XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien, alt.fan.tolkien   
   From: derek@pointerstop.ca   
      
   Sean_Q_ wrote:   
      
   > Does posting a Tolkien parody by definition constitute disrespect   
   > for the Master and his works?   
      
   Absolutely not.  Good parody is always a token of respect.   
   >   
   > However in article "Re: Using the ring in Iran" Noel Q. von Schneiffel   
   > speaks out against:   
   >   
   >  > bad jokes and blasphemous mockery... ritualistic, heretical   
   >  > bashing of Tolkien's greatness... nonsensical blathering   
      
   I'm sure the Professor (however little I may understand his far higher level   
   of understanding than my own meagre beginnings) means that quite literally.   
   There's not enough time in one life for _bad_ jokes.  But well done parody   
   should not need bad jokes.   
      
   > The answer is subtle and hard to describe with precision. American   
   > judge Potter Stewart was unable to formulate a definition of   
   > pornography, but declared that "I know it when I see it."   
   >   
   > So do Noel and other Honorable Members of these forums know heretical   
   > bashing when they see it, distinguishing it from legitimate satire?   
   > Or can there be such a thing as legitimate Tolkien satire at all?   
      
   If I have learned anything from Herr Prof. v. Schneiffel, it is that he does   
   indeed know it when he sees it, and will be sure to let us know.   
      
   > My own personal test is simply that I quit reading material if it   
   > becomes tedious and boring. Therefore if a spoof is short and to   
   > the point I'm more likely to read it all and get a good laugh than if   
   > it goes on and on... and yet _BotR_, of pocket book length was (mostly)   
   > funny all the way through, so go figure.   
      
   I completely agree.  One of the marks of most great comedy is that it stops   
   before you tire of it.  Monty Python, whatever one thinks of them, were   
   successful because their sketches were often finished before you quite got   
   the point.  I can think of a few sketch comedy groups that showed promise   
   that never quite understood that.  You, being Canadian, might be familiar   
   with Radio Free Vestibule. I always thought they were hilarious, for the   
   first half of every sketch, but they never learned when to quit and always   
   lost me before they got to the punchline (though I _still_ can't say   
   "galoshes" without laughing).   
      
   > In other words a meerkat may bleat at a rhinoceros, but it still remains   
   > a rhinoceros. --[Kalahari Bushman saying of my own recent invention]   
      
   Surely "it" remains a meerkat?   Perhaps, I'm missing the point...   
      
   > Anyway I recently announced an intention to inflict some reposts of   
   > my own attempts at Tolkien parody on alt.books.inklings. This threat   
   > was met with silence from all quarters, indicating either quiet dissent   
   > or total indifference. Therefore to make them easier to ignore I will   
   > include "[AFT repost]" in the titles.   
      
   While I would be interested in such posts (though I may have read them   
   before), I'm fairly sure an announcement like "Listen up everybody, I have a   
   joke..." should _always_ be met with indifference.   
   --   
   derek   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)