# What is the difference between a satire and a parody?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 18, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959 "2005-04-18T22:57:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/1 "2005-04-18T22:57:23Z")
Is there one? Does a satire have to be funny? I’ve read two books that claim to be satires that aren’t the least bit funny.
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### Author:  [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/2 "2005-04-18T23:00:16Z")
> [@furryman](#):
>
> Is there one? Does a satire have to be funny? I’ve read two books that claim to be satires that aren’t the least bit funny.
A parody is a purposefully bad recreation of an existing work, usually to point out the work’s flaws, while a satire is - well, like a parody of real life.
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### Author:  [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/3 "2005-04-18T23:05:49Z")
A satire mocks the conventions, themes and elements of a genre, usually to make a point or argument.
A parody mocks a specific work or the ouevre of a specific artist.
Difference is mostly in tone. Parodies tend to be sillier, satires can be quite bleak.
Some parodies are quite brilliant and affectionate, actually.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/4 "2005-04-18T23:21:39Z")
Quick and dirty:
Parody is style, satire is substance.
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### Author:  [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/5 "2005-04-18T23:38:16Z")
With respect to **Mr. Mapcase:** if the parody is substantive but lacking style and the satire’s stylish without much substance, then see post #2.
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### Author:  [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/6 "2005-04-18T23:40:06Z")
NoOooo. I meant #3. NUMBER THREE!
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/7 "2005-04-19T00:09:14Z")
> [@furryman](#):
>
> Does a satire have to be funny?
No, and it rarely is (to me, anyway).
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### Author:  [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/8 "2005-04-19T00:30:12Z")
I don’t know of any successful satires without some elements of humor, though.
Here’s some satires:
BAMBOOZLED (satirizes media maltreatment of black culture)
DR. STRANGELOVE (satirizes paranoia during the Cold War)
SAVED! (satirizes zealotry in Christian values)
NATURAL BORN KILLERS (satirizes media glorification of serial killers)
… compared with parodies:
AIRPLANE! (parodies 70’s disaster movie genre, particularly AIRPORT)
SCARY MOVIE (parodies the SCREAM movie franchise and the horror genre)
AUSTIN POWERS (parodies the 007 franchise)
I’M GONNA GET YOU SUCKA (parodies the blaxpolitation genre)
I can’t decide if LAST ACTION HERO was meant to be more satirical or parody.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/9 "2005-04-19T01:30:48Z")
> [@Askia](#):
>
> I don’t know of any successful satires without some elements of humor, though.
_A Modest Proposal_ by Jonathan Swift
_Animal Farm_ by George Orwell
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### Author:  [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/10 "2005-04-19T01:57:11Z")
Swift’s dry wit is in suberb form, from his ‘American acquaintance’s assurances’ of the taste of roast infant to how Papist children’s meat should fetch good prices during Lent.
Orwell’s mockery of communist dogma, manifestoes and slogans is good for some chuckles: “Four legs good, two legs bad!”
I didn’t say gut-bustingly funny, just elements of humor. The venue for satire is the theater of the absurd.
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### Author:  [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-difference-between-a-satire-and-a-parody/299959/11 "2005-04-20T03:53:31Z")
According to [yourDictionary.com](http://yourDictionary.com), a satire is:
```
" A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit."
```
According to the same source, a parody is:
```
" A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule."
```
Humor is not necessary for satire, while it is an essential part of parody. Most of Ayn Rand’s works are satires, and she wasn’t exactly known as a barrel of laughs. The _Police Squad_ TV series was a parody of TV crime shows, especially those by Quinn Martin.