Mersmann: Bad parodies hurt U.S. culture
Movies often misinterpret the genre they are trying to mock.
By Dennis Mersmann (Contact)
Thursday, January 17th, 2008
I don’t know much about the upcoming movie “Meet the Spartans” other than it exists, and that is enough to make my soul hurt.
I saw a commercial for it and assumed that it was promoting “Epic Movie 2.”
I was half right.
What’s wrong with these movies is that they don’t stay faithful to the genre they claim to be mocking. Instead of focusing on epic movies, any pop culture reference imaginable is crammed in.
The creative team (if you can call it that) behind “Meet the Spartans” is the same duo behind “Epic Movie,” so in a way they are ripping themselves off. Kind of like John Fogerty but with less ... well, talent.
The writing/directing team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer is the same that also brought us “Date Movie,” the “Scary Movie” series and “Spy Hard.” These two have based their entire careers on doing nothing but lazy parodies.
Trying to logically explain why this movie and most of the parody genre exist in a cultural black hole poses one major problem.
Every time I think about this movie, my brain hurts. I go cross-eyed a little bit. Fear not, I’ll soldier on.
I have not seen any footage (leaked or otherwise) besides what is in the commercial. I am totally uninformed, and that doesn’t matter, because someone with a partial college education is still informed enough to analyze “Meet the Spartans” based on a 30-second TV spot.
What’s wrong with these movies is that they don’t stay faithful to the genre they claim to be mocking. Instead of focusing on epic movies, any pop culture reference imaginable is crammed in.
The commercial shows a Sanjaya look-a-like (ZING!), a Paris Hilton look-a-like (ZOWEE!), a Britney Spears look-a-like (BOFFO!) and a Donald Trump look-a-like (um…what?) What is epic about “The Apprentice?”
It’s like they hock loogies at “Us Weekly” to choose their plot points.
The worst part is that these movies openly lie to the audience. By calling the movies Epic, Date, Space, Robot, Old-Person Love Story or whatever Movie, there is a promise made that it will be about the word in the title. If I pay to see “Epic Movie,” why would I want a “Deal or No Deal” scene? These things are not epic.
Britney Spears shaving her head and Paris Hilton’s stay in the clink get too much attention anyway, and it only validates them by implying that they are worthy of satire. They are worthy of just ire.
What Friedberg and Seltzer don’t realize, or just don’t care about, is that even zany comedies still have rules to follow. If anything and everything is fair game, then it isn’t zany — it’s mind-numbing anarchy.
When I was in high school, I saw “Scary Movie” and thought it was funny. Maybe it’s the 14- to 17-year-old market that keeps these movies afloat. Are our younger siblings so desperate for quality entertainment that they are forced to see Friedberg/Seltzer productions?
A friend of mine told me that you can’t force people to have good taste.
That may be true, but “Meet the Spartans” is still going to suck.
Bad parodies are hurting American culture, and maybe someone will be moved by my plea.
If no one goes to this movie, then others like it won’t get made.
If you’re bored the weekend of Jan. 25 and feel like catching a movie, catch something else.
Anything.
Mos Def and Jack Black have a movie opening that weekend, you like Mos Def, right? And just to be safe, if you do want to see “Meet the Spartans,” buy a ticket to a different movie and go into the wrong theater.
Mersmann is a Lawrence senior in creative writing.
Discussion
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The only thing worse than bad genre movies is reviewers who don't see the movie and instead review the TV commercial.
The only thing worse than someone complaining about a movie review is someone who doesn't realize that the review essentially is an opinion piece on an entire genre and not one solitary movie.
The only thing worse than someone who doesn't realize that the review is an opinion piece about a genre is when the writer or writer's friend of an article comments on his own story.
The only thing worse than bologna is frozen bologna.
The only thing worse than when... aw never mind.
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