The Darkness - Group case study

Postmodern TV show

Question 1b key concepts

Mock Exam - rewrite

Question 2 – Mock exam rewrite

Postmodernism in the oxford dictionary is referred to as “a style and concept in the arts characterised by a distrust of theories and ideologies and by the drawing of attention to conventions”. Postmodernists claim that in a media saturated world where we are constantly immersed in media the distinction between reality and media representation of it becomes blurred or even entirely invisible to us. In other words we no longer have any sense of the difference between real things and images of them or real experiences ad simulations of them. Others say that it is just a new way of thinking about media when really is has always been this way.

My first case study of postmodernism is film. I believe that many films highlight this postmodernism through the main concepts such as: pastiche, flattening of affect, hyper reality, time bending, altered states and more human than human. Pastiche is self-referential, tongue in cheek, rehashes of classic pop culture. This flattening of affect which is highlighted through the postmodern films involves technology, violence, drugs and the media lead to detached, emotionless, unauthentic lives. Hyper reality is described in relation to where technology creates realities which are original or more desirable then the real world. Finally time bending is used to connote the importance of time travel, as it relates to how time travel provides another way to shape reality. I will be using my film case studies in order to show how they are postmodern and will highlight the key aspects which make them postmodern. 

Two key examples of postmodern films are both Blade runner and Pulp Fiction. These are very popular exams of postmodernism in the film industry. Firstly Blade Runner is possibly the most popular postmodern film. Ridley Scott's 1982 film is about a future dystopia where "replicates" have been invented and are deemed dangerous enough to hunt down when they escape. The film highlights to be playing with time (the various types of clothes) and culture and genre by mixing them all together to create the world of the film. "The postmodern look of Blade Runner is therefore the result of recycling, fusion of levels, discontinuous signifiers, explosion of boundaries, and erosion. The disconnected temporality of the replicants and the pastiche of the city are all an effect of a postmodern, post-industrial condition: wearing out, waste." Moving on pulp fiction is another popular example of a postmodernist film. The film tells the interweaving stories of gangsters, a boxer, and robbers. The film breaks down chronological time and demonstrates a particular fascination with intertextuality: bringing in texts from both traditionally "high" and "low" realms of art. By focusing on intertextuality and the subjectivity of time, Pulp Fiction demonstrates the postmodern obsession with signs and subjective perspective as the exclusive location of anything resembling meaning.

The Lego movie produced by Warner brothers recently been released onto DVD is another key example of how postmodernity is used within the film industry. Post-Modernism both questions what is real, true, and absolute, as well as playing with inter-textually. The Lego movie is set in an animated world and is the heroic journey of regular-guy Emmett and his quest to stop Lord Business from destroying the world with his super weapon: The Kragle. On the other hand the boy is set in reality attempting to play with his dads Lego while his dad wants to maintain complete and absolute order, not giving in to the creativity that Legos can unleash. In many ways it can be seen that the Lego Movie is The Matrix with Emmet replacing Neo, the boy and Vitruvius combined to be Morpheus, Wild style as Trinity, and Lord Business as Agent Smith/The AI. There are layers of reality, and only the main hero is able to see both completely. Also, there are robots. Built within this multiple-layered-reality are iconic figures like Batman, Star Wars characters, as well as eclectic combinations such as Unikitty. Pastiche is highlighted to us throughout the film. It is never taken too seriously and the script reads like it has been written by a 9 year old, allowing the audience to relax and enjoy watching the film. Moreover intertextuality is displayed bringing characters in drawing iconic personalities that we already know. A prime example of this in the film is the character batman as we do not need any explanation of who batman is and why he does certain this as we already know this from previous experience. Flattening of affect is suggested through the character Emmit where he lives in a world of popular music, formulaic television, and people who always follow the instructions. At first it seems like an evil corporate plot, but when we pull back and see the father-son relationship in the framing narrative, we realize that this isn’t exactly the case.

Along with postmodernity in film, it is also clear to see this postmodern effect within music video. This is clear within the Jessie J music video, “who’s laughing now”. Hype conscience is shown in this video where the main performer Jessie J is playing multiple roles in the video and playing different characters as well as herself. The characters in which she’s playing are very over exaggerated implying that narcissism to their self-image. This is constantly reminding the viewer that what they are watching is not real and it is made up. A key feature of the postmodern music video is the intertextuality references which are constantly made. Two prime examples of this is the reference of mean girls and reference to bugs bunny. The reference to mean girls is clear to see when the four girls are dressed in pink and are walking in a line next to each other. They present themselves to be very stuck up and love themselves just like how the mean girls do in the film. Buys bunny is referenced in the lyrics when the girls are “bullying” Jessie. Here the lyrics say “Oh Jessica you so funny you’ve got teeth just like bugs bunny”. Baudrillard’s theory is incorporated into the music video. This is because the video appears to continually cut from Jessie as a school girl to Jessie grown up. This in my opinion depicts postmodernism as no distinction is made between them. This means the progression of time is conventional. This lack of effect confuses the audience and makes them question which part of the video is in real time. This creates postmodern irony because none of what we are watching is actually real.

Lego movie - Production details

Production details:Production Company: Warner Brothers
Source material:
Budget: 60 million
Nationality: American
Main Producers: Dan Lin, Roy Lee
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Cinematography: Pablo Plaisted
Editor: David Burrows, Chris McKay
Music: Mark Mothersbough
Screen Writers:
Cast Members: Chris Pratt, Will Ferrelll, Elizabeth Banks,Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman
How has it been filmed: The production of the film mostly took place in the hands of Australian animators animal logic. The camera systems tried to replicate live action cinematography, including different lenses and a Steadicam simulator.
What is it based upon: Lego Construction Toys
Other Information: June 2012, voices for the characters had been decided. By August 2012, Elizabeth Banks was hired to voice Lucy and Morgan Freeman to voice Vitruvius, an old mystic. In October 2012 release date was changed, Warner Bros to February 7, 2014. In November 2012, Alison Brie, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, and Nick Offerman signed on for roles.

The Lego Movie - Case Study

Film case study – The Lego Movie

The basic premise is that we’re constantly caught between opposing concepts like “knowledge” and “doubt,” “reality” and “unreality,” and “Art” and “Life”; learning to move quickly between these concepts may be our best hope yet of regaining a sense of self in the Internet Age. The core message here is simple enough, in fact so simple that not only could a child pick it up quickly, it’s arguably children who understand the metamodern “cultural paradigm” better than anyone. Children, unlike their parents, move more or less seamlessly from the realm of fantasy to the aggressive insistence of reality.

 

Pastiche
Right from the beginning you can tell that The Lego Movie doesn’t take itself too seriously. The script in the first scene reads like it was written by a nine-year-old, and there’s a good reason for that. By letting the dialog at times seem so rudimentary, the writers allow us to relax and enjoy ourselves. This silly style of writing then opens up opportunities for some artfully absurd things to happen.

Intertextuality

Another big trope of the postmodernists is Intertextuality. You see it every time you watch Once Upon a Time. Lego has made a lot of licensed sets over the years. By bringing those characters in, they draw on iconic personalities that we already know to propel the story forward. We don’t need any explanation of who Batman is and why he behaves the way he does. We know Batman, so we can skip the backstory and get into the action.

Metafiction
The movie is one giant work of Metafiction. It starts off sounding like it was written by a child because the main plot we’ve been following is the creation of a child. The writers of The Lego Movie got the entire audience to invest themselves in a silly plot about a chosen one and a mystical weapon before pulling the big reveal: the story we’re actually engaged in is one about fathers and sons, adults and children. It’s about growing up and what that should mean. One of the most-admirable things about the marketing for the film was that not a single preview I saw (mind you, I don’t have cable) spoiled it for me. So many times we get excited for a movie only to walk away feeling like the potential for a great film was sold to market a few more toys (I’m looking at you, Michael Bay.) The opposite happens here; I was sold on the cheesy marketing ploy, and I walked away pleasantly surprised to find art there.

Flattening of Affect

There are countless late-20th-century films and stories about people who find themselves living unauthentic lives because of drugs or technology or suburbia. The Lego Movie brings us a new reason that we’re all behaving like emotionless shells: growing up.
In the first few minutes we see that our hero, Emmett, lives in a world of popular music, formulaic television, and people who always follow the instructions. At first it seems like an evil corporate plot, but when we pull back and see the father-son relationship in the framing narrative, we realize that this isn’t exactly the case.
Yes, President Business is a corporate big-wig who is trying to homogenize everything, but we also know that it’s not out of greed. It’s a desire for order. Somewhere along the line, as we grow up, we lose our creativity out of fear of failure. Afraid to make things that are messy and ugly, we also stop making things that are beautiful.

The Lego Movie may be a mash up of Batman, bizarre dialog, and a bunch of jokes, but it’s a beautiful mess—and it works. This movie could have merely been a straight plot line rendered in 3D and advertised all over TV to sell toys, but it’s not. The Lego Movie reaches out to adults and teenagers, anyone who forgot how to be beautifully unorganized and uncool. It grabbed us by the funny bone and shook us violently, screaming “PLAY. GOSH DARNIT! BE FREE!”

And that brings me to my final point. It’s about that message of not caring how things are supposed to be. It’s the thought that woke me up at one in the morning and whispered, “You have to write this down.”

Even Bigger Metaphor

It should be obvious to anyone who saw the movie that President Business—in his attempt to freeze the world with the Kragle—is just a metaphor for the father, who got so caught up in how things are supposed to look that he was willing to pour superglue on his Lego set instead of playing with his son. We all got that one (at least I hope we did). This is another Metaphor.

It’s about Postmodernism.
Postmodernism was a reaction to Modernism, a movement in the early 20th Century that sought to create new conventions of representation, stripping away the frills, and making form follow function. Like the Modernists, the Postmodernists rejected the rigid conventions of the Classicists. Unlike the Modernists, the Postmodernists didn’t mind if things got a little bit messy and frivolous.

The father is a Classicist, following the rules to put together harmonious, safe creations. The son is a Postmodernist, mixing properties, repurposing used half-eaten lollipops, and making a glorious mess. The Kragle represents the father’s strict adherence to classical conventions. The son’s unbalanced spaceships and mech-pirates are the intertextual, time-bending, hyperreality, fragmented works of art that say, “Hey, Batman can be art, too. Why don’t you chill out and have fun.”

 

Fredric Jameson

Fredric Jameson born 14 April 1934, is an American literary critic and Marxist political theorist. He is best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends. He once described postmodernism as the spatialization of culture under the pressure Postmodernists claimed that the complex differentiation between "spheres" or fields of, and between distinct classes and roles within each field, had been overcome by the crisis of foundationalism. Jameson argued, against this, and could have been understood successfully within a modernist framework; the postmodern failure to achieve this understanding implied an abrupt break in the dialectical refinement of thought. In his view, postmodernity's merging of all discourse into an undifferentiated whole was the result of the colonization of the cultural sphere, which had retained at least partial autonomy during the prior modernist era. Jameson discussed this phenomenon in his critical discussion of architecture, film, narrative, and visual arts, as well as in his strictly philosophical work. Two of Jameson's best-known claims from Postmodernism are that postmodernity is characterized by pastiche and a crisis in historicity. Jameson argued that parody was replaced by pastiche. Jameson's analysis of postmodernism attempted to view it as historically grounded; he therefore rejected any moralistic opposition to postmodernity as a cultural phenomenon. His failure to dismiss postmodernism from the onset, however, was perceived by many as an implicit endorsement of postmodern views