MUNCIE, Ind. - Among film genres, parody is probably the least appreciated, but a new book by Ball State University film professor Wes D. Gehring gives the genre its due.

The thirteenth in a series on comedy films, "Parody as Film Genre: Never Give a Saga an Even Break" studies the history of parody in film and gives credit to the artists who use it well.

"Puns and parody do not get much respect even if they are done well," said Gehring. "But a good spoof should be seen as creative criticism, since the artist must be so thoroughly versed in the subject under attack. It’s a very structured and challenging genre."

Parodies take on specific genres--as the Mel Brooks film "Blazing Saddles," a spoof on the classic western, did--or a specific work--as "Airplane!" did to the "Airport" movies. They can also replicate the style of a specific auteur, as Mark Sennett, the father of American film comedy, did in "Teddy at the Throttle," a takeoff of the last minute rescues seen in D.W. Griffith films.

But a send up of other artists’ works is not necessarily an attack, Gehring said.

"It isn’t satire," he said. "People always get them confused, but they are really diametrically opposed. Satire is a biting attack on the follies of human beings. Parody can be an attack on a specific film or film genre, but it can also be an affectionate take on the subject."

These reaffirmation parodies, as Gehring calls them, are difficult to spot because people confuse them with the genre they spoof. Think "Scream" and its sequel were horror films? Was "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" just another 1970s western? Reaffirmation parodies mimic a genre, film or director’s style as an enthusiast of the work.

Parodies get mixed responses at the box office, said Gehring.

"The Civil War parody "The General" by Buster Keaton was a complete failure," he said. "Some do really well, like 'Blazing Saddles.’ But Mel Brooks was far less successful with his science fiction takeoff 'Spaceballs.’ Sometimes comedy styles like parody and dark comedy make people nervous. They don’t know how to respond."

Gehring’s book is the latest text in his comedy genre series. He has studied various comedy genres in his books "Handbook of American Film Genres," "Personality Comedians as Genre: Selected Players," "Screwball Comedy: A Genre of Madcap Romance," "Populism and the Capra Legacy" and "American Dark Comedy: Beyond Satire." Other books include "Leo McCarey and the Comic Antihero" and "Groucho and W.C. Fields: Huckster Comedians." He has covered a range of topics and performers of comedy such as in critical biographies on W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Robert Benchley and his favorite, Charlie Chaplin.

Gehring is currently working on a contracted biography of Hoosier comedian Red Skelton and a criticism text on romantic film comedy.