# Parody beats the original **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320 "2009-03-30T15:52:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/41 "2009-03-30T21:53:31Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > It’s widely believed that _Airplane!_ is a parody of the _Airport_ movies generally (and I’m not saying there aren’t direct references), but it’s more specifically a parody of a movie called [Zero Hour!](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080339/trivia) I’ve seen Zero Hour, and Airplane! is far closer to it than I ever imagined. I haven’t checked, but I think the WW II footage of the disastrous mission are taken right from Zero Hour. No jive translation, though. I suspect many more people have seen Airplane! than the original. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/42 "2009-03-30T21:55:07Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > I think [The High and the Mighty](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047086/) is a better fit. I can’t watch that movie without busting out laughing at the parallels. Get Zero Hour from Netflix and let us know if you still think this. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/43 "2009-03-30T21:57:13Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > No jive translation, though. The jive is, no question about it, the high point of that movie. Well, after the boobies. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/44 "2009-03-30T21:57:37Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > How about Jonathon Swift’s “A Modest Proposal..”? Nobody even remembers the whole genre of the pamphlets it is satirizing, let alone any specific examples. How many people have read it? How many even know Swift wrote a satire with that name? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/45 "2009-03-30T22:05:46Z")
The copyright having fallen off:😛 > **[Jonathan Swift - A Modest Proposal](http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html)** > > Jonathan Swift's satirical essay from 1729, where he suggests that the Irish eat their own children. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/46 "2009-03-30T22:07:16Z")
A lot of the ones already mentioned here, especially Yoda/Lola. “I met her in a swamp down in Degoba…” Also, the deconstruction of the riddle of the Sphinx in Pratchett’s _Pyramids_. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/47 "2009-03-30T22:07:37Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > How many people have read it? How many even know Swift wrote a satire with that name? Quite a lot of people, I’d think. I’ve read it, but I had no idea (apart from a general understanding that pamphlets were a more common method of political speech at the time than they are now) that it was a parody of anything in particular. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/48 "2009-03-30T22:09:31Z")
There are many Gilbert & Sullivan parodies, but those by Anna Russell and Tom Lehrer (the Elements) overwhelm the originals in my mind. The Cole Porter version of Clementine that he does is also right on (yearning, churning, burning…) And in a broader sense, who can listen to Wagner’s Ring without thinking of “You remember Alberich, don’t you?” and thinking of the Valkyrie as Siegried’s Aunts? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/49 "2009-03-30T22:12:05Z")
I watched **Hot Shots!** long before I saw **Top Gun**. However, I pretty much kept thinking of **Hot Shots!** during the entire movie. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/50 "2009-03-30T22:13:01Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > How many people have read it? How many even know Swift wrote a satire with that name? Not as many as should. I wrote a column for our local paper, titled “A Modest Proposal for our Schools” where I suggested that the problems of school overcrowding, low test scores, and too many children per class could be remedied by laying off low scoring students. Who ever was in charge of headline writing changed it to something to indicate he or she did not understand the reference. I also discovered that about half the readers thought I was serious. On a happier note, when my daughter was in HS History (or English, I forget) they assigned it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/51 "2009-03-30T22:14:21Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > How many people have read it? How many even know Swift wrote a satire with that name? You’re kidding, right? “A Modest Proposal” is one of the most famous literary works of its time. It’s read in high schools. > [@Voyager](#): > > And in a broader sense, who can listen to Wagner’s Ring without thinking of “You remember Alberich, don’t you?” and thinking of the Valkyrie as Siegried’s Aunts? “You know, I’m not making this up.” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/52 "2009-03-30T22:34:44Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > And in a broader sense, who can listen to Wagner’s Ring without thinking of “You remember Alberich, don’t you?” and thinking of the Valkyrie as Siegried’s Aunts? Huh? Link? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/53 "2009-03-30T22:38:07Z")
The **Incredibles** technically came out before the movie version of **Fantastic Four** , but mines the same source material better. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/54 "2009-03-30T22:41:33Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Huh? Link? [Anna Russell](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM15dEexiu0). If you’re at all familiar with the Ring Cycle, it’s beyond hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/55 "2009-03-30T22:46:06Z")
The [torch song version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91sqAs-_-g) of “My Humps”. Beats the heck out of the original. Weird Al – “Amish Paradise” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/56 "2009-03-30T22:55:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Huh? Link? Dude, you are in for a treat. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/57 "2009-03-30T23:05:42Z")
Thanks to this board, I can never listen to Pachelbel’s Canon without hearing [Rob Paravonian](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM) singing, “DA, dadadadaddada,” and segueing into Green Day. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/58 "2009-03-30T23:28:26Z")
_Fistful of Yen_ was way more entertaining than _Enter the Dragon_. ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/59 "2009-03-30T23:31:38Z")
[Kung-Pow: Enter the Fist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Pow). So brilliantly absurd, and amazingly executed for such a unique approach. For an even further dive into parody, the is the “what they’re really saying” audio track of the dvd. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320/60 "2009-03-31T00:06:28Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > _Fistful of Yen_ was way more entertaining than _Enter the Dragon_. Likewise, even though I’ve never seen [_Key of Keys_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058253/), I can’t imagine it’s anywhere near as good as _What’s Up, Tiger Lily?_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parody-beats-the-original/491320.md?page=4)