventions. Not only does it help demonstrate how cliched and shopworn they have become, but it helps creative voices find new ways of approaching them. The genre can thus be re-invigorated, giving new ideas a chance to develop without worrying about the old.
Parodies can spring from any form of creative expression and skewer any type of social, cultural or political foibles. Some of the most notable parodies include the following:
Literature: "Gulliver's Travels," "Don Quixote," "Animal Farm," "The Rape of the Lock," "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels
Music: the works of Spike Jones, Tom Lehrer, Alan Sherman, The Rutles and "Weird Al" Yankovic
Movies: "Airplane!," the Austin Powers movies, "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein," "This Is Spinal Tap," "Galaxy Quest"
Television Shows: "Monty Python's Flying Circus," "Soap," "The Simpsons," "Family Guy," "South Park," "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report," "Saturday Night Live"
Periodicals: MAD magazine, The Onion, The National Lampoon