7/31/14: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PARODY AND A SATIRE

One thing I've wondered for a long time was what defines a parody from a satire and vise versa. 

They both poke fun at something and exaggerate it, that I knew, but with further examination, I discovered the difference. 

Parody: A parody is something that makes fun of another thing, commonly a form of media (movie, book, music, etc.) for the sake of comedy. Parodies are exaggerations of an original item that are twisted for humor, and it's always fun to see how ideas are changed around.

My Favorite Examples: 

-"Weird Al" Yankovic

-Spaceballs (parody of "Star Wars")

-Airplane! (parody of "Airport!")

-Scary movie series (parodies horror films)

Satire: A satire makes fun of, not an original item, but exaggerates something, commonly world problems (racism, bullying, poverty, etc.), for entertainment purposes as well as social commentary on the world. Basically, a satire tries to animate something serious by giving it an entertaining twist. You laugh, you have a good time, but you also realize that there's something deeper. 

My Favorite Examples: 

-Fallout 3 (video game depicting a very hauntingly-realistic future according to the evolvement of modern society)

-South Park (animated TV series tackling myriad social and political issues through myriad toilet humor and vulgar language)

-Planet of the Apes (depicts human nature with the addition of apes as the dominant race and humans as inferior)

-The Colbert Report/The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (constant tackles on political issues and constant attempts at making the world, especially America, look stupid)

-Pogo (a comic strip by Walt Kelly that had funny talking animals tackle social and political issues)

-Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (a Stanley Kubrick classic satirizing war)