robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (11/09/84)
In addition to tributes and ripoffs, there is a long artistic tradition called "parody" (NOT in the modern funny sense! Read on), in which an artistic work is based upon another artistic work, but is in some ways more developed, or varied in new directions. Parodic musical compositions were very common in the 15th and 16th Centuries in Europe, and respectable Parodic paintings were, I think, common also. The music parodies were usually bigger compositions than the works they were based on. Some of the greatest music composers of the times wrote many parodies. It's a little difficult to explain what the point of parody compositions is without examples, but there is a similar approach in many fields of Jazz, where a composition is played in an inventive way, with variations and complications, but often paying close attention to the original. The parody composer draws a great deal of strength from the structure of the original work, and benefits from audience recognition, but also contributes a great deal to the parody composition, which should in fact be a thoroughly original work. The only De Palma film I ever saw was a short film in 1962, so I don't have an opinion here, but could these Hitchcokish films be serious parodies rather than ripoffs or tributes? For that matter, what IS a "tribute" film? - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison or: decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison or (emergency): princeton!eosp1!robison