New English Word: Mockumentary
/mɑ:kjəˈmɛntri/
Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie The Dictator comes out this weekend! This style of film is called a mockumentary. This word has been around since at least the 1980s, when director Rob Reiner described his film This is Spinal Tap as a mockumentary!
mockumentary = mock + documentary
mock = (adj.) fake / artificial / pretend, but made to seem real!
a documentary = A fact-based movie about real people and real events; not a fictional story with actors and actress
(Mock is also a verb. To mock someone/something means to make fun of someone/something although not always in a friendly way. People mock someone/something to make other people laugh, but sometimes it can be considered insulting.)
A mockumentary is a film in the style of a serious documentary, but it’s a comedy film about fictional (not real) people and events. A mockumentary makes fun of someone or something. For example, The Dictator is about Admiral General Aladeen (not a real person!), a dictator from the Republic of Wadiya (not a real country!). It is believed to be loosely based on Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The movie makes fun of the way Gaddafi’s lived and ruled his country.
Synonyms: parody, satire, spoof
Other mockumentaries:
Best in Show
Tropic Thunder
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Borat
Brüno
Do you enjoy watching mockumentaries?
Comments
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