I think this is an example of the best kind of parody.
There are parodies that just point out the subjects flaws, and parodies designed to belittle the subject- but there’s something entirely different that comes about when those failings are satirized by people who truly love the source material despite them.
Galaxy Quest and Spinal Tap come to mind here…
Speaking as a fan of NiN since the early 90’s (not as much in recent years, but I did go to see him twice on the “The Slip” tour), I still absolutely love this song. Yes, not all of Trent Reznor’s music sounds like this, but this is a pretty bang-on parody of much of his more popular stuff. The video doesn’t do quite as good a job of parodying Trent’s videos, but it definitely picks up on a few of the commonly used tropes. And I have absolutely no problem with him throwing it up on iTunes, either - it’s obvious that a hell of a lot of work went into this, so why not try to make some money off its popularity?
Unless you’re Trent Reznor (I don’t think you are) and unless Trent Reznor is upset about this (I have no idea) it wasn’t directed at you…
I was simply saying that a light-hearted parody can be made by genuine fans. You are entitled to your criticism, of course.
My point was simply that when people get mad at parodies of themselves, it often makes them look bad. For example Mark Wahlberg got upset about this SNL skit (video 1) until that looked bad on him and so he then played along with the joke (video 2).
You kids get off my lawn!
Oh OK. I was a bit confused. You did reply to me, but it didn’t really make much sense as a reply, whereas the other post seemed pretty squarely aimed at me. But that could just be deep seated paranoia and vanity.
Edit: See post below that finishes with me in the corner smacking myself in the forehead.
I know. There are a few levels of irony at play when you are getting cranky about the kids mocking Trent Bloody Reznor.
I will accept the people’s verdict and stop trying to bail out this boat. But, as is the tradition at sea, and as the metaphoric Captain of said boat, I’ll glub glub glub glub… gurgle.
Why didn’t he knock over the mic stand at the end!?! That’s what Trent Reznor would have done…
I don’t know what it is, but here recently, I’ve been on a 90s kick. I was listening to/half watching some 90s videos last night (Ruby, Toadies, Lush, Sneakerpimps, Candlebox), picked up a copy of Hips and Makers and We Love Life the other day, and now I want to go listen to Pretty Hate Machine. Oh, the 90s…
Dude.
I just realised you were talking about the video of “Something I can Never Have”, which is indeed amazing.
I’ll just be in the corner of the room smacking myself in the forehead if thats OK.
I have been on a weird 90’s kick. It’s actually kind of fun to go back to see what has aged well and what hasn’t (well, in my opinion). It’s often surprising to me…
In my case because I had such a deep hatred of all things grungy, it’s a chance to rethink some of my harsh youthful opinions.
Things that seemed so edgy then some times have become a little obtuse to me now (oh how many hours of Oval can I really take?).
Maybe I’m just getting old, but actually that is ok with me. Since I grew up listening to music without really paying that much attention to what was cool (and in fact being TERRIFIED of trying too hard to fit in because I’d just fail anyway) I now just kind of try to think about what I like and why. After all, we’re always changing.
Anyway, laughing at oneself is important. I remember when the Closer album was sooo cathartic to my angsty pre-teen soul. Then I was embarrassed by that. And now, it’s just kind of sweet and cute. And Trent is laughing (or crying) to the bank so what do I care about him? Regardless of what anyone thinks of his music, he has gotten the amazing and rare privilege of being able to create what he wanted in the world… which is more than most of us can hope for.
I don’t think I’ve ever come across another person who has a copy of Hips and Makers (song is now in my head in spite of the Love and Rockets currently playing from my ipod). 
I never got rid of any CDs with the exception of Violator, but ended up buying it again because, ultimately, it’s a great album. Hey, a Fionna Apple song just started up. Whadaya know?
The great thing about these music threads is that we all reveal how old (or not) we are! For example, I now know that TornPaperNapkin is approximately a decade younger than me. Fascinating!
I love NIN and feel that this is true. He’s just figured out a nice song writing architecture that works. I’ve always felt that two other artists that do this to nearly every one of their songs is Radiohead (intro/verse/short bridge/verse/short bridge/chorus/bridge or solo/verse or chorus/outro) and Rage Against The Machine (intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/weird scratchy effect solo/chorus leading to repeating scream outro). All of those bands are great too.
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