History Main / DeniedParody

* MerylStreep denied that her character in ''Film/TheManchurianCandidate'' was a parody of Hillary Clinton. (Well, they do have similar PowerHair...)

* Around 1970, there was an incident of an expensive, state-of-the-art apartment high rise in London that proved to be a structural disaster as it literally fell apart soon after completion. This seems to be the basis of the second part of the Creator/MontyPython "Architect Sketch" where Eric Idle gives his presentation on his building proposal while his scale model collapses, slumps over, and catches on fire - as the caption "SATIRE" flashes on and off, and the review board still gives it the go-ahead.

You know that film/show/video game with the hilarious send-up of that major corporation, famous religion or washed-up celebrity? Well, according to the creators, that's not what it was about at all. In fact, despite the obvious similarities and paper-thin alterations that make it a clear parody, they claim it's not a parody of anything in particular.

* Willie Stark, the governor in ''AllTheKingsMen'', is widely held to be a parody of Gov. Huey Long. The author claims that this belief is "innocent boneheadedness."

* Like ''Good Night and Good Luck'', ''TheCrucible'' is commonly interpreted as an {{anvilicious}} commentary on a contemporary legal scare. In the case of ''TheCrucible'', that was [=McCarthyism=], though Arthur Miller denied it at the time.
* MerylStreep denied that her character in ''TheManchurianCandidate'' was a parody of Hillary Clinton. (Well, they do have similar PowerHair...)

* Arguably, MarkTwain's line at the beginning of ''TheAdventuresOfHuckleberryFinn'' was meant to veil the satire and parody that the book contained:

* Alex Borstein has flatly denied that Ms Swan, a character she did on ''MadTV'', is an old Asian woman, and claims she's based on her grandmother. [[SarcasmMode Uh huh. Sure.]] (The Vancome Lady thinks she's Icelandic.)
* Parodied on ''TheSimpsons''. Bart denies his comicbook character "Angry Dad", an {{Expy}} of ''TheIncredibleHulk'', is based on Homer, claiming instead he is a composite character, based on his dad, Lisa's dad, and Maggie's dad.
* David Morgan-Mar will often insist that ''IrregularWebcomic'' plotlines and characters that are clearly based on RealLife have nothing to do with them (for example, [[CrocodileHunter Steve Irwin]] and the "Steve and Terri" comics). In all fairness, it's probably sarcastic.
* ''{{Futurama}}'': "[[RattlingOffLegal Weresemblebutarelegallydistinctfrom]] the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild!"
* When ''CodeGeass'' first came out, a lot of fans believed it was a parody-slash-critique of the [[GeorgeWBush Bush administration]] and the WarOnTerror. When asked about this in an interview, director Goro Taniguchi denied that there was any political motivation behind the plot and said that his goal was just to make an entertaining TV show.
* Indie band HalfManHalfBiscuit deny that their song "Shit Arm, Bad Tattoo", is in any way about real band the Libertines, their arms or tattoos. This is despite a number of extraordinarily specific details, from the title's description of cover of the Libertines' first album, to a lengthy rant directed at people who incorrectly refer to the biblical Revelation (singular) of St John the Divine as the Book of Revelations (plural), a solecism coincidentally to be found in the lyrics of the Libertines' "What A Waster".
* While ''ThePresidentsAnalyst'' was being filmed, the FBI, not pleased with their portrayal, threatened massive tax audits on the director/writer. After renaming the pertinent intelligence agencies, he added the opening disclaimer:
-->This film has not been made with the consent or cooperation of the Federal Board of Regulations (F.B.R.) or the Central Enquires Agency (C.E.A.). Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental, and so forth and so on.

* While Elliot Carver from ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' looks at first glance like a thinly disguised version of Rupert Murdoch, the movie's main writer claims he was actually based on Robert Maxwell (this is supported by the cover story for Carver's death and the public's reaction to it mirroring Maxwell's fatal boat accident).
* Paul Thomas Anderson's movie about the dual corrupting powers of capitalism (specifically oil-related capitalism) and religion, ''ThereWillBeBlood'' had nothing to do with the presidency of George W. Bush.

* ''GoodNightAndGoodLuck'', a film about [=McCarthyism=], is widely seen as being a commentary about the legal processes for alleged unlawful combatants in Guantanamo Bay. The creators deny any such connection.

* While Elliot Carver from ''TomorrowNeverDies'' looks at first glance like a thinly disguised version of Rupert Murdoch, the movie's main writer claims he was actually based on Robert Maxwell (this is supported by the cover story for Carver's death and the public's reaction to it mirroring Maxwell's fatal boat accident).

** This is a good example of the second rationale above. Aside from the name, Schwitters doesn't seem to have anything in common with LRonHubbard.

-->--Credits, ''{{Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}''

* The ''MontyPython'' team have always denied that ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' was a parody of the {{Jesus}} story - instead it's just a story about a guy called Brian living around the same time who is mistaken for the Messiah. The parody is about the various trappings of the religion - things like emphasis on symbols and extreme sectarianism and interpretations of Jesus's teachings that [[CompletelyMissingThePoint completely miss the point]], while the teachings themselves are left intact. They never said they weren't making fun of religion, they just said they weren't making fun of ''Jesus''. And they weren't. At least, not more than a couple of times. ("Bloody do-gooder.") They rejected their initial concept of Brian as a forgotten disciple of Jesus because the laughs stopped dead whenever Jesus was around — none of them felt comfortable directly making jokes about Him because [[JesusWasWayCool there's nothing to really mock about the man Himself]].

-->NOTICE: Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR, per G.G., Chief of Ordnance.

* David Morgan-Mar will often insist that ''{{Irregular Webcomic}}'' plotlines and characters that are clearly based on {{Real Life}} have nothing to do with them (for example, [[CrocodileHunter Steve Irwin]] and the "Steve and Terri" comics). In all fairness, it's probably sarcastic.

* Around 1970, there was an incident of an expensive, state-of-the-art apartment high rise in London that proved to be a structural disaster as it literally fell apart soon after completion. This seems to be the basis of the second part of the MontyPython "Architect Sketch" where Eric Idle gives his presentation on his building proposal while his scale model collapses, slumps over, and catches on fire - as the caption "SATIRE" flashes on and off, and the review board still gives it the go-ahead.

* The ''MontyPython'' team have always denied that ''{{Life of Brian}}'' was a parody of the {{Jesus}} story - instead it's just a story about a guy called Brian living around the same time who is mistaken for the Messiah. The parody is about the various trappings of the religion - things like emphasis on symbols and extreme sectarianism and interpretations of Jesus's teachings that [[CompletelyMissingThePoint completely miss the point]], while the teachings themselves are left intact. They never said they weren't making fun of religion, they just said they weren't making fun of ''Jesus''. And they weren't. At least, not more than a couple of times. ("Bloody do-gooder.") They rejected their initial concept of Brian as a forgotten disciple of Jesus because the laughs stopped dead whenever Jesus was around — none of them felt comfortable directly making jokes about Him because [[JesusWasWayCool there's nothing to really mock about the man Himself]].

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eventualismpromo2.jpg
[[caption-width:330:This should not remind you of [[ChurchOfHappyology anything]].]]

* Jennifer Saunders denied that her character, Eddie in ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous'' was a parody of PR guru Lynne Franks; the character was actually derived from [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfNKjINokAY this sketch]] that she did with Dawn French in ''FrenchAndSaunders'', where the responsible daughter had to look after her flighty teenager-like mother. Of course, for ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous'' both characters needed expanding, so it's still possible.

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<<|ParodyTropes|>>

* The makers of ''DeadSpace'' insist that the Church Of Unitology isn't based on the Church of Scientology. They claim that they were trying to create the archetypal cult and ''happened'' to come up with one resembling Scientology.

** Welles actually tried to get around this by including a line in the film in which a journalist makes a reference to both Kane and Hearst, thus indicating that Hearst actually exists as a separate entity in the ''CitizenKane'' universe. Didn't stop Hearst from wrecking Welles's career, though...

* OrsonWelles denied that the lead character of ''CitizenKane'' was based on William Randolph Hearst. It's unclear whether Welles was telling the truth, but Hearst certainly went out of his way to make sure everyone would think Kane was based off him. [[HypocriticalHumor How very Charles Foster Kane of him.]]

* Jennifer Saunders denied that her character, Eddie in ''AbsolutelyFabulous'' was a parody of PR guru Lynne Franks; the character was actually derived from [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfNKjINokAY this sketch]] that she did with Dawn French in ''FrenchAndSaunders'', where the responsible daughter had to look after her flighty teenager-like mother. Of course, for ''AbsolutelyFabulous'' both characters needed expanding, so it's still possible.

->The Characters and incidents portrayed and the names used are fictitious and any similarity to the names, characters, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional.

It should be noted that the standard disclaimer "any similarity to persons living or dead..." does not constitute a denial in this case (indeed, some disclaimers now acknowledge that such names may be used fictitiously). After all, ''TheSimpsons'' had a character named BillClinton who was president of the United States, and despite the disclaimer, it is doubtful that they were denying that it was based on the real-life person. This trope only applies when it's a specific denial.

* ''{{Futurama}}'': "We resemble but are legally distinct from the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild."

* Indie band HalfManHalfBiscuit deny that their song "Shit Arm, Bad Tattoo" is in any way about real band the Libertines, their arms or tattoos. This is despite the title accurately describing the cover of the first Libertines album and the lyrics criticising people who refer to the "Book of Revelations", rather than the correct "Revelation" singular, which is a mistake made in the lyrics of the Libertines' song "What A Waster".