Why are some media products described as postmodern

Postmodern is a term that is given to media products that deliberately manipulate reality. These texts deliberately play with the meaning and employing a range of referential techniques such as bricolage, intertextuality, hyperreality and the use of conventions to directly or indirectly reference to other texts to create something new. Postmodern texts are not confined to one genre they challenge assumptions of narrative through culture and the playing with time. This allows the literate audience to see the hyperreality thats used in the media texts. Tarantions film inglorious basterds uses significant amounts of postmodern elements such as the use of yellow text for subtitles used through the film which represents Tarantinos style as a director. He uses modern music which could reflect Levi Strauss theory of bricolage as they use spaghetti western music the green leaves of summer that sets the tone of the film. The first text we seen relates back to a fairy tale once upon a time which doesnt fit in with the story as we dont associate this with war. However Gerard Genettes idea of hyperreality which is the hypertext of a fairy tale modified to show what we understand to be war. They use The Sound of Music setting that focuses on transposition by taking a scene that is heart-warming and changing it to have a sinister feel which is postmodern. Fiskes theory of our knowledge of war from films such as Saving Private Ryan enables us to indentify the hyper reality within inglorious basterds which is seen as a postmodern element. The scene on the farm draws in using a frame taken from a western The Searchers using a similar shot but using it as an escape shot instead of an emotional goodbye. Tarantino doesnt allow you to know any of the characters pasts, which leaves a mystery. This shows he takes out all the emotion which deletes any idea of human frailty. This shows there is a blur between reality and fantasy. In the film they use humour to exaggerate the characters which is very stereotypical parody in comparison to an accurate depiction. The diversity of the genre is another factor which is postmodern as Tarantino uses a hazy distinction between genres. The film uses a lack of fear when it comes to the attacks which dehumanises it, showing no emotion. There are flashbacks used which is an interrupted narrative showing the German, which is a postmodern. Blaxploitation music is sampled from the song Slaughter by Billy Preston that is used from a later time than the film but represents the basterds. A freeze shot is used to introduce Josef Goebbels and Shoshannas thoughts are shown which uses a short cut away show with a comical manner. Tarantino has been postmodern by taking all of Shoshannas emotions away. In the basement scene they play a game that is a reference to pop culture for example the film King Kong. When the men have their guns aimed at each other this shows a humour side to the audience. In the film they re use the western feel by showing the barman reaching for a shot gun. Another postmodern element is when they use a vet shop instead of a doctors which is a hypertextuality seen by the reference to a gangster film. This is seen as bricolage as it could be socially recognisable as a gangster film. The inglorious basterds is an untraditional postmodern war film as it doesnt follow a traditional war concept/narrative. However it circles around hypertextuality although it is seen to be in more of favour of Nazis because of the positioning of the bodys on the floor. Battle music is played whilst Fredrick walks to the room that indicates an action code that features during a non-war related scene can be considered as postmodern, basically known as bricolage. They show emotion in one scene which isnt used in the other deaths, this shows a tragic loss. As Fredrick and Shoshanna are Laura Ward

lying on the floor next to each other it gives a sense of Romeo and Juliet which shows hypertextuality. Tarantino uses his foot fetish in this film as well as others which can be seen as socially recognisable as a factor of him as a director. The camera focuses on the womens foot even when she is being strangled to death which is a postmodern element used through all his films. Fight club is another postmodern media product as it follows the main characters journey which starts from a depressed, insomnia condition that then takes a turn for the worse making him an unhinged violent physio-path, which is seen as postmodernism. The type of camera work used disrupts the linear sequence of the narrative and instead creates a circular narrative in which parts of the film are cliff hangers for the audience. The broadcast media bulletins that are used in the film are to create suspense and tension. There are several references to the consumers society. A great example of this is the IKEA-nesting instinct that he describes. He also talks about corporations, and the way that they would begin naming planets and galaxies after name brands. The simulacra created by these image-commodities, and that everything is a copy of a copy. Schizophrenia is represented by the split personality between Jack and Tyler. Jack representing the person he is within society, while Tyler represents the person Jack wishes he could be. The fight clubs work in the same way as the support groups. The members fight each other in an attempt to feel something again. This would be like the intensities Jameson describes because the crying at the support groups has the same therapeutic value as the extreme anger and violence experienced at fight club. Depthlessness is another postmodern idea that is referenced through the film. He says: "we are consumers. We are by product of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty: these things don't concern me. In the movie projection scene, Jack and Tyler break the fourth wall and directly address the camera. As Jack talks about the cigarette burns, where the changeover happens, we are shown a cigarette burn, which Tyler then points to, bringing attention the artifice of the film. Michael Simpson from the Dust Brothers explained the set up that Fincher wanted to break new ground with everything about the movie and a non-traditional score helped achieve that. Another text that can be described as postmodern is Family Guys Blue Harvester that is a parody to Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Genettes theory of metatextuality can be applied as this text was a commentary the Star Wars franchise and just played on the words to give it humour. They manipulate time and space in this text, which is seen as postmodern as it starts off with A long time ago, but somehow in the future. This fits with Lyotards postmodernism theory of the grand narrative as it rejects the idea that whilst history moves forwards in time so does humanity. This shows that in this episode there is no progress made in time or moved anywhere, which suggests that the narrative can go in any direction. This can be described as postmodern as it challenges modernist thinking that narratives most go in on direction/linear. The non linear is emphasised when Luke breaks the fourth wall and introduces the London Orchester, composed by John Williams. This creates disjuncture and doesnt follow the convention of modernist narrative. This makes the story completely hyper real as it allows the audience to make the connection between reality and fantasy. Post modern music like film is irrespective of boundaries and often use different genres through their music to appeal to a bigger audience. Rihanna is an example of this as her stage name which is her middle name that is different but interesting and taken from the Welsh name Rhiannon. Her latest album unapologetic uses bricolage which is Levi Strauss theory that is shown on the album Laura Ward

cover as its a clean shot of her with words written over her body which makes it eye catching for her fans. This overall gives her an empowering look for a female artist. Rihanna has a wide diversity of genres with her music that fits into different conventions such as R&B, pop, dancehall, reggae, hiphop and dance. She also is associated with other big artists such as Chris brown, Drake, Jay-z, ne-yo, Eminem and Nicki Minaj. He video rude boy relies upon the use of green screen, and contains strong references to critically acclaimed famous artists, including Andy Warhol and Keith Haring art work which is known as bricolage as she has taken other artists inspiration and incorporated it into her own music video giving her overall look a edgy and outrages feel. She also used intertextuality by sampling the hook "Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa", which is from Michael Jackson's 1983 single from Thriller, "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". This is used as the backing track in her song. Overall there are many elements, such as manipulation of genre conventions and style that contributes to the postmodern media products that have been produced. The use of intertextuality shows that referencing other texts often removes the idea that the texts have to be original. Instead they take on a combination of ideas and rely on their literate audience to create something new. The usual narratives used are love, death and war instead of subverting or rejecting these narratives that show a blur between reality and fantasy.

Laura Ward