This topic's been in the back of my mind for days now, not least as I've been thinking about what parodies I have enjoyed, and why I have enjoyed them.
One literary parody that was good was Jane Austen's
Northanger Abbey, a parody of Gothic Novels. Yet, much as I enjoyed this, it is still my least favourite of her novels. I much preferred the satire, her biting humour is better seen in
Emma, for example, and
Northanger Abbey is not as satisfying as these, it feels more...forced.
I'm not sure I agree that the purpose of a
modern parody is to draw out meaning for the audience; think about films like
Scary Movie, or
Airplane. They are simply parody for the sake of it - or parody to make money!
I definitely do
not like the sense that the author/creator of a parody is merely trying to ridicule. It smacks of playground bullies somehow - as though you're being made to feel like you ought to be seen to be laughing. And this is generally the main feature of a bad parody. Now if the parodist can come up with a new take on things, a twist that makes you go "aaah, I
see", and they are clever, then the parody does work. Other parodies which work are those which gently play on something - like Shrek!
I am almost dreading a parody film of LOTR coming out, something like Scary Movie, as it would be based on the
films of LOTR. I suspect it would play heavily on stereotypes rather than knowledge of the work, something which is very easy to do, yet hard to pull off without being tasteless.
Speaking of taste, I agree that personal taste is a
huge part of comedy and what people like. I can quote half the lines in The League of Gentlemen ("this is a local shop..."), but I sat through Dumb and Dumber with a face like thunder!
OK, seeing as others have had a go, here's some ideas for rules for good parody:
Have a good knowledge and understanding of what you are basing your parody on.
Do not resort to mockery or cheap humour.
Be playful or clever.
Don't carry the joke on once you get to the punchline.
What would Tolkien have thought of parodies? I'm sure he'd have read them - he had a famously good sense of humour, but he would only have liked the good ones, of course.