Final Project: Critical Analysis of Genre Characteristic of the PARODY FILM

Dictionary.com defines a genre as "a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like." There exists a specific genre that thrives off of these particular forms, content, and techniques. That genre is the Parody. In the world of film, a parody film is one that essentially picks on other genres by taking these thematic elements of a certain genre of film and then portraying them in a way that is so excessive, it becomes humorous. Essentially, parodies create hilarity out of things that are not meant to be funny at all. Parody is by far the most versatile genre of film ever created. Unlike other genres, parodies can be based off of any genre of film or other medium of media for that matter. For instance, it takes a very specific mix of film elements to make a movie a "horror movie" or an "epic drama." But anything, no matter how frightening, emotional, or action-packed, can be made fun of, and this is the goal of the parody.

There are many ways to make a parody film. Some focus on an entire genre and make obvious humorous references to many films within that genre, or simply to ideas or events that are consistent through most films of that genre. One of the best known parody series of this kind are the Scary Movie films. As the name implies, these films put a humorous twist on many of the most popular horror movies of our time.



There are currently 4 films in the "Scary Movie" series, and each one focuses primarily on a few specific major horror films, adding bits and pieces of others along the way. This clip is from the original "Scary Movie," which primarily makes fun of the teen slasher films "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer," arguably the two most popular horror franchises of the 1990s. This particular scene illustrates how the film makes fun of the now iconic ghost mask worn my the killer in the "Scream" films. The first time you see the killer in the clip, his mask is as it appears in the actual horror film, and it is very terrifying. But as the clip progresses, you will obviously notice the mask change from scary, to smiling, and finally to the face of a drunk. Parody is most effective when making fun of the most memorable aspects of films and genres, and the "Scream" mask is a perfect target for those acquainted with modern horror films. This is also a less direct mockery of the perpetual need for killers to wear masks in horror films. Masks hide a killer's identity as well as any emotion he/she might display. This scene turns the idea into a joke by portraying different expressions on an inanimate mask that can't itself actually change shapes. Also noticeable, this scene does not solely employ elements of horror movies. This scene makes fun of a very popular Budweiser ad that was aired during a Monday Night Football Game in November of 1999. This conveys how parodies find material from all forms of media and don't only make fun of the genre and medium on which they primarily focus.

Other parodies focus on specific films or stories within a genre. These types of parody succeed by portraying certain events or facets of a story in ways that are unusual to the story, as well as adding in props and dialogue that are completely irrelevant, but therefore hilarious. There is a parody that makes a mockery of the Medieval epic story of King Arthur and his knights of the round table, and is in my opinion the greatest parody ever created. It is called "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."



The overarching parodies taking place in this scene is that of the Witch Hunting craze which took place in Medieval England, as well as the very skewed scientific beliefs and logic inherent to the time period. When it comes to movie about historical time periods, parodies don't merely make fun of common genre characteristics, but also thematic events, beliefs, and practices of the time period in which the mocked films take place. Obviously, nobody would actually believe the things said in this scene, especially when a person's life was at stake, but the fact that the film makes such outlandish claims while the characters appear to take it all very seriously is absolutely hysterical. Parodies also portray details such as political and socio-economical conditions and stereotypes of the time period. This scene demonstrates the common idea that the lower class (peasants) are deceitful, unintelligent degenerates while the upper-class (monarchy/noblemen) are "so wise in the ways of science." The ironic humor behind this is that the King's so-called "wise" claim is no more logical than the ideas of the peasants. The last method by which parodies of a single film are effective is placing elements that simply do not belong. This is a particularly useful tactic in historical parodies such as "Holy Grail" because items and ideas of other time periods can be placed into the scenes, creating a very mixed-up and therefore funny atmosphere. This can be seen in the film clip when the peasant of England in 792 A.D. is wearing shaving cream.

The one thing that is absoutely crucial to the parody genre, and that is stereotypes. Parodies would not be here today without the institution of stereotypes in society. Parodies thrive off of these commonly accepted, though often skewed social perspectives. Whether they be racial, gender, economic, or cultural, stereotypes are very common accepted, yet nothing more than perspective. This makes them very easy to mock. A good example of a film parodying many different stereotypes is Mel Brooks's classic "Blazing Saddles."



This scene is very representative of the whole movie in that it is saturated with jokes formed around stereotypes. This scene employs many stereotypical, derogatory terms for certain races and groups, which come off as funny just because of the shear shock value at suddenly hearing something so absurd and inappropriate. Racial expectations are touched on here too. The white men in the scene expect to hear the black laborers sing songs reminiscent of slavery "work songs," yet the blacks retaliate with Sinatra. Many stereotype jokes get their comedic value simply from complete unexpectancy. Physical examples of sterotypes are evident in this scene as well. All the Chinese laborers are portrayed wearing golden Chinese "coolie" hats, suggesting that all Chinese people wear these hats, though this is clearly not the case in real life. Such steretype jokes continue all throughout the film including, including a blonde haired, blue eyed singer who just happens to have a thick German accent, country "hillbilly" characters speaking incoherent gibberish and being absolutely filthy, as well as a long waiting line at the gallows. Regardless of what the main topic of the film is, if you're watching a parody, you will undoubtedly see countless jokes developed around stereotypes.

There are countless other types of parodies out there to cater to the film preferences of anyone. Some other ideas include Mel Brooks's "Spaceballs," which makes fun of sci-fi films(particularly Star Wars), Hot Shots 1 & 2, which mock Top Gun and Rambo respectively, and "This is Spinal Tap," which parodies the documentary (more specifically, the rock band documentary, or "Rockumentary"). The fact is, anything and everything can be made fun of and that is the reason that parody films will continune to prosper.

Integrating Film Into the Classroom

In my experience of English classes, I have always been most intrigued by Shakespeare's work. Every year and every class in which I have dealt with his plays, I found myself wondering how the instructor would incorporate lessons that would present Shakespeare in a fun and engaging way. As such, this will be the focus of my assignment.

The Shakespeare plays I enjoy the most are Hamlet and Midsummer Night's Dream so these are the plays I would ideally teach in my class. My lesson strategy involves perpetually increasing the level of involvement as different mediums of experiencing the play are employed. I would start the lessons for each play by having the students read the plays at home over the course of a couple days. Then, during the next few days, we would assign roles to the students and read the play in class, allowing the students to re-read the play with the added intrigue of being able to interact with the other students in the class and develop their own take on the character they are portraying. When this is over, I would set aside a day of class to view a film version of the play. The following class, the students would engage in a discussion about what they liked/disliked about the film version as opposed to their own personal reading of the play. Finally, to close out the stint on each particular play, the students would get together into groups of 6 or 7 and film their own adaptation of a scene from the play previously viewed in class. They would have the freedom to present the play in any way they wished as long as they essentially stick to the script. They would be required to employ editing and film development techniques into their video to create a quality media product. They would each share their videos with the rest of the class, opening the floor to Q/A and comments following the presentation.

While I was in high school, I noticed that with a few exceptions including myself, most students did not enjoy studying Shakespeare. I believe that implementing lessons and assignments that utilize media and stimulate student creativity is an effective way to eliminate this lack of excitement regarding the greatest writer in the history of literature.

Music Preference

For this assignment, I will choose to report on my favorite band, Motion City Soundtrack. MCS is a local band who started right here in Minneapolis, but have worked their way up to international stardom, playing concerts in countries all over the world and even getting a couple of their music videos on MTV and VH1.

My first experience with MCS was at the 2004 Warped Tour. A couple of my friends had talked about them but I had never heard their music before that point. As soon as they finished playing their first song, I was hooked. I immediately bought both the albums they had released by that time, and within weeks I knew the lyrics to almost all their songs and was following their career on several websites. In the 5 years since I became obsessed, I have watched them perform live 6 times and am looking forward to seeing them again this January at 1st Avenue downtown when they kick-off the release tour for their newest album.

It is rather difficult to truly explain all the reasons why I love MCS, one because there are so many reasons, and two, because some are just difficult to put into words. One major factor is the fact that they are a local band. Over the last few years, I have developed a strong association and appreciation for local artists, and it all started with MCS. I see it as the same idea as supporting our hometown sports teams; you always want to represent where you come from. I take personal pride knowing that a band as incredible as MCS came from the town where I was born and raised .

Now, let's put sentimentality aside and discuss the more technical and aesthetic reasons that MCS is the greatest band in the world. First and foremost, they are wonderfully unique. MCS has implemented both innovative musical techniques and a rare, personal connection with their fans to create a style all their own. Their lyrics are very unusual and at the same time so straightforward and easy to relate to. Not only that, they are very creative and beautifully poetic. Their seemingly simple yet vastly complex instrumental compositions mixed with the melodic and emotionally charged voice of lead singer Justin Pierre collectively create irresistibly catchy songs that can either elate the soul or break the heart. Perhaps the best thing about them is also one of the most uncommon for bands these days, they actively avoid the curse of monotony. All their songs are individually unique, each one sounding different than the last. The fact that all their songs sound different and are yet all perfect just proves how talented this group is. In fact, in my opinion at least, MCS is one of the few bands ever that has yet to create an unappealing song.

Lastly, I love MCS because of their personality as a band. They are a group of musicians who love to have fun and goof around, all while making it obvious that they take their music very seriously. As is apparent in their music videos and live performances, they are experts at playing to their audience, creating an entertaining and unforgettable fan experience. The biggest reason I truly respect this band is that they maintain a firm connection with their roots, regardless of how famous they become. The consistently incorporate reference to Minneapolis in their lyrics and film many of their music videos here. They also never forget to let the hometown fans know that we are their favorite crowd; we gave them their start and boosted them to fame and they always let us know how much they appreciate our support.

For an example, here is a link to a music video of one of my favorite songs of theirs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAO8jKMm8Wc

So here is to MCS, the Pride of the Minneapolis music scene.

May the continue to amaze and surprise us for years to come.

Documentary Analysis

For my documentary analysis assignment, I chose to view the ever popular "Super Size Me," which follows director Morgan Spurlock on an investigation of the obesity trend in America. For those of you who don't know, Spurlock subjects himself to 30 days of eating only food from McDonald's restaurants and gauging how it affects his body. In doing so, he provides a vivid critique of the obesity problem in this country as well as a disurbing gimpse into the agendas of corporate fast food chains that is as witty as it is disgusting.

Overall, this may very well be the most effective and convincing documentaries I have ever observed. Most obviously is Spurolck's technique of providing a first-hand demonstration of the effects of consistent fast food consumption on the human body. He sacrifices his own health and well-being to ilustrate a point and viewers witness the indisputable results. Spurlock gains a substantial amount of weight in the short course of a month, getting ill and vomitting plenty along the way. This stark, selfless portrayal leaves little room for doubt as to the dangerous implications of eating fast food. Another technique used to build the argument at hand is the frequentl presentation of videos portraying morbidly obese people eating fast food in communities all across America. Though there is no proof that fast food caused these people's obesity, the standard viewer who is not practicing deep analysis of the film beyond the obvious would easily jump straight to that conclusion. And since these viewers likely compose the majority of the film's audience, this technique is effective indeed.

Spurlock also employs the ever effective method of personal testimony in his documentary. Among his interviewees, Spurlock speaks with a health professional, fast food consumers, and individuals employed in different levels of the fast food industry. In doing so, he attains a wide breadth of opinons. However, his personal, physical testimony of the effects of fast food automatically supports some of these opinions while completely refuting others, providing a witty irony to the statements of the "antagonists." Though not actually an interview, Spurlock adds an intriguing "policy" to his 30n day fast food binge. Anytime an employee asked if he would like the supersize meal, he had to accept. This technique displayed the priority the corporate fast food organizations place on maximizing profits over nurturing the well-being of society.

Which leads into the concept of bias in this documentary. If Spurlock hadn't previously maintained the notion that fast food is bad for you, he most likely wouldn't have bothered making this film to begin with. There definitely appears to be a bias supporting the detrimental effects of fast food on the human body. The health professionals who attest to these effects are shed in a very professional and informed light, whereas the supporters of McDonald's are presented as deceptive or ignorant in the eyes of viewers.

"Super Size Me" is strikingly convincing as to the hazards of eating too much fast food. Never before have I seen an individual push his physical well-being to such disastrous limits just to get a point across. But as i said before, this sacrifice he makes for the good of society pretty much places his argument beyond contestation.

Observing the News

For this project, I watched an increment of the FOX evening News. Tonight, the focus seemed to be mostly on news stories since there is a lot going on recently. The majority of the program was focused on commemorating veterans for the national holiday occurring today, the massacre at Ft. Hood, the Dow's 13 day streak of rising prices, and President Obama's current stance on the prospect of sending more troops to Afghanistan. The weather report was also rather extensive and well advertised. They never let me forget that the weather was coming up soon! They did not focus on sports much at all, only a reminder that the Timberwolves are playing the Portland Trailblazers tonight. We were also informed as to what channel to watch if we wanted to catch the basketball action. No separate segment was devoted to sports, the main anchor simply mentioned it. Advertisements however, were prolific. There were two commercial breaks and both were near 6 minutes long. So thats almost 12 minutes out of 30 devoted to commercials. It's obvious where the station's money is coming from.

When it comes to strategy, nobody knows the value of sex appeal like a news program. All the anchors and other related news staff were visually appealing in respect to their age group. Even the older men and women making reports were relatively attractive. Camera angles, lighting, and makeup techniques were al effectively applied to highlight the newspeople's good looks. We live in a society where sex appeal will make or break a media affiliate, and the FOX News Network obviously exploits that. One thing that impressed me was the gender equality during the program. There seemed to be a pretty even proportion of men to women reporting different aspects of the news, and in the segment I viewed, certain portions of the news didn't seem to be stereotypically covered by a specific gender. Unfortunately, the racial diversity was not as equal as that of gender. Every anchor and reporter I saw was white, which suggests the demographic the program is targeting. Another technique was displaying images related to the story being told behind the anchors. I noticed that they provided a visual aspect which allowed viewers to relate to the story better while remaining subtle enough to maintain focus on the anchor. One more important method of appealing to viewers that I noticed was the use of a marquee at the bottom of the screen, which scrolled other current news stories as the anchors spoke, keeping viewers engaged and aware of other stories to come, thereby preventing viewers from changing channels. The use of editing was interesting as well. I noticed that the network appears to employ video clips of prominent figures as well as personal testimonies of regular citizens in a strategic way. For instance, they only show brief clips of President Obama's speeches that support their stories. Similarly, chances are the network got testimonial clips from several people for each story, yet, for example, they only showed one of a man's reaction to Obama's handling of the Afghanistan situation. The man's stance of course was one which seemed to coincide with the tone of the news story. It would seem that other opinions were left out, creating a very one-sided perspective.

Whether or not the media fabricates stories to portray a specific perspective s a common notion. However, there never seems to be enough evidence to truly stand by that claim to the average viewer. But when I actually took the time to closely observe the techniques used by news programs, I could definitely perceive that notion as a reality.

As for the different forms of media I encounter, some categories are more difficult to get detailed about than others. I watch many movies and therefore experience films produced by all of the major media firms. I don't watch a lot of television, but when I do, the channels I most commonly view seem to be owned by the Disney and Viacom Corporations. Such channels include all the ESPNs, The History Channel, Spike TV, and Comedy Central. My frequent internet sites are all over the board, with ESPN.com owned by Disney, NFL.com owned by CBS, and Moviefone & MapQuest owned by Time Warner.

The trouble with this media Oligarchy is that each major corporation can and most likely does alter and manipulate the content of its programming to convey a specific corporate image, and/or to influence/increase their audience. In the high-intensity world of mass media, ratings and market share are the driving force behind the actions and behaviors of corporations and they seem to be willing to do anything to gain the advantage. This is in contrast to local, independent media sources such as MinnPost or the Daily Planet. As local media outlets, they can always maintain a loyal customer base in the local population and therefore place emphasis on providing their readers with real local news rather than taking deceptive measures to get ratings. This leaves an impression of legitimacy in the readers' minds whereas one can never be sure that what the major media is reporting is truthful or not.

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Ad Analysis

This is one of my favorite commercials and it uses blatant gender segmentation to appeal to its target audience, men. Though enjoyed by both sexes, beer is quite obviously a man's product in the media. Similarly, fashion can be enjoyed by both sexes, though it is undoubtedly a woman's realm. This Heineken commercial effectively exploits these common target market associations. The ad incorporates a common, stereotypical female passion along with an equally stereotypical female reaction and then mirrors that reaction to accommodate a male passion. This ad completely separates the two involved genders, clearly targeting and appealing to men as drinkers of Heineken. Basically, this ad is suggesting that a cold Heineken is just as appealing for a man as a new wardrobe is for a woman, and the result is as hilarious as it is persuasive.

The visual effect is equally persuasive. The swirling fog in the air, the perfect layout and attractive organization of every glass bottle, and the sheer multitude of bottles conveys the image of ice cold, delicious, plentiful beer. These are indeed ideal beer drinking conditions. I dare you to watch this commercial and not crave a Heineken.