Stephen Skalicky, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
‘America’s finest news source’ The Onion wants the US Supreme Court to answer some difficult questions: is satire protected speech, and if so, how do we define it?
Robert Pattinson is the latest Batman.
DC Comics/Warner Bros
From Greta Garbo to Gwyneth Paltrow, the screen cough is reliably fatal. But this film and television favourite walks a fine line between suspense and comedy.
Bay Yoda: the Child in the Star Wars television series was designed to appeal to our cuteness receptors.
IMDB
As his Star Wars television character enjoys a social media moment, Baby Yoda is creating massive marketing clout that will benefit his Disney masters.
Some argue that a parody of a fictional scene is not the same thing as comparing someone to the real historical figure.
IMDB
Online videos of Hitler getting angry at things, based on a 2004 film scene, have found enduring appeal and recently featured in a Fair Work Commission case. Why the furor?
The ‘Washington Post’ parody demands a better future and explains that civic action like the Jan. 19 Women’s March can help us get there.
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
A parody of ‘the Washington Post’ announcing that Donald Trump had resigned was recently handed out in Washington, D.C.
The French National Assembly, which is debating a law that would allow “fake news” to be banned in the pre-election period.
Richard Ying et Tangui Morlier/Wikimedia
France’s parliament is debating a law that would allow “fake news” to be censored. While the outcome is uncertain, the precedent is dangerous.
When does parody spill into insensitive cultural appropriation? While Chris LIlley is probably OK to appropriate the upper North Shore culture of Ja’mie (pictured), he’s on dodgier ground with Jonah from Tonga.
Princess Pictures, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Home Box Office (HBO)
In our pursuit of a world that is safely and entirely OK, must humour be cleansed of its original sin of cultural appropriation and insensitivity? It depends whether we are ‘laughing up’ or ‘laughing down’.
You probably don’t tend to consider any legal issues while watching Rita Ora’s recent parody of Beyonce’s 7/11 or the Chatroulette version of Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball. But there are limits to the extent…