KissaBoo

When Parodies are Plausible

Due to the fact that I receive it for free, I read Stuff Magazine. Well, near the end of the May issue (I'll trust it was that one since I can't find it at the moment), they had a picture of an attractive redhead dressed in slutty-country style next to a well with a headline like "Baby Jessica is all-grown up" in honor of her just turning 18. Well, the sixth blurb in this Daily News article describes how Jessica's parents are upset by this portrayal of their daughter and how this spoof has upset her.

What I find interesting is that the Stuff editor states, "I think it was obvious that it was a parody." Well, I'm a regular reader of the magazine and I have to admit that I wasn't sure. I was about 60% positive it was a parody, but I could have easily been convinced it was real.

Admittedly, it was in the area where they usually have fun / parody material, but they've been changing up their sections and having "future stars" so it seemed like it was plausible. The fact that she really did just turn 18 was cliche, but things become cliche for a reason. Also the text with the picture was written in their usual stupid banter pattern, but there wasn't anything over the top in the material.

Probably the most "obvious" clue it was a parody was that if the real Jessica looked like that, she would have had a whole layout. Stuff is definitely not scared of going over-the-top with their material, so in future similar scenarios I hope they play up the absurdity more. I definitely believe they were trying to leave some doubt in the reader's mind over the seriousness of the portrayal.