“Eat It” Vs. “Beat It”
A
parody and a satire are two things that cause confusion to people
very often. The difference between the two words is very simple. “It
can sometimes be hard to make a distinction, as Satire and Parody are
both related to humor” (Prabhat). Wikipedia defines parody as, “an
imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original
work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of
humorous, satiric
or ironic imitation” (wikipedia). A satire is more to be elusive, which
regards mockery but without mimicry. Satire also makes a serious
point through humor. Weird Al
Yankovic is a parodist, satirist, writer, comedian, and etc. He is
best known for his humorous songs “that make light to popular
culture” (wikipedia). I will be focusing on a parody Yankovic did
for Michael Jackson's song "Beat It", and renaming it "Eat
It.” He playfully mocked Jackson’s song “Beat It”, using his
own ideas, but also incorporates some of the things you see in the
original which is Michael Jackson's version. I will be reviewing "EatIt" By Weird Al Yankovic as a remix of Michaels Jackson's song"Beat It" through the literary theory Cultural Studies, and
answering the essential question: How are such events interpreted and
presented that is similar and different in both videos?
Jackson
played a big part in Yankovics’ career as a parodist. Yankovic
explains how much influence Jackson was to his career having a big
leap; “I don't know what kind of career I would have today if it
hadn't been for Michael Jackson. In a very real sense, he
jump-started my career. 'Eat It' basically changed me from an unknown
into a guy that got recognized at Burger King” (NY
Daily News).
A
parody is made for mocking and it may or may not provoke the society
in a negative way. It should just be pure entertainment and nothing
else. In the Yankovic’s “Eat It”, it’s just a lot of comedy
going on. Not only does he uses the same dance moves or the same
theme as Jackson’s “Beat It”, but he also changes the lyrics of
the song, making it all about eating food even if you like or not
because people are starving in Japan. “How
come you're always such a fussy young man / Don't want no Captain
Crunch, don't want no Raisin Bran / Well, don't you know that other
kids are starving in Japan So eat it, just eat it”
(AZ
lyrics)
This song
will always be looked at as a part of humor to the
viewers whereas, Michael Jackson song “Beat It” is clearly
talking about gang violence. “They're
out to get you, Better Leave While You Can / Don't Wanna Be A Boy,
You Wanna Be A Man /You Wanna Stay Alive, Better Do What You Can So
Beat It, Just Beat It” Jackson’s objective was to spread the
message that we, people, shouldn’t indulge in violence. Instead,
people should just “Beat It”. He repeats the phrase “Beat It”
a plethora times in the chorus of the song which expresses the
meaning behind it. The listners can comprehend the message being
brought up about the gang related situations.
The
Yankovic’s
parody is not only different from the original film, but also
similar. He inteprets his song by using the same plot and setting as
Jackson did in the “Beat It” video. Michael Jackson allowed
Yankovic to parody his songs twice. “Beat It” and “Bad”
became “Eat It” and “fat” respectively. Jackson allowed
Yankovic to use the same set he used in his videos to do his parodies
of his own songs. While looking at the two videos you would think
you’re watching the same thing but with different people if it was
played on mute. This is how similar the videos were to each other.
Yankovic mangaed to keep the same theme and plot but change the
lyrics to make it humorous.
On numerous occasions, Yankovic was denied
apporval to do parodies for a lot of artist. Jackson requested that
he not record a parody of “Black and White”, his titles “Snack
All Night” because he felt that messgae for this song was too
important to make mockery of. This still does not stop Yankovic from
making different parodies of different songs. Different things in
each video interpret and present as great things which could be taken
serious and as a joke.
Work Cited
I really liked your essay. Also I think you did a great job proving your point I really liked how you defined what a parody exactly is.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stephanie. I enjoyed in the introduction how you took the time to explain the difference between a parody and a satire. I found this helpful while reading your analysis of the two. I also enjoyed that you chose Michael Jackson and Al Yankovic. By giving quotes by Yankovic about Jackson strengthened your argument. Overall great job on you analysis.
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