But what if we have it backwards? What if, in fact, ?

Mean-spirited mockery is easy. Great parody requires empathy. You cannot skewer something you don’t secretly admire. When The Simpsons parodies The Shining (“The Shinning”), it’s not Kubrick-bashing—it’s two geniuses dancing. Parody says: “I see you. I get you. And I can play your game better than you.”

By [Your Name]

When parody turns inward on itself, it becomes pure form. It no longer needs an original. It becomes a mirror facing another mirror. And in that infinite regression, we find something strangely beautiful: .

The original gives you story. Parody gives you story plus commentary. It is a metacognitive joy. You laugh at the joke and at your own recognition of the trope. That double awareness is uniquely human—and uniquely delightful. Nothing: The Empty Throne of Pure Invention And yet, the phrase “nothing is better than parody” contains a second, deeper meaning.

Not always. But when it works, parody achieves three things the original cannot: