PoMo

Question 1A Points

Define and explain postmodern theory and how your case studies are postmodern.

Postmodernism, literally meaning ‘after modernism’, describes a more recent movement that opposes the views of modernists. Postmodernism begins with scepticism of ‘big claims’ such as science and religion. When applied to media texts, this manifests itself in a variety of ways.

One of the most identifiable postmodern characteristics of a media text is the recycling of other media in a bricolage style. This is evident in the will.i.am and Cody Wise song It’s My Birthday, as the song samples a 1990’s Tamil song called ‘Urvasi Urvasi’. This bricolage theme is continued in the music video, which is made up of a series of vines. This supports the belief that there are no new or original ideas. As the video uses vine, the logo is presented at the beginning of the video. This is product placement, another typical characteristic of postmodern texts. Beats audio is also featured multiple times throughout the video. This enhances the intertextuality of the video, another postmodern quality.

Intertextual references are seen frequently in the film This Is The End (2013, Dir. Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen).The film incorporates multiple pop culture references into its script, including references to Harry Potter characters and James Franco’s previous movies such as 127 Hours. References are also made to other media texts by parodying or pastiching them. For example, the characters conduct “The Exorcism of Jonah Hill” using the iconic line “The power of Christ compels you” from The Exorcist (1973).  Pastiche is a similar technique to parody. However, the aim of pastiche is not to mock, but to pay homage to the original work. Not only are parody and pastiche key postmodern conventions, but this particular parody contributed to the film’s overall mockery of religion.

This film’s narrative follows six celebrity actors in their experience of the apocalypse. The film serves to mock the notion of the apocalypse, using extremely stereotypical images of both heaven and hell. In this way, This Is The End (2013) links to postmodern theorist Lyotard’s most basic definition of postmodernism “an incredulity towards meta-narrative”. Lyotard believed that the ‘postmodern condition’ involved meta-narratives, such as religion and science, being replaced by micronarratives. Film is a particularly powerful medium through which micronarratives can be expressed. Postmodern movies look at reality in a variety of different ways. For example, landmark postmodern texts such as The Matrix (1999, Dir. The Wachowskis) and more recently, Inception (2010, Dir. Christopher Nolan), attempt to get us to question what reality is and how we can tell. This highlights the subjectivity of postmodern beliefs and theories.

Questioning reality is a strong factor in postmodern theory. One of postmodernism’s most influential theorists, Baudrillard, described today’s society as a ‘hyperreality’. The term stems from his work on simulacra and simulation. Baudrillard explained that a representation of a person or thing is not reality. Yet, we live in a world where representations are often formed through copying a representation. Eventually, there is no reality. This is a hyperreality. Baudrillard’s theories were very much incorporated into The Matrix (1999), in which reality was a computer simulation. This provides a very literal portrayal of the term hyperreality. The Matrix is so closely linked to Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation that his book, of the same name, is featured in the movie, used to conceal Neo’s secret stash.

The idea of hyperreality can be applied to a more current phenomenon, more specifically the rise in reality TV. Reality TV is a hugely successful postmodern form of television. Shows such as The Only Way Is Essex, Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Made In Chelsea advertise a window into the real lives of people or celebrities. Though the authenticity of such reality shows is largely debated, audiences are still fascinated by the idea that they are witnessing the people’s real lives. However, it is impossible to know if the events on screen are real or not, as audiences have only ever experienced the representation.

Baudrillard believed that representations would replace reality, and in some cases, this is already very clear. The X Factor and other reality talent shows of a similar format, replicate the process of getting into the music industry, beginning with auditions in front of media moguls and culminating in live shows and a record contract. Talent shows have now become the most well-known way of breaking into the music industry, when there are many artists who gain recording contracts through the real life process on which The X Factor is based.

The world’s obsession with reality TV has led to the simulation of reality TV. This Is The End (2013), centres around six celebrities who play themselves in the movie. Using this trend also makes the film very self-referential, another key characteristic of postmodern texts. The actors exaggerate the media’s perception of them or contradict it completely, creating ironic humour, which is commonly a source of comedy in postmodern media. For example, James Franco’s sexuality has been questioned in the media. Therefore, in the movie, Franco has an obsession with Seth Rogen that involves him painting large canvases with their names on and hanging them side by side in his house.

Postmodern media contains a wide range of devices. Earlier postmodern texts such as Bladerunner (1982) and The Matrix (1999) tended to focus on the future and were sceptical of meta-narrative. More recently, the appearance of reality and media texts being based in the present, is becoming more and more popular, and is something that audiences are responding to.