Redefining Lines: 'parody' videos and their discourse.

I'm not sure you can toss a stone on the internet without hitting somebody mad at Robert Thicke right now. Whether it's people defending his song Blurred Lines (and it's top spot on R/B charts) or ripping it to shreds, the blogosphere is eating it up.

For anyone still in the lurch, Blurred Lines and it's music video is a catchy hit that proclaims that the line between yes and no in sexual situations is 'blurred.'

Pictured: music video pretty much everyone will agree is sexist.

This philosophy is famously unpopular with progressive consumers, leading to intense outcry in the wake of Blurred Lines' popularity. Accusations include that the song promotes rape and rape culture, that the video objectifies women, and overall the combined effect is simply just too creepy. 

However, something interesting to come out of this are the multitudes of video 'parody' songs that satirize the message in Thicke's song. 

Here's the Law Revue Girls turning the tables and flipping the video's gender roles, combined with a pro-feminist message:

Pictured: a very inopportune video preview but a fairly empowering video.

Here's YouTube artist Bart Baker, who specializes in these parody songs, turning nearly every #1 hit into a comedy. This video has over 8 million hits:

Pictured: Less empowering, but does raise some good points about the video.

The song's tune was even adapted to popular TV shows and other fandoms, riding on the song's popularity. Some fans show their love for Doctor Who and forget the unfortunate naked women business:

Pictured: Their enthusiasm is adorable but nobody here should quit their day job.

This trend didn't begin with Thicke, of course: previous hits like Gagnam Style, nearly everything Lady Gaga has ever produced, and beyond have had loving fun poked at them. The genre might even be traced back to Weird Al Yankovic, who supplemented his weird and wacky albums with much-beloved parody songs of popular releases. To have a Yankovic single is even considered a badge of honor by some artists.

Under Fair Use, anybody can make a parody video without risk of legal action.

However, I think something interesting happened with Blurred Lines and its spoofs that rarely has taken place with other jibed material. The parodies on whole aren't loving. Anything but: the overwhelming message of the satire directed at this song is hateful, and it can be argued rightly so. Despite Thicke's success in the charts, his reputation has been forever tarred by the dialogue these spoofs open up.

Other media that's been poorly received (despite monetary success) by the public has been given the same treatment, even more dramatic treatment. In the case of the much-detested Twilight series, a whole satirical movie was made in protest of the themes and uncomfortable plot devices it popularized:

Pictured: Dislike strong enough to fuel an actual movie release.

Satire as not only a means of criticism from certain formal sources (See: the Daily Show, MAD magazine), but as a publicly-available weapon against toxic or hostile messages is an essential part of our modern storytelling landscape. It's one thing to publish criticism, to write protesting articles, to leave poor reviews, but it's another entirely to speak back in culture's own language.

"Hey baby," slurred Blurred Lines, a Solo cup full of tequila sloshing in one fist, "What'chu doin'?"

"You're catchy, but piss off," the public replied, and slapped the hit single's wandering hand off its vast and disapproving thigh.