Richard wrote:
I can't at present recall why, but I feel sure 'Mockumentary' originated in
the pages of Variety at some point over the past 20 years. Robert Koehler
would probably be able to verify this.
Matt and Richard--
You may be right, Richard, about Variety's invention of the term. (It sounds
linguistically a part of the Variety ``slanguage'' family.) I'll look into
it over at Variety's offices, but I'm not sure Variety maintains a history
of terms--just an ongoing slanguage dictionary.
Interesting to note this, since, as a Variety film critic, I've been
experimenting with greatly reducing the number of slanguage terms I use in
my reviews. It's a way of keeping within the format--although even this I've
been playing with, reducing what I believe is our overloading of plot
description--while trying to alter the language. It started from partly my
own fatigue with the terms, and partly from people and readers who aren't
too fond of much Variety terminology, even though it's this stylistic quirk
which sets Variety apart from any other English-language paper. When I first
started writing for them, I consciously overdid the terms just for fun (and
to see how many I could use as a bit of word play), but then I trimmed them
back, to the point now for example where I use ``film'' and ``movie'' much
more than Variety's ``pic'' term. (An old term my friends and I used--and
still do privately--is ``image roll.'' This is still, by far, my favorite,
but one I don't think I could never use in Variety's pages.)
It all makes me wonder if, eventually, Variety won't dispose of most or
all of the slanguage, a graphic divorce from its vaudeville roots, the
slanguage origin. Still, as with ``mockumentary,'' or ``biopic,'' or ``vid''
(for video), new technologies and styles crop up as the art form develops,
requiring new slanguage terms. And besides, there's something about English
that almost demands--needs--slang. Maybe I'm wrong; maybe I will get Variety
to accept ``image roll'' after all!
Robert Koehler
|