Genre, Tropes and

Parody
A look into Genre, how and why an over-reliance and overuse of it’s associated tropes
and themes results in Parody.

• Which Genre (and associated tropes) is parodied the most?

• Sci-Fi?
• Romance?
• Disaster?
• Horror?
Chapter 3 Case Studies

Airplane! (1980) Scream Spaceballs

Parody of disaster (1996)
Parody of the tropes (1987)
movies in horror and slasher Parody of Sci-Fi
Other things considered films (especially Star Wars)
- The Simpsons
- Austin Powers (Spy Parody)
- Borat (Documentary parody)
- Hot Fuzz
Key Themes and Issues
• What is Parody?

• Why are genres and tropes parodied?

-To criticise (Scream, criticising the horror Genre + Tropes)
- To make more money from a dying Genre

• Does Parody exclude an audience not familiar with what is being parodied?
- Spaceballs and ‘in jokes’

• Does Parody bring new life to what it parodies?

BIG Books
• ‘Parody’ By Simon Dentith (2000)

• ‘Film Parody’ By Dan Harries (2000)

- Parody in relation to film

• ‘A theory of parody : the teachings of twentieth-century art forms’ By Linda

Hutcheon (2000)

• ‘Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction’ By Christopher Butler (2002)

- Definitions of key terms as well as explanations

Useful Journal Articles
• ‘Cowboys and comedy: the simultaneous deconstruction and reinforcement of
generic conventions in the Western Parody’ By Matthew R. Turner (2003)

- ‘believes that "film parody can be seen as a source of renewal by breathing

new life into worn-out canons’

• ‘The shit just got real’: Parody and National Film Culture in The
Strike and Hot Fuzz’ By Neil Archer (2016)
Useful Websites
• ‘Scream of laughter: how today's best-loved pop culture grew from parody’ By
Anne T Donahue

• 'Airplane!': 25 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About the Comedy Classic’
By Gary Susman

- Breaks down the jokes and parodied parts of the film

Useful Images
Bibliography
Archer, N (2016) ‘‘The shit just got real’: Parody and National Film Culture in The Strike and Hot Fuzz’
[online] (Last Updated Jan 2016). Available at: https://www-euppublishing-
com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/doi/abs/10.3366/jbctv.2016.0295 [Last accessed 03/02/19]

Dentith, S (2000) ‘Parody’ [Online]. (last updated N/A). Available at:

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/reader.action?docID=170139 [Last accessed 03/02/19]

Donahue, A.T (2015) ‘Scream of laughter: how today's best-loved pop culture grew from parody’ [online] (last
updated July 2015) Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/01/scream-scary-movie-parody-
film-television [Last accessed 03/02/19]

Harries, D (2000) ‘Film Parody’ London: British Film Institute

Hutcheon, L (2000) ‘A theory of parody : the teachings of twentieth-century art forms’ Urbana : University of
Illinois Press

Susman, G (2015) ‘'Airplane!': 25 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About the Comedy Classic’ [online]
(last updated July 2015). Available at: https://www.moviefone.com/2015/07/02/airplane-facts/ [Last accessed
03/02/19]

Turner, M.R (2003) ‘Cowboys and comedy: the simultaneous deconstruction and reinforcement of generic
conventions in the Western Parody’ [online]. (last updated July 2003). Available at:
http://go.galegroup.com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=ucca&id=GALE|A156737444&v=2.1&it
=r&sid=summon [Last accessed 03/02/19]
Image List
[in order of appearance]

1- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane!#/media/File:Airplane!.jpg

2- https://unfspinnaker.com/wp-
content/uploads/2017/10/large_ewi7gYW22t8T3piRvrXO73GlzuL.jpg

3- https://is2-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Video19/v4/27/0c/6a/270c6a14-1660-54c8-3574-
eb87ab3fde0a/mzm.qwxtftql.lsr/268x0w.png

4- https://cdn2us.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeekus/files/styles/main_wide/public/2017/06/rick-
moranis-spaceballs-dark-helmet.jpg?itok=-bxhE1s6

5-
https://res.cloudinary.com/jerrick/image/upload/f_auto,fl_progressive,q_auto,c_fit,w_768/uhkp
9laekxcseijvwsdn

6- http://cdn-static.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeek/files/3/38//scream_2.jpg

7- https://media.overstockart.com/optimized/cache/data/product_images/MU925-
1000x1000.jpg