Hollywood Film Case Study 1
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Hollywood Film Case Study 3
Contents POSTMODERNITY IN MUSIC VIDEOS
Eminem: We Made You Lady Gaga: Telephone
POSTMODERNITY IN TELEVISION
The Inbetweeners Family Guy
POSTMODERNITY IN FILM
Blade Runner Kick Ass Pulp Fiction
Postmodern INTRODUCTION
P ost modernity is a movement that reacts or rejects the principles and elements of modernism or carrying these to their extremes. For example, before postmodernity we had modernism during this period artist experimented with the representation of reality. After we have postmodernism; postmodernism challenges the idea of representation and plays around with it through pastiche, parody, and intertextual references. To be considered a postmodern text, the piece of media has to incoporate some key postmodern features these include: - Intertextuality - Pastiche - Bricolage - Meta Narrative - Non-linear narrative - Hyperreality - Simulacra There are also postmodern theorists to consider when analysising a postmodern text for example: - Jean Baurdrillard: Theory of hyperreality, that we no longer can distinguish between what is real and what is not - Jean-Franรงois Lyotard: sumamrises postmodernity to be an incrudelity towards meta-narratives. We have ceased to believe that meta-narratives are adequate to represent and contain us all.
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Music Videos Eminem: We Made You
T
he music video that I have chosen to analyse as postmodern is by the artist Eminem and his song ‘We Made You’ as I believe it includes a lot of aspects of postmodernity. The first aspect is that the music video includes a vast amount of intertextuality. The intertextual references are mainly towards the amount of celebrities Eminem has portrayed within the music video such as Kim Kardarshian, Jessica Simpson, John Mayer, Ellen Degeneres, Lindsay Lohan, Elvis Presley etc. In addition to this he also includes references to films like ‘Transformers’ and ‘Star Wars’. Next there is a lot of pastiche in the music video. The biggest example of this that is used throughout is where Eminem dresses up as Elvis; however, he is not making fun of the artist it is as if he is being playful with the image Elvis created and is paying homage to his work. Other pastiche within the video is the continuous reference to ‘Star Wars’ but once again you get the sense that he is paying tribute to the success of the film and once more being playful with the characters he dresses up as. The music video also includes hyper-reality which links to Jean Baudrillard’s theory. The artist Eminem has portrayed a variety of celebrities throughout the video therefore the audience could struggle to define “who Eminem is” which is postmodern itself. Hyperreality is also evident in the celebrities Eminem portrays as the audience are been given a simulation of reality/an idea of the possible characteristics this celebrity holds. Therefore they will find it difficult to differ between what the celebrity is actually like to what Eminem portrays them to be like. This is because the “image” now has more meaning than the “reality” itself. The final aspect that is included in the music video and makes the video postmodern is that it incorporates ‘Nostalgia’ which links into Jameson’s theory. The nostalgia is the reference to Elvis Presley particularly the reference to his famous song and music video ‘Jailhouse Rock’ as instead of it being seeing as parodies it is instead seen as Eminem looking at memories of Elvis and respects him and possibly looks up to him as an artist in terms of success.
Hollywood Film Case Study 5
Lady Gaga: Telephone •Pastiche: The video has it in spades. It references other forms of media (Tarantino, exploitation films, Thelma & Louise) left and right, while parodying none of them. This is because parody relies on an underlying normative standard, which postmodernism categorically rejects. Instead it merely shows the audience a barrage of media, almost a celebration of how clever the director is for cramming so many references into a single video. •Consumerism: The product placement is obvious, but it is not portrayed as humorous. The camera lingers too long on each product, and the video knows it, but it still manages to avoid parody. Rather, the video uses these consumer images as an integral part of its aesthetic without any comment on their social context. •Self-reference: The blatant product placement shows self-awareness in the video, but this particular brand of ironic detachment harms the video’s ability to make any sort of overall message on its own. Instead it implies that celebrating consumer culture is fine as long as we’re appropriately ironic about it, but this is a largely unintended consequence of the video’s aesthetic. •Appropriation of identity-based struggle: Lady Gaga is interesting for turning the male gaze back on men, and for portraying women as subjects rather than objects in her videos (albeit still scantily-clad subjects). However, the resistance to power on Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s part is purely individual and brief (it’s very telling that Lady Gaga is bailed out of prison rather than escaping) Behind this initial layer of feminism there is still an individuated desire to become rich, given that Lady Gaga was saved from prison by money. She maintains her glamorous image inside and outside the prison’s walls, an implicit message that “excessive materialism is empowering to women, somehow,” as Alyx Vesey observed. Therefore her kind of feminism is integrated neatly into the agenda of neoliberals, who love to talk about glass ceilings being shattered while heaping disdain on poor women. •Incredulity towards metanarratives: Lyotard’s famous description of the postmodern condition applies even here, as it’s difficult to find an overall message or narrative in the video. There is a sequence of events interspersed with pop culture references and product placement, but little else.
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Hollywood Film Case Study 7
Televison
The Inbetweeners T
here are many texts that can be considered postmodern, these also include television shows such as the teen-comedy “The Inbetweeners” made by Bwark Productions, and aired on Channel 4 and E4 from May 2008. The program follows the lives of four male A-Level students as they attend high school, and incorporates the conventions of slap-stick and a sitcom style to target its younger audience. Overall, each episode is full of situations that can be relatable to its audience of 15-25 year olds as it is likely they will share similar experiences that the characters are going through due to the potential that they are still in secondary school or university. The comedy within each episode which captures their audience’s attention and the idea that each plot is based on realistic life situations is how the show can be linked to postmodernity as postmodern shows are realistic or mirror real life events. The first element of postmodernity that the show conveys is that it incorporates the use of Bricolage, this is because it mixes several genres throughout each episode such as comedy, drama, and romance. In addition it combines the use of reality and slapstick in certain episodes for example; there is one episode where the character Will (Simon Bird) is thrown into a lake in his underwear by a group of bully’s who are mechanics at his work experience placement, this can be considered pure slapstick. Other examples include the love the character Simon (Joe Thomas) has for another character Carli (romance), Jay’s father continually taking every opportunity to humiliate him, and the Head of the Sixth Form Mr Gilbert being portrayed as a sadist; all of these examples illustrate how the show uses Bricolage. Overall, the use of Bricolage means that the audiences can get everything they can out of the show as it offers such a wide range of genres, this also means that it can reach a much bigger audience than a show that focuses on one genre. Another aspect of postmodernity included in the show is that it parodies other school based programs such as Waterloo Road and Grange Hill (1978-2008) as both shows focus on the lives of students at school and therefore both follow similar ideas and themes throughout that are relatable for their audiences. However the characters in ‘The Inbetweeners’ are much ruder as they constantly talk about sex and bodily functions which is evident in a number of episodes, whereas both Waterloo road and Grange Hill are considered to be much more wholesome and moral for its young audience.
Intertextuality is also incorporated throughout the show, for example there are posters in the common room for ‘Run DMC’ and NWA. The characters also discuss the internet and the use of Live Messenger, and there are other references to Russell Brand, Take That, and Supersize Me. These intertextual references are included within the show as they are to be read by the audience and they are entertained by this as they feel clever for figuring out the underlying references, however if they do not understand the joke made it is still funny. Additionally, the show is narrated throughout by the character Will (Bird) this is a postmodern element as it gives the audience the feel that the character is watching the show with them throughout and therefore as an audience member you feel a closer connection with the characters in the show and also the experiences being depicted in the show. Overall, there are several elements of postmodernism showed through this series. These include the several things I have mentioned such as intertextual references, parody, narration and Bricolage many of which create several layers of meaning which in itself is a postmodern element.
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Family Guy F
amily Guy is an animated TV sitcom created and produced by Seth MacFarlane in 1999 is considered. It currently airs on Fox and is extremely popular amongst its 15-34 year old audience due to it sarcastic and controversial nature. Family Guy is considered to be a postmodern text as it incorporates postmodern elements such as intertextuality, pastiche, bricolage and hyperreality. Firstly, the show evidently incorporates bricolage in terms of the characters. It is obvious that the creator Seth MacFarlane has taken inspiration from previous animations when he designed the characters. The character Brian which is the family’s talking dog has a striking resemblance to the famous character Snoopy, this is because they are both white dogs with a black nose; however, not only are they physically similar they also acquire human attributes as they are seen taking part in daily human activities e.g. reading a newspaper. Additionally, MacFarlane has taken inspiration from the character Jimmy Corrigan when creating the sitcom character Stewie both have the same shaped head but once again they not only visually look the same they both have similar characteristics. Both characters are extremely smart and ironically have a lot of knowledge for someone of their age also, Jimmy fears his mother and invents ways to escape her whereas Stewie continually tries to hurt his mother. Nearly every episode of Family Guy incorporates intertextual references whether it be famous people, other TV shows or films. These are usually referenced in the storyline itself, illustrated through the flashbacks that are embedded into each episode, or through the family members watching a TV show. The majority of these references are followed by a line such as “This is more … than the time”. An example of this is when the character Peter Griffin delivers the line “I wonder what Scooby Doo and the Gang are getting up to” this then cuts to a parodied version of the animated cartoon ‘Scooby Doo’. Another example is when two characters are watching the TV when “And now back to Two and a Half Men” is heard which cuts to another parodied version of the TV show ‘Two and a Half Men” for example two men and a man’s torso is shown illustrating how the creators are mocking the title of the show and its this humorous nature that generally attracts its audience members. Other references are made to celebrities such as Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston. Overall, most of the intertextual references mock the celebrities or TV show and therefore regularly make fun of them throughout the episode, usually the celebrities or TV shows conveyed are a more exaggerated version of the real thing adding to the funny nature of the show. Not only does Family Guy reference other shows but it also parodies a lot of shows and films. An episode that illustrates this is when they parodied the Star Wars Trilogy. The episode followed the same storyline however the typical conventions of a Family Guy episode were added in e.g. the characters of the show, the use of flashbacks, and the overall humour of the sitcom.
Hollywood Film Case Study 9
Throughout each episode there is a lot of hyperreality incorporated within the show as the audience continually struggles to decide between what is real and what is not. For example there is an episode “Road to the Multiverse” when the characters travel through a time machine to different periods of time and to parallel universes. As they travel so frequently throughout the episode the audience begin to struggle to decide if the characters are back in what is considered reality or if they are still stuck in a parallel universe. This also makes the audience confused between time as they struggle to identify where they are. However, not even the “normal world” of the characters portray true reality; this is because, the character Stewie who is baby is already able to speak and is overly intelligent for his age depicting an unrealistic child, in addition the family’s dog Brian also talks and possesses human characteristics which is impossible and therefore blurs the boundaries between real and fake. The blurring of boundaries is supported by each episode following a non-linear narrative, every episode there are flashbacks to previous events the characters or other characters have been in or characters from other TV shows have been in. Not only is a non linear structure a postmodern element but the use of it increases the confusion between the audiences distinction of reality and time. Overall, elements such as pastiche, intertextuality, bricolage, and blurring the boundaries illustrate how the TV show Family Guy is considered to be a postmodern text as they continue to be portrayed in almost every episode that is aired.
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Hollywood Film Case Study 11
Film
Blade Runner P
ost modernity is a movement that reacts or rejects the principles and elements of modernism or carrying these to their extremes. For example, before postmodernity we had modernism during this period artist experimented with the representation of reality. After we have postmodernism; postmodernism challenges the idea of representation and plays around with it through pastiche, parody, and intertextual references. A prime example of a postmodern film is Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) which incorporates many conventions of post modernity. One of the biggest elements of postmodernism present in the film is simulacra (Baudrillard) which is evident in the replicants that were created by humans, specifically Tyrell Corporation. The replicants are imitations of humans, obtaining almost identical characteristics except they have superior strength, they are intelligent and emotionally impaired. Therefore, throughout the entire film the audience are left confused as we try to identify who is human and who is not; so much so, it is difficult to decide whether the main character Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) is human or a replicant, as our perception of reality as an audience is regularly overpowered/confused with the possible imitations/illusions of reality that is conveyed. Such ideas are evident in the scene where Rachael (Sean Young) questions Deckard on whether or not he has passed the Voight-Kampff test; however, Deckard never gives us an answer leaving us to continue questioning. Another aspect in Blade Runner is the fact that post modernity is wary of the future and therefore continuously refers back to the past which is evident in the film. This is because throughout the film it is difficult for the audience to distinguish the time in which the film is set, even though it states it is set in the year 2019, it includes a lot of nostalgic elements. An example of this is when we are introduced to the character Rachael who dresses in 50s style fashion, different to what we would perceive fashion to be in the future. Additionally, the film continually incorporates a noir theme throughout in terms of lighting (evident when Deckard is in his house) and 40s film noir music that is used throughout. In contrast, postmodern film is also known for “pushing the boundaries” of the present day which is evident through the developed methods of transport (flying cars) and the idea that humans can build and create human-like robots. The perception of the future also includes intertextual links in terms of a vast amount of advertisements crowding the city e.g. an electronic billboard of Coca Cola; this signifies the idea that many people believe that in the future we will become a consumerist world.
However, there are aspects of Blade Runner that could signify that it is not postmodern. An example of this, is that Blade Runner includes elements of modernism which is clear in the “class system” that is evidently present throughout in terms of the replicants living in the city are of a lower class as their “superiors” are their creators which are the humans therefore they are considered the higher class. The idea is apparent in terms of jobs; non-replicants are seen working in jobs such as the police force, whereas replicants are seen working in jobs like exotic dancers (reference to the character Zhora). This could be considered a modern theme as the class system is something that is still present today and was present for audiences who would have watched the film when it was released in 1982. Additionally, there is a religious parallel here with Tyrell being God (the creator) and the replicants are what he has created in the image of man. Overall, I think that Blade Runner is postmodern, as one way to identify a postmodern film is to look at when it was set, this is because postmodernity in general and in film does not have a defined era which is apparent in Blade Runner like stated before it incorporates signifiers of the past and extreme ideas of the future; therefore, becoming difficult to define the time. Additionally, the film includes the elements and ideas of postmodern theorists such as Fredric Jameson (simulacra) and Jean Baudrillard (Hyperreality) combining these points is what I ultimately believe makes the film postmodern.
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Kick Ass P
ost modernity is a movement that reacts or rejects the principles and elements of modernism or carrying these to their extremes. For example, before postmodernity we had modernism during this period artist experimented with the representation of reality. After we have postmodernism; postmodernism challenges the idea of representation and plays around with it through postmodern features. I think what makes a film postmodern is the postmodern features a film can potentially have. These features include; pastiche, intertextuality, hyperreality and more. The film that I have chosen to study on how it is postmodern is Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass which was released in 2010 as I believe it includes many features of postmodernity. Firstly, I will take a look at what features of postmodernity are actually incorporated in this film then go on to explain these further. Features of Postmodernity in this film: - Intertextuality - Hyperreality - Pastiche - Self referential - References to other genres Firstly, the film incorporates a large amount of intertextual references to other media texts; these include references to Spiderman, Superman, and Batman. For example the character Big Daddy has a striking resemblance to Batman as the costume he is regularly seen in emulates Batman’s outfit. In addition the music complimenting the opening scenes is the same as the superman theme song and therefore creating a direct link. Finally the reference of Spiderman is through the location Kick-Ass lives as it is similar to the street Spiderman lives on. Throughout there are also other references made; for example there is a lot of consumerism in the film such as the references to MySpace used by the character Dave and YouTube in which the video of his superhero alter ego is uploaded to, there is also a link to the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill in the fighting scenes. The film also includes a large amount of hype reality in terms of its characters.The character “Hit Girl” is a great example of a hyperreal character. This character helps her dad fight crime around New York which in itself is very controversial as its the idea of a young girl fighting and killing adults however it is also the idea that she uses weapons such as guns and knives and the fact that she swears a lot throughout the film. This is evident in the scene in the film when her dad asks her what she wants for her birthday in which she asks for two knives. Overall, illustrating the binary opposites in the film.
Hollywood Film Case Study 13
Therefore this is also blurring the boundaries between reality and ultimately making it difficult to differ between what is right and wrong. It blends reality and fiction making the audience question; can I become a superhero? Which is a characteristic of postmodernism.This is also partially due to the film challenging the conventions of its genre as it conveys a fictional idea such as becoming a superhero very realistically through its story. However the reality is blurred so much, as an audience we find it difficult to identify. The film can be considered metatextual this is because the film itself is based on a real comic book by Mark Millar and it’s a film about comic books in general. Therefore the film has taken a very unconvential take and the film has literally turned into an animated comic book which is supported by its fragmented narration throughout; as a result becoming very self referential. This is evident in the scenes set in a comic book shop, the dialogue about comic books between characters, the drawing of comic book images throughout (suggesting their targeting audience are aware comic genred films).
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Hollywood Film Case Study 15
Pulp Fiction A
great example of postmodern film is Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) which includes many elements of postmodernity. Firstly, it includes a large amount of Pastiche throughout the film where Tarantino has referenced other story lines and characters from other films; an example of this is in the film is when Marcellus Wallace walks out in front of Butch’s car at the traffic lights and turns to face him, as it is similar to a scene in Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock when Marion’s boss crosses the street in front of her car. In addition to this, there is a number of references to other films; when Butch is considering what weapons to use before saving Marcellus e.g. Chainsaw is a reference to ‘Leatherface’ in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. “Quentin Tarantino has given reasoning behind this in as he states that “If one million people see my movie, they also see one million different movies”. Intertextuality is another postmodern element within the film; there is reference to a variety of genres including boxing, gangster, romance, and art house. There are also many references to other Quentin Tarantino films such as Resevoir Dogs (1992) and The Assasin (1993). Trovolta plays someone with the possible future of the character he played in Saturday Night Fever signifying that Tarantino intended to make this reference. There is also another references to 1950s stars and movies in the scene in the trendy diner Jack Rabbit Slim’s, which also illustrates how the film can be considered very nostalgic which is another element of postmodernity, it also illustrates how it refers to the past which is a key feature of postmodern film. What also makes Pulp Fiction very postmodern is the idea that in modern films the protagonist is generally scene very “heroic” with good values such as changing current problems in society; however, this is not evident in the film and instead the protagonists are portrayed with violent attitudes, the tone of the film is disorienting in the way that it clashes and mixes different types of feeling throughout. An example of this is throughout the film there are various scenes with off-hand shootings where the killer doesn’t even look at the victim illustrating how they have no remorse or sympathy for their actions and what they have done is almost considered “normal” behaviour; overall, this illustrates the postmodern element of hybridity. Additionally, it is argued that the films narrative disregards a chronological narrative and therefore is what makes it a postmodern film. Instead the film incorporates micro-narratives as the film is split into three narratives;”Vincent Vega and Marcellus Wallace’s Wife”, “The Gold Watch” and “The Bonnie Situation” and therefore using Lyotards theory of declining meta narratives over time. Overall, this gives a fragmented sense of location and history which confuses the audience and makes them figure out what time and location it actually is.
Conclusion O
verall, I feel as all of these are good examples of postmodern text as they evidently include postmodern elements. In my opinion I believe postmodernity will become much more popular in terms of televison, film, and music videos, as audience will begin to understand the underlying humor which is conveyed in the majority of texts. As a result, audiences will potentially begin to enjoy them more and this allows more creativity for directors.