Thank goodness for "Shaun of the Dead"

I love great parodies. But they have to be great, not like the "Scary Movie" series that has plagued us recently. These movies are simply stupid; not clever, not interesting and cannot stand alone as their own movie, apart from their references to the genre films they mock. If one wants to see a good parody, watch any Mel Brooks film. His movies are not only brilliant and clever parodies, but each can stand alone as a great movie. Another thing that separates Brooks' parodies from many others, is the intelligence with which he implements his humor, even when the jokes are low-brow.

This brings me back to the title of the post: thank goodness for "Shaun of the Dead." Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg in the last few years have made "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz," two of the best true parodies to come out in a long time. They are clever, well written movies that poke a lot of fun at zombie films and police movies respectively, yet also stand alone as great films in each of those classifications. It's a good sign, people, a very good sign.

As a society, our intelligence level has dropped dramatically when it comes to humor. It is painful for me to see the kind of things being produced and what is becoming popular. After people like Brooks and those zany Pythoners, it's very depressing to see something like Scary Movie make any money at all. But with these new, intelligent parodies coming out now, there might still be hope for us after all.