Metatexts, Parodies, and Retellings

There are a lot of definitions and understandings of the word ‘metatext.’ Today, I’m working with this one: ‘A text lying outside another text, especially one describing or elucidating another.’ Thank you Oxford Dictionary.

In the middle of August, a friend of mine invited me to the movies. We ended up seeing the newest Vacation movie because we wanted a laugh and the time worked for us. I’ve seen the original, years and years ago. I don’t remember it like I do The National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, which I’ve seen more times than I care to admit.

Even though the revamp was about the Dad recreating the vacation he went on with his family as a kid, it stood well on its own. There was a great moment where he reminisced about the original Vacation (movie) and the audience members old enough to understand what he was talking about smiled. We all love being in on a joke.

That’s the whole point of a metatext as far as I’m concerned. You create a story that references another, which makes certain members of your audience happy. But you also create a whole story that makes the rest of your audience happy. You cannot rely on that original text to which you are referring to hold your story up. Otherwise you’ve created a parody.

Don’t get me wrong, parody isn’t a bad thing as long as that’s what you’re actually striving for. And it’s good. And still stands on its own.

In my younger years, I used to hate metatexts, parodies, and retellings. Anything that referenced something else in order to make sense piqued my nerves. It drove me nuts that people couldn’t come up with their own ideas.

As I’ve matured and learned more about the art of storytelling, I’ve grown to enjoy the good ones. “Good ones” are true metatexts that can stand on their own without the text to which they’re referring (yes, I keep repeating that point). They’re also good art. For instance, the entire Scary Movie franchise is an example of bad metatexts and parody. I don’t just mean the bad acting and the bad story lines, I mean the fact that you have to have seen the movies they reference for you to get a modicum of enjoyment out of them. Yes, I’ve seen those movies more times than I will ever admit, too.

It ultimately comes down to the fact that there are no original stories left to tell, only new ways to tell them. The ways in which we tell stories are the basis of creativity. I love good meta and I love good parody. I’ve never tried my hand at either, but my career is young and there’s time to grow brave enough to dive in.

How do you feel about retellings like the ones I’ve talked about?

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