Parody

According to wikipedia, parody is "a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject."

One should not expect truth from parody. For example, one would not look at an article from The Onion for the truth about current events. Thousands of people did not march on Washington for fresh air and exercise. The Yankees did not decline the Wild Card. A new heart device was not installed in Dick Cheney so that he may experience love. These things are jokes. They are for us to laugh at.

Furthermore, one can not necessarily infer anything about the feelings of the author (or authors) on the subject which they are parodying. As stated in the definition, parody can be used to "poke some affectionate fun" at something else. Certainly, when Saturday Night Live included several parodies of "Celebrity Jeopardy" it was not because they disliked the game show or the celebrities they lampooned, or thought that other game shows were better. They simply found an opportunity to create a humorous sketch which exaggerated the characteristics of the original. Likewise, the "Joe Pesci Show" sketches, which featured Joe Pesci beating up each of his guests were not actual depictions of what the writers of SNL felt about Pesci. It was merely a caricature of characters that Pesci has played.

Anything which is in the public eye is a potential source for parody. Politicians, elements of pop culture, bloggers, and even Wikipedia itself have all been the subject of parodies.

From the Uncyclopedia: "In contemporary usage, parody (otherwise known as a pisstake) is a form of satire that try to imitate another work of art in order to ridicule it but miserably fails. When the attempt to ridicule doesn't fail, it's called plagiarism. Parody exists in all art media, including literature, music, and cinema. It is notable for being significantly better than only one D."