History Main / DeniedParody

* MerylStreep denied that her character in ''Film/TheManchurianCandidate'' was a parody of Hillary Clinton. Given that [[OlderThanTheyThink the original version of the film was released in the 1960s]], she probably has a point. (Although, they ''do'' have similar PowerHair...)

* MerylStreep denied that her character in ''TheManchurianCandidate'' was a parody of Hillary Clinton. Given that [[OlderThanTheyThink the original version of the film was released in the 1960s]], she probably has a point. (Although, they ''do'' have similar PowerHair...)

* The boss from ''TheDevilWearsPrada'' bears a striking similarity to Vogue's editor Anna Wintour, but the author maintains that she is a composite of fiction and various stories of her friends' first jobs.

Also, this trope does not cover situations where the denials are plausible--for example, [=McBain=] on ''The Simpsons'' could easily be a parody of the character from the Creator/ChristopherWalken film [=McBain=]--if it weren't for the fact that the film was released 8 months after [=McBain=]'s first appearance on ''The Simpsons''. In this case, the denial is plausible.

It should be noted that the standard disclaimer "[[ThisIsAWorkOfFiction 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, ''WesternAnimation/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.

** 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 ''Film/CitizenKane'' universe. Didn't stop Hearst from wrecking Welles's career, though...

# Ironically, a direct parody may give the authors less freedom, since all of the humorous features of the fictional thing must be based on characteristics of the thing being parodied.

* Paul Thomas Anderson's movie about the dual corrupting powers of capitalism (specifically oil-related capitalism) and religion, ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' had nothing to do with the presidency of George W. Bush. It's loosely based on the old Upton Sinclair book ''Oil!'', [[OlderThanTheyThink which predates the Bush presidency by over seventy years]].

* When ''Anime/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.

* MerylStreep denied that her character in ''TheManchurianCandidate'' was a parody of Hillary Clinton. Given that [[OlderThanTheyThink the original version of the film was released in the 1960's]], she probably has a point. (Although, they ''do'' have similar PowerHair...)

* The writer of ''Film/{{Scarface}} (1932)'' denied any connection to Al Capone (whose EmbarrassingNickname was "Scarface") when confronted by some of Capone's men, insisting that it was just a work of fiction. The film was an adaptation of the novel ''Scarface'', which was somewhat influenced by Capone.

* StevenSoderbergh's ''Schizopolis'' features a self-help religion called Eventualism, based on a book by T. Azimuth Schwitters and featuring a volcano on its cover. But it's not a parody of Scientology.

* Indie band Music/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".

->[[ThisIsAWorkOfFiction 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.]]
->Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
-->--Credits, ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''

* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/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.

%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.

See also IndecisiveDeconstruction, specifically its Administrivia/InternalSubtrope Unintentional Deconstruction, where a work that can be interpreted as a {{Deconstruction}} was not intended to be one.

It should be noted that the standard disclaimer "[[ThisIsAWorkOfFiction 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.

Also, this trope does not cover situations where the denials are plausible--for example, [=McBain=] on ''TheSimpsons'' could easily be a parody of the character from the ChristopherWalken film [=McBain=]--if it weren't for the fact that the film was released 8 months after [=McBain=]'s first appearance on ''TheSimpsons''. In this case, the denial is plausible.

* Like ''Good Night and Good Luck'', ''Film/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.

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

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

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eventualismpromo2.jpg]]

See also IndecisiveDeconstruction, specifically its InternalSubtrope Unintentional Deconstruction, where a work that can be interpreted as a {{Deconstruction}} was not intended to be one.

[[folder:Videogames]]
* The makers of ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' insist that the [[ChurchOfHappyology Church Of Unitology]] isn't based on the Church of Scientology. They claim that they were trying to create the archetypal cult and just ''happened'' to come up with one resembling Scientology. YourMileageMayVary on whether this claim is actually a bigger insult to Scientology than an intentional parody would have been.

* The makers of ''Franchise/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.

* David Morgan-Mar will often insist that ''Webcomic/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.

* Paul Thomas Anderson's movie about the dual corrupting powers of capitalism (specifically oil-related capitalism) and religion, ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'' had nothing to do with the presidency of George W. Bush.

[[foler:Comic Books]]
* 50s German comic strip ''ComicStrip/NickKnatterton''. Author Manfred Schmidt wanted write an over-the-top parody of American comic books, so he created a ridiculous mass of speech, thought and smell bubbles and little boxes referring to other little boxes. It was intended as a one-shot gag, but because no one in the country knew all that much about comic books at the time, readers took it more or less seriously and created a smash hit. Schmidt was then forced to continue the strip for years as a more-or-less straight super-detective yarn.
[[/folder]]