Parody Music Videos

Another common style of music video is to parody existing pieces of media or stars that are well known to the target audience. Parody is where something is imitated in order to mock it, often by exaggerating features. Eminem uses lots of parody in his music videos, often by dressing up as well known celebrities and stars and making a mockery of them.

In the video for Just Lose It, Eminem dresses up like Michael Jackson in order to mimic and mock him. His nose falls off (a reference to Jackson’s plastic surgery) and he has children jumping up and down on his bed (a reference to his alleged child abuse). Eminem also dresses up like MC Hammer in the iconic trousers he wears and he even parodies his own film 8 Mile and the music video for Lose Yourself which accompanied it. Eminem’s lyrics are often offensive to other pop stars and therefore this style of video suits his persona, image and songs perfectly. His fans will find the parody funny and hopefully spread the word about the video and the silliness within it.

Blink 182 also parody boy band music videos, specifically the Backstreet Boys in their video for All the Small Things. They dress in the same clothes; dance and lip synch in the same locations but also undermine the sexiness of the boy band stars by messing with their appearance and sitting on the toilet while singing.

Another example of a parody music video is Pink’s Stupid Girls in which she dresses up as Beyonce and Jessica Simpson and imitates their music videos in order to put across her message that many female stars are silly for exploiting their sexuality in their videos. This parody has a clear message and is designed to make young women see the silliness of trying to be like certain women in the media.

A final example is the sensation Gangnam Style. This video went viral and became the most watched video on YouTube ever due to its iconic dance moves and tongue in cheek humour. Psy copies many music video conventions such as having wind and fake snow blown in his face to make him look cool and attractive but then the fake snow fills his mouth and eyes and makes it comical. The whole video is in essence mocking people who think they are Gangnam Style (wealthy, upper class) but actually are not.

Weird Al Yankovic is also known for creating parody songs and his videos also often parody the original music video of the song he is mocking. A good example of this is I’m Fat that parodies the Bad video.

What are your favourite parody music videos?

Check out my other posts:

• Surrealist music videos 
• Narrative music videos
• music genres
• as live/in concert
• animated music videos

Purposes of music videos: Blink 182 and All the Small Things

After last week looking at why music videos exist, my students will next be looking at examples and explaining the purposes of music videos with references to examples. In order to help them I have written a short piece on Blink 182's music video for All the Small Things.

The music video for pop punk band Blink 182’s All the Small Things features the three piece group lip synching to the song, playing their instruments in front of adoring fans and engaging in a range of activities that parody the conventions of boy band music videos.

It is an excellent example of a music video that promotes an artist and their single for a number of reasons. Firstly and most blatantly, the video features the words Blink 182 and their logo in many places; on the side of a private jet, on many of the fans’ signs and even on a band member’s arm. This keeps the artists name in viewers’ heads as they watch. It is also an example of Blink 182 making themselves stand out from their competition. As they are a pop-punk band, they have to compete for single and album sales with other pop artists that include boy bands who were popular at the time such as Backstreet Boys and N-Sync. They do this by parodying conventions of boy band videos such as having water poured on themselves while posing for the camera, having a private jet in the background and performing choreographed dances in matching white suits.

The video would also help promotion by being positioned in the right place so that the target audience can find it. This means it could go on rock channels such as Kerrang and Scuzz but also on the pop channels like MTV to ensure it reaches a wider audience than just rock and punk fans.  The video would also be able to be viewed on various internet sites such as YouTube, thus extending the number of outlets the song can be heard in, and is also available on the Blink 182 DVD called The Urethra Chronicles. By selling this DVD, the record company and artist can all make more income from the music video. The adverts before the video on YouTube will also raise a small amount of income.

The music video is also a part of the record label and artist’s strategy for creating a popular and recognizable image for the band. Blink 182 are known to be a playful, silly and immature pop punk band that will appeal to teenage boys as they sing about troubles with girls, being immature and having fun. They will appeal to teenage girls as they are fresh faced, good looking guys who sing occasionally about love and relationships but usually in a silly, sweet and harmless manner. This video helps Blink 182 appear as funny and light-hearted and not afraid to mock their own image as well as that of their competition. While mocking other boy bands, it also establishes Blink 182 as a band with a major label behind them that has the money to invest in quite a high budget video that features lots of extras, different locations and even a private jet in it. It also ensures that the audience can see the band playing their instruments and looking like a typical rock band.

Their other videos including M&M’s, Dammit, The Rock Show and What’s My Age Again? The latter two feature the band running naked through the streets and literally throwing away the record company's music video budget. All confirm the band’s image as fun loving, silly and immature; everything the target audience of Blink 182 and pop punk would want them to be after hearing their songs. Watch the videos below:

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