The problem with a parody.


My theory is that you can only enjoy a parody like this if you have a love/hate relationship with the origial materials. If you only LOVE teen sufer movies, you'll be offended by the paroday, and if you only HATE teen surfer movies (or haven't seen any) there's no point. You'll just torture yourself by sitting through a satire of something you don't like. It's only people who have affection for, but see the weaknesses, who actually have a chance of liking the parody.

Comments?

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I love some of those old surfer movies, and I wasn't offended at all. I enjoy camp. Especially parodies of camp.

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[deleted]

Oh my. I am forever indebted to your MENSA-esque statements. Thank you, oh white, straight one.

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although he came off as a sanctimonious twat, i actually agree with him. i also believe that parodies are most enjoyed by intelligent people who can appreciate the overstated and tacky humour as well as the quick and subtle moments (mostly constructed through word play).

as for needing a love/hate relationship to really enjoy the film, i have to disagree.
i feel that a true love for the genre being parodied helps increase one's enjoyment. it's twice as funny when you get all the fanboi references and barbs.
i really detest the culture (and related documentaries) that surrounds gangsta/pimp rap, but i LOVED "fear of a black hat."


by the way, i am a 30-something, white, deviant, and the proud owner of a vag. not that that means anything.

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although he came off as a sanctimonious twat...

by the way, i am a 30-something, white, deviant, and the proud owner of a vag.


Lesbians make the best judges of twat; Sanctimonious - one who's owner moans loudly.

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Did you ever direct your razor-sharp intellect to the fact that the average IMDb poster is most likely far too young to have ever seen any 60s bikini-movies? I myself never knew about them until I'd watched this movie, and even now have never seen one. I still love this movie, though.

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I completely agree with you Smeth. When you try to parody something that is ALREADY pretty silly like beach party movies, it is VERY difficult to maintain for longer than, say... an SNL sketch. I watch beach party movies and '50/'60's monster movies because I LOVE them. I really enjoy it when they overcome the limits of the genre. Or when they don't. They're still just plain fun to watch.

Check out a film I just finished if you like. Stomp! Shout! Scream! (2005) It is an homage to both the beach party movies and those monster movies that I love.

J

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I loved starwars, and SpaceBalls is one of my favorites. I Love nirvana, but I love Weird Al's "smells like nirvana"-which could be very offensive. I love stuff, but I equally love paradies.

"Me? Jewish? I don't even like Barbra Streisand."~ Tobias Beecher

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I largely agree with the original remarks, except that I'm completely attached to beach movies (instead of hating ANYTHING about them), and STILL think this movie is great. That's because of how geniunely easy-going it is with the imitations, not least of all Beth Broderick as "Chicklet's" mother. As I said elsewhere, I've seen a zillion parodies of '50s-early '60s TV and movie "moms", but this was one of the few that didn't hammer away at the jokes. I disagree a little with the other poster - I don't think many people are too dumb for parodies, but that parodies themselves (like other comedies) get too heavy-handed, spelling out the jokes. (Also, that there are TOO MANY of them, now more than ever). Psycho Beach Party is an exception.

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I have never seen a "surfer" movie, but I LOVED this. I do think some jokes went a little over my head, but I was still laughing the whole time.

And as for the times you're not around, I wouldn't particularly mind it if you were-Brian

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I do think your wrong I haven't seen any of the older surfy movies I just saw this and fell in love with it. Come on theres a go go dancer for the credits! and nobody rhymes like that its pretty sweet.

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[deleted]

The problem with parodying a beach movie is that during the era of beach movies they were already being parodied and going over the top, with movies such as "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini".



Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.

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I played "Psycho Beach Party" for my best friend last night. He's 30, hetero, and I can almost guarantee he's never sat through an old beach movie. He most likely didn't get some of the film's more inside-jokes but he still liked the movie and laughed his ass off numerous times.

Personally speaking, I've endured more than a few old beach movies, but I don't have a particular affection for them. They're just mindless silliness, and used to be regular late night/Saturday afternoon fare. That said, I love this movie.


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It's fun to come back to old posts years later. I wrote the original post because so many people comment on how wooden the acting and how slow/cheesy the story is. I assumed these people had never seen one of these old beach movies wouldn't get some of the satire.

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OP: Interesting thoughts.

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