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?