Tolkien and Parody

[mark12_30]

There is a big issue with personality and parody, I think. I say this largely because I don't enjoy parody much at all, regardless of form; I am trying to remember if I have ever encountered a parody of any type that I have enjoyed.

It's not that I have no sense of humor (although some might so accuse me)-- Tolkien in particular can leave me chuckling for extended periods of time, and so can some members of this board. Golly, I *still* laugh (even as I write) over Ewan MacGregor's eyeliner. But parodies don't hold my attention, and I wander off looking for something more interesting. I'm not sure whether it's because parodies often tend towards humor I find distasteful, or whether I feel that if I appreciate the original, I'd rather not have it tomatoed for my supposed enjoyment.

Also-- filk parodies abound; I hardly ever enjoy them (Alan Sherman being a notable exception, but I grew up with that.)

On the ComingOfAge thread, we joked for a while about an RPG blending TOlkien with Led Zeppelin. It was great fun to joke about, but once the casting began I wanted to have very little to do with it! And there was nothing offensive involved that I recall. So I come back around to the personality thing.

...all right, I did think of a particular form of parody which I have enjoyed: certain, select, old-time saturday morning cartoons. Rocky And Bullwinkle's Fractured Fairy Tales. Or Bullwinkle's Poetry corner-- also good. And another: Elmer & Bug's Niebelungenlied:

"Oh Bwun-HIL-da, you're so WOVE-wy!"
"Yes, I KNOW it, I can't HELP it!"

The Magic Helmet... And that obese white horse.... Niebelungenlied had me gasping for air. I'm getting off topic, I guess...

But I have yet to find a written parody that holds my interest, and I have no desire to even check out a Tolkien parody. I'd rather laugh at Tolkien's own jokes, which abound within the text.

Does anybody else feel that enjoyment of parody involves a personality element that some people have and some don't?

Edit:

The few times I've seen William Shatner parody himself

Fordim, that I would love to see.