Shout Out to Parody

American Gothic Movie Stars – Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall • AI Generated Art by Carl Scott Harker

One of my favorite daily activities on Daily Kos, is to read/look at cartoon posts. This site has many great cartoonists deciphering the social whirl we are in. One tool often used on these clever panels is parody. So here is my poetic…

Shout Out to Parody

Iconic images and characters
      are cousins to commonality,
becoming so well known
      large groups of people,
and sometimes the whole world,
      can reference them without thinking.

When Sherlock Holmes broke his leg
     and was wheelchair bound,
he still investigated mysteries –
     and would often mutter to Watson,
"The games ahand!"
    or when the good doctor asked where
Holmes's daughter was going to school –
    the answer was, of course:  “Elementary.”

In art, Wood Grant's iconic American Gothic
      of farmer and daughter fame
is endlessly parodied...
     Darth Vader and Princess Leia with a
lightsaber taking the place of the pitchfork,
     anthropomorphic dogs in farmer outfits,
Kermit and Miss Piggy,
     Batman and Robin with a batarang,
the farmer holding a can of Campbell's Soup
    or the farmer & daughter wielding an Imac...
or President Trump and Satan
    tearing up the Constitution,
or, oops, sorry, that last one veered back
    into reality and is not funny.

                                       ©2025 Carl Scott Harker

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If you wish, check out my recent latest book(let) written for my wife available on Amazon:  Mastectomy Poems.