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Science Fiction Parody

I’ve read some of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and listened to the original radio show. I have to say, what an entertaining story. Something about it is so clever and cheeky. The humor constantly gives me Monty Python vibes and I could easily see the Monty Python troupe acting in a sort of Hitchhiker’s Guide film, which sadly can’t happen and instead we have a shitty 2005 movie in it’s place. 

I’ve found lighthearted and imaginative space stories to be the most entertaining. With space, there are infinite possibilities for story telling and the imagination can go wild. With that said, I’m a little bothered when space stories take themselves too seriously or try to be realistic. Hitchhiker’s Guide is incredibly refreshing after growing up watching space films that try so hard to out-perform each other with bigger “better” stories and visual effects. 


An admittedly strange thing to bring up would be the Marvel Universe, in particular Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor Ragnarok. I’m not a Marvel fan, partly because it often takes its absurd premises too seriously, but Guardians and Ragnarok are amazingly comedic and borderline parodies of space sci-fi at times. Thor Ragnarok was directed by a comedy director and one of the main villains is Jeff Goldblum playing the character, well, Jeff Goldblum. It’s refreshing to see parody sci-fi- making a return to the mainstream.

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