Edit: This post was written without seeing Fordim's reply.
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Originally Posted by Saurreg
I know two types of people who like parodies; the first are people who are acquainted with the original work the parody is based on and would not mind viewing the work in an askewed perspective for a good laugh or to view the original work in another angle as additional food for thought. These people like the original work but are generally casual and easy-going over it. Not "too-into-it" and "taking-it-easy" are the orders of the day here.
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I’d fall into that category, methinks. Though I’ve never really felt the urge to read Bored of the Rings or others. Really, the only Tolkien parodies I’ve read were threads or links posted in Mirth, that “What if LotR had been written by someone else?” thread in Books, and Esty’s Entish Bow RPGs.
I think there’s a third definition missing here: the spoof. As I see it (in my own little world) the spoof is the gentlest form of mockery – instead of making any judgements or copying the general storyline, it includes element(s) in a wink wink nudge nudge fashion. For instance, “Shrek” parodied and satired many fairy tale archtypes, but I would say the scene where Fiona channels Trinity is more a spoof of the Matrix than a parody. It’s just one element that pops up unexpectedly, and it’s rather affectionate to its source material.
When I write in the REB RPGs, I see it as a spoof of LotR (among a rather lot of other things). I have a half-elf who blithely spouts the worst poetry in the galaxy, but that doesn’t mean I think Tolkien’s Elven poetry is bad. Quite the opposite. I just thought it was be a way to turn LotR on its head.
I’ve written spoofs, parodies, and satires of my own original work, incidentally. I’ve also written s/p/s’s of general story types. I see it as a way to just keep it real. That said, I have to be in the right mood to appreciate the merits of mockery, or I too can just shrug and wonder what’s so clever.
Lame parodies/satires are just sad, really.