Some people think postmodernism is a load of rubbish. Why is this?

Do some internet research into some of the arguments against postmodernism and post a personal response to this idea as a comment to this blog post BY THE END OF THE LESSON (not shouting, really.)

READ THIS ARTICLE BEFORE YOU START - what do you think the author is saying about postmodernism and why?

After reading this article it appears that the author is conveying postmodernism in a negative light. It discusses various cases of postmodernism, the reality TV show were people are marooned on an island and other episodes are futhur discussed. I think the author has inferred whilst trying to convince us the negative outcomes in which postmodernism has created, using events which have occured in reality TV shows as evidence of the negative outcomes of postmodernism and the effects it can create through media.

Postmodernism is highly debated even among postmodernists themselves.
The period in which we now live is called postmodernism. Jean-Francois Lyotard has said that in postmodernism one has given up the idea of a grand narrative. Belief in universal criteria, like those in the Enlightenment, has been replaced by the postmodern relativism and pluralism. The idea now is to accept a number of different perspectives, and not exclude any expression or perspective from the culture or information stream. Postmodernism is the philosophical equivalent to New York City: Embracing pluralism, combination and diversity. As Lyotard claims, a unified culture has now been replaced by a culture full of many small stories, many different critieria – a polyphony of voices.

Some propose what they calls an extreme simplification of the "postmodern" as an 'incredulity towards meta-narratives'. These meta-narratives - sometimes 'grand narratives' - are grand, large-scale theories and philosophies of the world, such as the progress of history, the knowability of everything by science, and the possibility of absolute freedom. Lyotard argues that we have ceased to believe that narratives of this kind are adequate to represent and contain us all. We have become alert to difference, diversity, the incompatibility of our aspirations, beliefs and desires, and for that reason postmodernity is characterised by an abundance of micronarratives.

Postmodernism offers a different way of both constructing and deconstructing ideas. Therefore creating opinions that differ from eachother, causing arguments for, for and against postmodernism.

By Harry Hosking and Sophie Dolan!

"I'm SO over postmodernism"

Some people think postmodernism is a load of rubbish. Why is this?

Do some internet research into some of the arguments against postmodernism and post a personal response to this idea as a comment to this blog post BY THE END OF THE LESSON (not shouting, really.)

READ THIS ARTICLE BEFORE YOU START - what do you think the author is saying about postmodernism and why?

Snorting Barley – postmodernism, Charlie Brooker and Nathan Barley 

Mark Ramey introduces the cult satire that takes the P out of Post-modernism

Unless you’ve been walking around with your eyes nailed to your eyelids, and your head encased in a slab of tarmac you can’t but have noticed Charlie Brooker waging righteous war on our idiotic postmodern culture. Brooker’s weapon of choice is savage satire unleashed on the media using a full armoury of print, TV and web-based content. Along with occasional colleagues and kindred spirits like Chris Morris (The Day Today; Brass Eye; Four Lions) and Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It; In The Loop), Brooker is fighting against facile postmodern surfaces and dumbed-down media practices. It is a war against an enemy secure in its profound, self-satisfied emptiness – a war against ‘the idiots’.

Perhaps inevitably, he is losing. As Brooker himself notes: ‘Man the life boats. The idiots are winning’ (The Guardian, 7.4.2008). The fight he is staging is, nevertheless, a magnificently futile gesture: a Mac-hating, sofa-bound David versus a Goliath armed with a satellite dish and iPad. However, unlike Mike Tyson’s flabby, pathetic cameo in Hollywood’s 2009 idiot-triumph The Hangover, Brooker can still deliver a punch and a line: a lethal combo that can cripple pretension and deflate egos. And 2005’s Nathan Barley, a six-episode C4 sitcom written by Brooker and Chris Morris (who also directed it), remains the moment war against the enemy was formally declared. Fans of Brooker’s earlier online work and journalism may disagree; but then anything as mainstream as a ‘toned-down’ sitcom would always distance hardcore fans and so it proved: Barley is a cult.

As is usual with anything touched by the hand of Brooker and Morris the satire is so sharp its victims often fail to notice the cuts until too late. Brass Eye (C4, 1997) provoked an outcry at its infamous 2001 spoof on the media-amplified moral panic surrounding paedophilia. Brooker was one of the writers of the show, which was clearly ahead of its time, as indeed was Morris’s 1994 news spoof, The Day Today (BBC2). Nathan Barley was a glorious failure because it too was ahead of the zeitgeist. The insular London-centred media world it satirised has now become our world. The ‘rise of the Idiots’ that Brooker warned us about in the show’s first episode has now spread beyond the radical-chic of the London-based media hubs. The idiots are everywhere.

The rise and rise of Charlie Brooker

Nathan Barley, the eponymous poisonous heart at the show’s centre, describes himself in hyperbolic terms as a ‘self-facilitating media node’. Brooker isn’t a media node but he isn’t far off it. After taking a Media degree he got a writing job on PC Zone magazine in the early 90s and in a recent interview for an online video-games trade magazine, MCV, he agrees that he was the lucky one who escaped the ghetto that was gaming journalism:

I think it’s like a nerdy stink of shame that hangs around me … the TV critic that plays games. (Oct 2009)

His passion for the New Media led him to develop an online parody of the staid TV listings magazine Radio Times. Calling his guide, TVGoHome (1999 -2003) he continued in the biting satirical tradition of Chris Morris to produce listings for fake shows that were surreal, pretentious, sexually explicit, vulgar, banal and, here’s the point, all quite recognisable. For example there was Daily Mail Island – a reality TV show where ‘normal’ people are marooned on an island and only given access to one media source, the hysteria-mongering rag, The Daily Mail. Needless to say their right-wing tendencies are inflamed as the series progresses until at one point a teenager caught masturbating is sealed into a coffin filled with broken glass and dog shit, and thrown over a cliff. Brooker’s satire is never subtle.
It is in the online archives of TVGoHome that we can still find Nathan Barley’s first appearance, in a new fly-on-the-wall documentary series, bewitchingly titled, C*nt. The show is described as:
…following the daily life of Nathan Barley, a twenty something wannabe director living in Westbourne Grove. This week: Nathan meets Jemma for lunch at the Prince Bonaparte and receives another cheque from his parents. (14.05.99)

Later episodes detail the Barley we will come to hate:

an odious twenty-something toff and media wannabe (11.6.99)

…who finds himself writing a barely literate monthly column reviewing leftfield websites and genuinely starts to believe his endeavour makes him a worthwhile human being rather than a meaningless strutting cadaver… (25.6.99)

In another episode we meet Nathan’s peers after he lands a regular DJ spot in a venue in which loud-mouthed members of London’s self-appointed young media elite strut about like a pack of trainer-obsessed peacocks, ordering expensive beers and braying insincere, ignorant horseshit at one another over the sound of Nathan’s utterly pedestrian mixing.

And finally in the edition of 12.11.99, ‘the Idiots’ are born:

While visiting the office of a new media design agency run by a school friend, Nathan Barley joins a small group of upper-middle class twenty-somethings as they gather round a monitor to snigger and point at a web site displaying photographs of wolves fucking the bodies of mutilated prostitutes.

Brooker on screen and page

In 2000 Brooker co-founded a TV and online production company, Zeppotron, which is now part of the mighty Endemol empire. Zeppotron produces most of Brooker’s TV work plus the quiz shows 8 Out of 10 Cats; You Have Been Watching (Brooker-hosted) and the Brooker-scripted, BAFTA-nominated, Big Brother horror satire, Dead Set (E4, 2008). Brooker also began writing a TV column for the Guardian in 2000, ‘Screenburn’, which has led over the years to a number of book-length collections such as Dawn of the Dumb: Dispatches from the Idiotic Frontline (2007). Brooker’s topical insights and witty cultural commentary plus a flair for presenting naturally led to TV work. Media-savvy shows like Screenwipe, Newswipe and Gameswipe are anchored by his pervert-next-door, guerrilla-style delivery plus a deadpan deconstruction of the media’s worst excesses. And just when you thought his head couldn’t get any bigger, in 2009 Brooker won the British Press Awards for Columnist of the Year and The Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards. Arse.

The life and work of Nathan Barley

As we have seen, Nathan Barley (Nicholas Burns) is a wealthy idiot who has found like-minded idiots to interface with in the media playpens of trendy East London. He is a

webmaster, guerrilla filmmaker, screenwriter, DJ and so convinced that he is the epitome of urban cool that he is secretly terrified he might not be, which is why he reads the magazine style bible Sugar Ape. (Zeppotron biog)

Sugar Ape’s reluctant star columnist, Dan Ashcroft (Julian Barratt of The Mighty Boosh), is one of Nathan’s idols but Dan despises Nathan and all of his feeble-witted kind … the idiots. Episode 1 swiftly sets up the conceit that Ashcroft has penned his greatest article to date, ‘The Rise of The Idiots’: unfortunately for him the very people it aims to pillory think the article is cool. Here’s Ashcroft in his own words:

Once the idiots were just the fools gawping in through the windows. Now they’ve entered the building. You can hear them everywhere. They use the word ‘cool’. It is their favourite word. The idiot does not think about what it is saying. Thinking is rubbish. And rubbish isn’t cool. Stuff n’shit is cool. The idiots are self-regarding consumer slaves, oblivious to the paradox of their uniform individuality. They sculpt their hair to casual perfection, they wear their waistbands below their balls, they babble into hand-held twit machines about the cool email of the woman being bummed by a wolf. Their cool friend made it. He’s an idiot too. Welcome to the age of stupidity. Hail to the rise of the idiots.

Now for the fun stuff! Postmodernity is said to characterise our age and if you are a student of Media Studies then you have probably hit your head against the term with such ferocity that an intellectual coma has swiftly followed. Ouch!

Nathan Barley and postmodernism

For brevity’s sake and without collapsing into the impenetrable mire of such theorists as Lyotard and Baudrillard, I understand postmodernism to describe an intellectual position typical of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The postmodern world of this period is one in which the ‘grand narratives’ of Marx, Freud, organised religion and the modernist impulse of scientific discovery have all run out of epistemological steam: we have stopped believing in their deep and epic truths. One effect of this in terms of cultural products like film and TV is a heavily ironic and detached sense of engagement with the work or text: ‘creatives’ no longer see themselves as tortured souls wrestling truth from their medium; now they are ‘facilitators, installation artists, entertainers or ironists’. Their purpose now is to play with truths, to break down the barriers between the text and the reader, the TV show and viewer. New buzzwords like ‘interactive, self-referential, inter-textual and hybrid’ reflect this distrust of rational statement in favour of a playful delight in surface meanings. How natural then that gossip magazines, reality TV shows, celebrity culture, prankster TV, unreconstructed sexism, reflexive genre homage and infotainment (to name but a few postmodern manifestations) should now dominate our cultural lives as they did five years ago, the prescient life of Nathan Barley.

Add to this postmodern brew the digital revolution, increasing globalisation and the triumph of consumerism (despite the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s) and we have the possibility of mass-producing ‘the idiot’. But maybe now Dan Ashcroft and his nemesis Nathan Barley can help us.

Nathan is ‘a self-regarding consumer slave’. In other words he enjoys his own image; he is a narcissist – and there’s plenty of them on YouTube and Facebook. Nathan is also a punter who thinks he is free to buy, but is actually conditioned to consume. As Brooker later comments in his infamous ‘I hate Macs’ article (Guardian 5.2.2007):

If you truly believe you need to pick a mobile phone that ‘says something’ about your personality, don’t bother. You don’t have a personality. A mental illness, maybe – but not a personality.

Consumption as lifestyle choice is literally and metaphorically a manufactured lie and the idea that we can ironically consume is a fantasy – wages and debt and waste are not ironic, they are real. The only irony in consumerist values is the tragedy that consumption never satisfies: fast food, fast TV, fast news, fast facts. Fast is the new black … on crack!

Ashcroft (Brooker’s alter ego) also reminds us that idiots are blind to their ‘uniform individuality’. Apple put the ‘i’ into pods, pads and phones and ‘we’ all bought into it. A postmodern world is meant to blur boundaries, emphasise difference, explore hybridity and the margins; but in fact we merely walk around in a circle and end up staring up our own sphincters or into the face of a Z-list celebrity.

In my view, modernism’s utopian quest, ‘to boldly go where no man has gone before,’ may be flawed but it certainly isn’t over. If it was, Brooker’s satires wouldn’t work – and they do. We recognise the banality of so much of postmodern surface culture – all sheen and self-confident noise but something which, like a Happy Meal, ultimately lacks substance. It is like one of the idiots in Nathan Barley who uses the valediction, ‘Keep it foolish’. This throwaway line reveals a depthless problem with postmodernity: it is so afraid to say anything (uncool) that it says nothing (cool) and so plays into the hands of the vacuous idiocracy.

So next time you look into a self-proclaimed, postmodernist’s ironically twinkling eyes, ask yourself this question: is he or she an idiot? In a world without rules, there is only nonsense and then only the idiots make sense. Only an unfashionable critique of postmodernism’s negative impact will start to arrest its influence. Fight the fight people. Brooker needs our help.

Mark Ramey teaches Media Studies at Collyers College, West Sussex.

This article first appeared in MediaMagazine 32, April 2010.

Postmodernism in Fashion

Fashion, especially catwalk shows, has always been considered a bit bonkers. The truth is anything postmodern can be considered a bit out of the box because it defies its traditional conventions and creates its own style. Postmodernism in fashion and design has developed mainly over the last 20 years with designers such as Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen demonstrating its key elements. For example, the relationships between art and popular culture have been revised, as art is no longer a just painting on a wall, but an abstract garment that is available for the public to wear. Fashion designs which were previously only available for the very elite with cash to splash are now being brought into popular culture for example contestants on the X factor are often seen wearing high fashion labels such as Valentino. The collections are constructed products and designers are influenced by the postmodern element of bricolage, of using a mix of the old designs and conventions with new ideas and create an entirely new design, for example a 60’s hippy influence mixed with 80’s grunge. It’s the most obvious example of style over substance for example the intensely ripped jeans from a collection from Maison Martin Margiela. Celebrities can be seen sporting similar styles, which aren’t at all practical for everyday life yet people buy into this celeb-obsessed culture, even though there isn’t actually a lot of clothing for the money you may pay. But“that’s fashion”.

In reference to the decline of the meta narrative according to Strinati’s criteria, there is now no ‘one style’ people must adhere to to be accepted in society. Due to the fashion crazes, walking down the high street, you can see how fashion has shaken up the traditional styles. Genders have been merged for example through ‘geek chic’, women’s trouser suits and loafers, in fact menswear inspired style was a major fashion trend last season.

There is no ignoring the fact that fashion is a postmodern way to express one's individuality. Examples can be seen all over the high street, with branding and trends being the ulimate selling point. It's constantly changing and this is why fashion is my favourite example of post-modernity.

Postmodernism in Fashion

This video demonstrates the use of bricoloage within designers inspirations, with the collections showing a mix of grunge from the 90’s and modern styles, the influence of such films as The Matrix (intertextuality) and a masculine influence with tweed as just some of the examples.

The Mighty Boosh

THE MIGHTY BOOSH

I chose to analyse the Mighty boosh simply because i love it.its funny, its uptodate, the songs are -in my opinion- clever and incredibly catchy, and above all its as random as it can possibly get

This halarious comedy tv series by the BBC also icludes near enough everything postmodernism should be: very hyper concious - the sets and props don't hide the fact they're made out of cardboard or that the moon is a man with cream on his face, Eclectic there are identifiable references to other influences especially within their songs , which is similar to another post modern comedy show 'flight of the conchords', narcissisic everything vince and howard do are narcissistic just listen to their lines, a little nostalgic this refers to the eclectisim they celebrate past influences, it acts against modernism nothing within the show is predictable or conventional, includes parody again the eclectisim, very intertextual vince and Mick jagger, an active audience they are expecting that the audience will recognise their references to other texts.

Within Strinati's conventions of postmodernism, the mighty boosh includes:

The breakdown of the distiction between high art and popular culture: The two characters howard moon and vince noir represent the battle between high art and popular culture, howard enjoys jazz while vince likes the rolling stones, howard dresses more conventionally while vince dresses in feather boas track suits and crazy hats. This friendship between the two blurs the lines as the two can be very similar, and are constantly together. they defy class differences between high art and popular cuture and throw them under one roof.

The breakdown of the distiction between society and culture: The two characters are based upon the actors themselves.as the clip says 'howard and vince are probably 10% exaggeration when we first started to write we thought "ah well lets just be ourselves" (noel) was obsessed with clothes, stupid haircuts; julian was obsessed with jazz, nabokov, and playing hamlet.' we can never be sure while watching, how much is the actors and how much is character.

The decline of the meta narrative: nothing in the program, hints at following a meta narrative such as religion, marksism or anything of the sort. quite the opposite, the characters live by thier own passions such as jazz and Mick Jagger. creating a sense of hyper reality within the program as well as intertextuality.
Confusions over time and space: we are contantly loosing ourselves within the show, even at the begining we hear the narrator say 'come with us now on a journey through time and space' we have no idea when its set, and where howard and vince are on thier adventures.
Emphasis of style over substance: Vince is a character compleatly representative of style over substance, 'what are you bringing to the table vince?' 'well right off the batt i'd say style' he's constantly changing his surroundings or his dress to suit his style, with no consideration of substance or meaning. This is usually when howard becomes jealous and fails himself. the mightmere of milky joe is a classic example. The Mighty Boosh appears to commend style over substance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQGjuUyK95c&feature=list_related&list=SL&playnext=1

a little postmodern music video

I discovered an unusual music video perfect for studying i stop motion or animation music videos, and thought to share it.
It can be considered postmodern in the way that it doesn't include the classic performance style most music videos include.

family guy and postmodernism

Family guy is one of my favourite pieces of post-modern text. There are many ways in which it is identifiable as being post-modern.

One feature of Family Guy that makes it post modern is the bricolage that it uses. There have been suggestions that Seth McFarland (the creator of Family Guy) has taken a lot of inspiration for the characters from past animations, for example the family dog Brian, bears resemblance to the famous character “Snoopy” in that he participates in human activities and also his general appearance.

The episodes are usually non-linear narrative. This is demonstrated in each episode there are numerous comedic flash backs to previous events in the lives of the characters. They are usually set off when one of the characters says a line similar to “this is worse than the time…” After this line there is a flashback to when something has happened in the past. They sometimes contain twisted cartoon representations of famous people in comedic situations, personifications of objects such as clouds talking to one another, or situations which are dragged out over a reasonable amount of time to make them awkward and make the audience almost cringe, which amplifies the humour.

The sitcom is heavily based around inter-textuality, examples of which are often seen in flashbacks or sometimes on the family’s television. An example of this is the episode which features the program “Jackass” – where Johnny Knoxville is seen to take a shotgun blast to the face, and then dance around laughing and shouting in pain with a partially revealed skull. Whilst this is a highly entertaining example of pastiche (another feature of a post-modern text) it is highly ridiculous situation, which would never be plausible, as it would almost definitely result in death or serious injury rather than giggles and moderate pain. This playfulness with realism is another post-modern convention.

Another example of the many Intertextual and pastiche references seen in Family Guy is the feature length film “Blue Harvest” Which is a Family Guy take on the Star Wars films. The name came from the fake working title used to hide the 1982 production of Star Wars VI: Return Of The Jedi, which, again, enhances its intertextuality. It features the characters from the episodes starring as the many characters from Star Wars, for example Stewie playing Darth Vader, Lois playing Princess Leia, Peter as Hans Solo and Chris as Luke Skywalker. More fun is poked at star wars by the suggested paedophilic character Herbert playing Obi-Wan-Kenobi.



The decline of the meta-narrative is also prominent in Family Guy; frequent criticism is made about Christianity, Buddhism, and other religions. Examples of this are when Jesus comes to dinner, and when “the super devil” (a devil riding a flying motorbike with a jar of marmalade which forced people to commit adultery). This is then used to make fun of politicians when a picture of George Bush sharing a beer with the ‘super devil’ is seen. Making fun of politicians and other influential people such as Bill Gates is frequent in Family Guy.



In Conclusion, Family Guy is a hilarious post-modern text in many ways, it’s constant inter-textual references, playfulness with realism, confusions over time and space and bricolage are all features that can be described as post-modern and set it aside from some of the other family based cartoon sitcoms.

Dan Groombridge

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Postmodernism Analysis:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is 2004 romantic comedy starring an ensemble cast including Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, Tom Wilkinson and Mark Ruffalo. The film is directed by Michel Gondry a film and music video director who is known for his manipulation of mise-en-scene. This is very pertinent to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as we see Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) being chased through his memories as they are one-by-one being deleted. This obviously means that the film changes setting very rapidly and this causes the audience to feel a lot of confusion over time and space and this is one of Strinati's 5 key elements of a postmodern text.

Eternal Sunshine deals with the matter of using technology to manipulate mental or emotional activity. Joel and Clementine (Kate Winslet), the couple around whom the story revolves, find "Lacuna", a company that erases memories, and decide to undergo the procedure that erases bad memories after they break up. In the film, we see a society that has placed personality, nature and that which makes us human way below technology as they allow they memories to be erased. We see that people have personalised memories that have the bad memories erased from their minds. To the society, a personalised memory is more "real" than a normal one and this shows Strinati's "mediaization" or the distinction between culture and society".

As we see Joel being chase through his memories, reality becomes a lot more harder to distinguish from memories. The audience can't tell what is a memory and what is actually happening outside of Joel's head: The whole notion of reality is lost and we can see a decline in a meta-narrative. If there is no definition of reality then it goes against what is natural and things like religeon etc. This is postmodern as there is no answer to the social and economic problems in the film, apart from the idea of erasing the problems if they are memories.

Bricolage can also be seen in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in fact it is a key component of the film. The way Joel's memories are jumbled together and sometimes overlaps shows his confusion. In the photo above for example, a memory of Joel in bed is mixed together with a memory with him on the beach. The mix of old and new together makes it postmodern. As Joel's journey through his old memories progresses he realises that he doesn't want the memories to be erased because there are also some good memories of his and Clementine's relationship too. He tries to break out and at one point he revists a memory that has already been deleted, there are people with no faces and is very surreal. This is another example of postmodernism, by transforming a certain feature of a scene; all reference of identity, the meaning is changed from a boring memory to a rather scary, vivid memory.

How Is 'The Mighty Boosh' Postmodern?

The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy written by and starring comedians Julian Barratt andNoel Fielding. It developed from stage shows to radio shows to a TV show. It focuses mainly on surrealism, fashion and complete and utter fantasy in ways that make it into a completely unique show. Fielding and Barratt's influences include Mr Benn, Monty Python and even Frank Zappa, (an avante guarde musician who released over 60 albums!!!) The show is based around 6 reoccurring characters in Vince Noir, Howard Moon, Bob Fossil, Naboo and Bollo.

The main structure of The Mighty Boosh is that Howard and Vince find some reason to go on some form of adventure, get in trouble and need Naboo to help them out. On these adventures they meet charcters that are used mostly in just one show such as Old Gregg and The Crack Fox.

The show is postmodern in many many ways; it is completely based around fashion and the celebrity culture. Vince and Howard are always trying to find some way of becoming famous, be it through being a photographer, a singer or a poet. Vince's whole character is very much postmodern, even in the clothes he wears.

If you use one of Strinati's features of a postmodern text, confusions over time and space, (which is even a line in the theme tune) this proves it to be a postmodern text because Noel and Julian play exaggerated versions of themselves, perhaps alter egos, similar to Ricky Gervais in Extras. The two comedians actually say this on one of the DVD's extras. This is heightened even more in series 3, episode 3, The Power Of The Crimp, when two people steal Vince and Howard's image. The copiers call themselves Lance Dior and Harrold Boom. This means that there are two people copying two people who are playing exaggerated versions of themselves. There are also many times in the text that create confusion over time and space such as using the Euro even though the show is set in England. Another example is when Gary Numan plays himself in a cameo role but is a different version of himself who lives in a wardrobe in the third series in the shop Vince and Howard work in. Simon Farnaby also plays and actor in the first series called Simon McFarnaby.

The show is based completely on popular culture, however there are times that high art is used and regenerated as pop culture. An example of this is in series 3 when Howard becomes a classical Shakespearian actor but is used in an advert where he plays Sammy The Crab (an actual character in the show, postmodern!) Howard is very much a character based around high art and Vince around pop culture. As the show goes on, the distinction between the two cultures is unravelled.

During the first series there are many times where Vince or Howard directly address the audience in reference to the show. This is self reflexivity. Only in the first series, the two introduce the show and discuss things that will happen in the show. At other times, the two will comment or pull a facial expression to the audience, this is postmodernism similar to in Twenty Four Hour Party People, Nigel Winterbottom 2004.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz2szNKnsXo

An emphasis of style over substance, (one of Strinati's features) is that the show is created in a studio. The sets are fake and very much so. There is one point in the first series where they were filming and a piece of the set (a tree) actually fell over when Bryan Ferry (played by Julian, this was not actually Bryan Ferry, it was a jungle man with face paints who drives a motorbike in the jungle, postmodern!!) touches the tree which was not meant to happen but was used for comedic effect.

It uses another of Strinati's features, the breakdown in distinctions between culture and society, when Vince mentions shopping in Camden town and when he makes a device in the third series to track down celebrities. He makes €3000 in one evening because everyone wants to know where these celebrities are, the reflects todays culture.

Music videos are very much a postmodern form of text. To add to the postmodernism this show already has, Barratt and Fielding even include them at points in the show. As Vince changes to a different subcultural group each episode be it mod, goth, electro pop or even a George Clinton style Funk lover, the writers manage to create a small song performed by the characters in a style of music video. The characters act as performers to the audience and many conventions of music videos are used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRWVJ3AeFAk

Harry Hills TV Burp

Harry Hills TV burp started in 2001 and since then it has had nine series. 

TV Burp can easily be considered to be postmodern text for a variety of reasons. One of which is the fact that it is a twenty-five minuet show almost completely comprised of shows aired in the previous week. How postmodern is that! This is called Bricolage.

Another way in which it can be considered to be postmodern according to "Strinati's five" is confusion over time and space. This is seen when Harry Hill creates his own footage to imitate/parody with what has happened in the actual show and they are mixed together. Also when Harry Hill uses a sequence and puts it in a different context, this is where most of the humour comes from.
Here is an example:


  Harry Hills TV Burp is full of inter-textual references, as seen in the example above, towards the end. This also brings more humour as the inter-textualilty creates many running jokes through-out the programme.
"FIGHT!!!"

Phil Mitchell Vs. Mr.Blobby 

An obvious reason to why Harry Hill's TV Burp is Postmodern is that it is aware of it constructed nature as it created so that it has direct address to camera breaking the "forth wall".
Its format is postmodern in the way that it is parodying a News broadcast structure. For example; the desk and chairs are set up as if its a news studio and
the cut-away's to what the presenter is talking about with a voice over.

Andy Warhol

Pop art. People's opinions are torn over whether this is genious and a creative new idea for the postmodern age, or whether it is a load of rubbish. Others believe that pop art is worth way more that it is worth to look at. Pop art is post modern as it has created a new version of art which is original and new, as well as combining both high art with low art. Andy Warhol's art work is post modern as it uses bricolage to combine both images and writing within artwork.

Andy Warhol's most famous pieces are Marilyn Monroe screenprints, deteriating throughout the continueing images in many rows of the piece, as many of Warhol's work is collages of layers of images. This shows the destruction and breakdown of Marilyn Monroe as her fame and publicity increased. Andy Warhol's work concentrates on the idea and concept behind his work, rather than the realism which had been dominant in years before Warhol's work became famous. Where art work is only considered as 'good art' when based on a realistic scene. As Warhol was one of the first pop artists to occure, people were shocked yet intrigued at this new upcoming style of art. Andy Warhol blurs the lines between high art and popular culture, as his pop art has both the combination of images and writing, which was new and original at the time. Another key piece within his portfolio is his 'Campbell's tin soups as shown below.

Andy Warhol's work interpreted as style over substance because for what the art actually is, bold colours and simple shapes. Some people argue that for what pop art is, it isn't worth the amount which it is sold for. Some believe that you are buying the label of Andy Warhol rather than a buying an original and a generally good piece of artwork. The highest price which was ever paid for an Andy Warhol's painting is $100 million for a 1963 canvas titled 'Eight Elvises'. Only a handful of artists are able to sell their work at this bench mark price.

In 2009 an article in The Economist, Andy Warhol was described as the 'bellwether of the art market'. Pop art was a drastic change within the art world. Pop art appeared after World War 1. Pop art changed the many critics opinion on 'What is art?', suddenly art has become outrageous, with the use of bold block colours rather than the traditional realism which has been dominating the art world for thousands of years.

Marilyn Monroe had a huge influence on Andy Warhol's portfolio of work, with the combination of both screen prints and collages. Stinati's 5 confusions over time and space can be an example of why this work is postmodern, as Marilyn Monroe is no longer alive, and therefore people are still worshiping her image through Warhol's work. Another one of Strinati 5 which can be taken into account while viewing Warhol's work is the decline of the meta-narrative as the idols which Warhol has captured within his work include famous celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presely. This is a change from previous art work, for example from the Renaissance perioud, where the art work is based around God and the Catholic Church. This shows that the meta-narrative has changed from a religion bringing a community together and to celebrities being people's idols and someone that brings the community together and gives them something to look up at. The bright colours of Marilyn (1976) seem to be vivid and are intensified to appear more powerful and standing out. The vibrant colours used makes it unreal to the audience. Surrealism is a key post modern factor, as it confuses the audience

Self Reflexivity - As well as using other images such as celebrities, tins of soup and fruit, Andy Warhol also creates photograph's collages and screenprints of his self-portrait within his portfolio. This is postmodern as instead of allowing the media and public to create an opinion of Andy Warhol, he is taking that priviledge and independance away from them by creating these images himself. He wanted to portray a creative image of himself, which stands out from everyone else, you have to agree that he does stand out. Personally, when I think of Andy Warhol, I picture this mad looking bleach blonde haired middle aged man with fashion glasses.

Jameson believed that a post modern text is when the relationship between the signifier decreases. He believed that the images lose their significance and become just images. Jameson's arguements are clear when looking at Warhol's work. Andy Warhol's work uses well-known images, famous faces and masterpieces from the past, such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa. Warhol recreated this paiting, calling it 'Thirty are better than one'. The overuse of the Mona Lisa image decreases the link between the original masterpiece. Mona Lisa has already been created originally by Da Vinci, Andy Warhol loved and admired this masterpiece which Da Vinci created and therefore he wanted to enhance it more, but not taking credit for the original image. However some people argue that this work isnt orginal as he isnt creating a new piece, but recreating a masterpiece which was created by someone else. However on the other hand, some may disagree by saying that he is creating a new piece of art work out of an original.

The breakdown distinction between high art and low art (popular culture) - thinking of high art, people often Monet, Picasso and Rembrant. whereas for low art many people think of pop artists such as Andy Warhole, Tracey Emin and David Hockney. People believe that drawing and painting is high art, whereas computerised images as low art. Andy Warhole however combines the both, as some of the images which he uses, such as the celebrities (Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presely) and the high art of Leonardo Da Vinci and turns into low art of pop art. Pop art is often known as very simple, that anyone is able to manipulate images to look like pop art style by using bright bold block colours, which is what makes Pop art Low art.

Fight Club....A Favourite Post Modern Text...

DISCLAIMER; If you have not seen the film Fight Club I strongly, STRONGLY advise you to refrain from reading this blog post, as for the purpose of analysis, some of the plot twists have been highlighted!

David Fincher's 1999 film, 'Fight Club' displays a number of aspects that affiliate it with post modernity...

Self Reflexivity - Edward Norton who plays the unnamed protagonist (arguably a postmodern feature in itself!) provides a narration throughout the film, and in some cases, directly addresses the presence of the camera; especially in the sequence where we discover the occupations of Tyler Durden. This therefore breaks down the 'fourth wall' between the text and the audience.
In addition, there are a number of times when particular characters draw the audience's attention to the construction of the text. This in turn destroys the sense of a self-contained verisimilitude of which we as the viewer are expected to consume as 'reality'. The most notable example of this is the scene in which Tyler Durden discusses the art of film editing with a combination of special effects to emphasis the "cigarette burn".

The Postmodern condition and Self Involvement - The examination of human nature and behaviour is a key concept within the film. It relates to post modernity because it shows that the director not only considered the thematic conventions, but also what the contemporary age has 'done' to society. The belief that we have all become selfish is personified through the actions of both Marla Singer and Norton's character, who exploit community support groups (meant for the terminally ill etc) for their own personal and emotional advantage.

Intertextuality - There are many examples of intertextuality in the film, but the most prominent and my personal favourite, is that of the Ikea sequence. Not only does it convey a strong link to capitalist consumerism (and arguably style over substance depending on your view of Ikea!) but the graphics used also destroy the realism of the text.

















Confusions over Time and Space - This confusion is largely caused by the pivotal twist of 'Fight Club' when the audience discovers the Tyler Durden - a major character throughout the film - never really existed at all and what they were really viewing was the alter-ego of Norton's character. This throws the chronological order of the narrative into turmoil because we are forced to reevaluate the sequence of events in a different pace. The form of the twist is also extremely ironic; yet another convention of post modernism.

Decline of the Meta Narrative and Baudrillard's Theory - The decline of the meta narrative is a major player in the plot of the film as the concept of - or lack of - idols is one that is introduced frequently. Additionally, the fight club also becomes a form of meta narrative in itself. It originates from a minor, underground gathering of suppressed individuals, but soon spills over into mainstream society and mutates into a far-reaching cult, which members fully absorb themselves in.
Perhaps this was Fincher's method of conveying his anxiety surrounding the shift away from the tradition institutions (religion, the family etc).
As a result, 'Fight Club' shares a strong affiliation with Baudrillard's first core principle that the 'truth' needs to be deconstructed. In particular, this links to Durden's rebellion against the American authority and the Capitalist institutions. However, Durden's preaching proves hollow and just as deceiving in the end; relating to Baudrillard's opinion that one meta narrative shouldn't simply be replaced by another, but rather ALL truths should be considered with suspicion and scepticism.

Surrealism - Fincher has incorporated many aspects into 'Fight Club' that destroy the realism of the piece. Not only are graphics such as text and images layered on top of the footage during post production, but there is also a sequence which depicts the narrator's daydream during a Support group therapy session. He finds himself in an ice cave with a computer generated penguin who subsequently tells him to "slide!"....thus completely tearing down the facade of a 'real world' behind the silver screen.

I couldn't find any case studies on how 'Spaced' can be seen as a postmodern text, so this is just how I interpret it :)

'Spaced' is no doubt one of the most intertextual television shows aired on British tv; starring and written by Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes who also play the main characters Tim and Daisy. It was directed by Edgar Wright, who has famously directed Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
Spaced constantly makes references to 'Star Wars' and other cult movies; parodying and satirising as seen in the pictures below. In the show, there are frequent 'fantasy sequences' influenced by the American Television Series 'Northern Exposure'.





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Elements of Strinati's 5...


It challenges the distinction between high art and popular culture, by referencing to science fiction, horror films, comic books, video games and many more and is perhaps a more accurate view on life and culture in the 21st century. There is also a scene early on in the first series where Tim and Daisy meet Brian, a man who lives in the flat below them:
Daisy: What do you do Brian?
Brian: I'm an artist.
Daisy: Oh, Tim's an artist. What kind of thing do you do?
Brian: Anger.
[Shot of Brian attacking the canvas furiously]
Brian: Pain.
[Shot of Brian pricking his finger with a needle and whimpering]
Brian: Fear.
[Shot of Brian cowering in the dark as creepy music plays]
Brian: Aggression.
[Shot of Brian violently smashing an egg with a hammer]
Daisy: Watercolours?
Brian: It's a bit more complex than that.
Daisy: Tim does cartoons.
Tim: It's a bit more complex than that.


Some could argue that it has some aspects of bricolage as it borrows the 'visual language' of genre specific films and this is evident through Wright's style of directing, shot set-up and camerawork.


Strinati says that in modern times, we now make sence of reality with references to media texts, this is definitly evident within 'Spaced' as they reference their lives and situations they face to well known films.

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Baudrillard...
The idea that we live our lives in hyper-reality and connect more deeply to media texts - this is very apparent in 'Spaced' as Tim and Brian are both artists and connect deeply with their different styles.

'Spaced' is self reflexive however unlike '24 Hour Party People' it does not present it directly to the audience it is definitely aiding the audience in being aware of it's construction.

Surrounding culture (London) and the context of it brings normality back into this sitcom, for example when Daisy and Tim go to sign on because one of them loses their job and the other can't get work.


Spaced Jaffa Cakes

Mo Myspace Video

The Mighty Boosh Postmodern Analysis

A case study of 'The Mighty Boosh' was done in MediaMagazine in 2008, and I have used some elements of that are in my analysis as well (but hey, that's postmodern too, right?!).

The Mighty Boosh, at first glance is more surreal than anything else, with the main characters being (in the first series) two zookeepers - Howard Moon and Vince Noir, the zoo owner - Bob Fossil, one shaman and strangest of all, a gorilla. Many other minor characters are also played by Noel Fielding and Julian Barrett, which in itself could be considered postmodern, as a form of bricolage, but also because some of the characters they play are direct references to other people, both real and fictional (eg. the Spirit of Jazz can be seen as a representation of Slash from Guns and Roses, and also Papa Lazarou from the League of Gentlemen). This is not only intertextual, but it also draws attention to the celebrity-obsessed culture that we live in, as many references are to celebrities such as Slash. Vince also craves fame, and will constantly re-invent himself in order to do that - one day he is a punk, the next he is a goth.

At the beginning of the first series, Vince and Howard begin each show by giving a direct address to the audience about what is to come. Not only is this self-reflexive, as it draws attention to the constructed nature of the text and also references what is considered to be 'high art', the theatre, with the curtains behind them.

The use of bricolage throughout allows the show to reference many different genres, from music video (the tundra rap) to fantasy ("welcome to mirror world") and romantic comedy, not to mention the cartoons used throughout later episodes. This mixing of genres is typically postmodern, however, it is not bricolage as other texts do it, as all of the footage is newly shot. In fact, The Mighty Boosh tends to blur the boundaries between genres rather than use bricolage in the traditional sense. Much like '24 Hour Party People' shares genre characteristics with that of a documentary and a drama, the Mighty Boosh can be classed as a comedy, musical, fantasy, science fiction and many more besides.

This show also parodies and satirises many other shows, as well as genres in general. The episode 'Mutants' is a parody of the horror/sci-fi genre, and a more precise parody is my personal favourite episode, 'The Nightmare of Milky Joe', which is a parody of the film 'Castaway', starring Tom Hanks. Obvious parallels can be drawn between the two texts, with Tom Hanks' character creating an imaginary friend out of a football, and in The Mighty Boosh, Howard creates Milky Joe from a coconut. However, the Mighty Boosh takes the idea one step further into the surreal, with the coconut people coming alive to capture Howard and Vince.

Scrubs...

Scrubs has been around since 2001 and it is still going Strong. This TV series has many factors which are considered postmodern. This TV series is on channels like E4 and T4 religiously and have a wide target audience.

Scrubs has many different genres and keeps switching between the two. This series is a medical drama, a comedy and a sometimes a musical. The example below turns from talking normally to a musical. However, the first part of the song is a parody and the music is similar to the Grease song. This is also an intertextual reference.



Mixing up the genre's is also a form of hybrid (bricolage)

In the ninth season they made a new title sequences and in this series the theme tune is the same tune as 'superman.' This is postmodern in itself as it is taking an existing piece of music and turning it into something new.



From Strinati's five features, Scrubs falls under confusion over time and space. This is a subtle element and the use it throughout all of their shows. An example of this is when they have just taken a patient into the operating theatre and after using the fade in and fade out, they showed the patient back out of the operating theatre. Another confusion over time and space postmodern element is that this TV show uses flashbacks.

Post Modern Text

This is an example of a post modern text because it uses bricolage to mix animation with real footage. It is also post modern because it is aware of it's own construction, informing the viewer that they know the beast is animated and infact killing it off by making the animator, have a heart attack.

Post-modernism: Eminem

This is one of my favourite texts in general, let alone in post-modernism, Eminem is possibly one of the most famous (or infamous) hip-hop artists of all time and causes a great deal of controversy with his music among critics and music audiences alike. His music more often than not is greatly self reflexive and documents or tells the story of his own life, almost like an auto-biographical rap. He is also known for having several aliases such as Eminem (obviously), Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers, the latter of which being his real name, however, the latter probably being his least well known identity.

Most of the controversy surrounding his music regards violence towards women and his own family as well as politically incorrect notions towards homosexuals and the government. Although, despite how this sounds, his lyrical delivery and the context in which he writes and presents his records makes his views and opinions clear and understandable (in my opinion) as well as simply escaping the normal R&B music and creating something interesting and different.

Eminem can be seen as a misogynist however this is often toned down in his videos by comedy such as parody of famous figures, for example Elvis and Batman's accomplice, Robin to name a couple, and this is only an accusation made by a handful of critics.

Slim Shady is not all about promoting violence and anger though, in the single 'Like Toy Soldiers' he speaks of how he tries to calm a violent collaboration of rappers and numerous feuds that are going on in the world of hip-hop.

One of his most post-modern traits is his ridiculous self parody in some of his music videos such as 'Without Me', 'The Real Slim Shady' and 'Just Lose It', where he often plays a comedic character in an over exaggerated way and in some ways this adds to the meaning of his music and shows that he in no way takes himself too seriously, for example he isn't attempting to be a 'black rapper' and imitate the role of figures such as 50 Cent or even more underground hip-hop artists such as Jedi Mind Tricks or Army Of The Pharoahs.

Prize for first to post!

C'mon you lot!
There is a prize for the first to put their 'favourite Postmodern text' post on here.

CONGRATULATIONS!

to all of you - you did phenomenally well in the final exam and have done me and Ms B very proud indeed. :) :)
All of you who sat the final exam ended up with a B or better in your A Level. A fantastic achievement!!
Special congrats to Hannah R,  Lorna and Ali, who all scored an A*.
Special mention goes to Jess who missed an A* by a single mark (good luck in the re-mark, Jess! You deserve it!!)
Also, well done to Hannah R and Josh who scored an incredible 100 (full marks) in the final exam.
Again, brilliantly done - keep in touch as you go forth and change the world!!

UK Film Council To Be Axed

Sad times people, sad times. I know people probably aren't gonna read this anymore but just thought of everyone when I found out that the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has decided to axe the UK Film Council :( :( :( :( political persuasion aside this is just generally really sad and a massive shame for independant film makers everywhere :(

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10761225