Explain why the idea of 'postmodern media' might be considered

controversial.
Compared to modernism (the movement in western arts, architecture and design which
rejected the past and created a new within the present art), postmodernism is a label which
was given to cultural forms; which largely reacts to the assumed certainty of scientific efforts
to explain reality. It represents a departure from modernism and is characterised using
earlier styles and conventions; mixing different artistic styles and media, and a general
distrust of theories.
Conventions of postmodern media, such as: bricolage, parody, . Influence the idea that
postmodern media is controversial.
Deadpool is a 2016 American superhero film directed by Tim Miller. It is based on the Marvel
Comics character of the same name and is the eight instalment in the X-Men film series.
Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life (by disfiguring his face) while
also trying to reunite with his lost love. Deadpool is seen as a postmodern film. This is due to
Deadpool being self-referential towards- himself, the film and the fact he knows the audience
are watching him in a film. He performs multiple asides to the audience which breaks the
fourth wall and reminds the audience they are watching a film. His self-referential actions
can range from a wink to direct address to the audience- A 4th-wall break inside a 4th-wall
break! That's like, 16 walls!". This has been criticised as Jameson suggests postmodern
films are nothing more than a series of self-referential jokes which have no deeper
meaning or purpose. Postmodernists dont disagree with this statement; however they
use this as their purpose for including self-referential jokes within media.
Multiple elements of postmodernism are found in Deadpool and these could be considered
controversial. Bricolage is an element which appears throughout the film. Firstly, Deadpool
mixes film genres such as- comedy, romance, action and superhero films; making the film
more accessible to different audiences. This links with Jacques Derridas theory that Every
text participates in one or several genres as the film uses a variety of different genres and
not just one. Furthermore, the film continues to show elements of bricolage like- deletion and
substitution. Traditionally, superhero films contain a hero who is happy to be a hero, whereas
Deadpool lacks the heroic aspect as he doesnt want to be a superhero- I didn't ask to be
super, and I'm no hero. Similarly, other stereotypical superhero characteristics have been
deleted and substituted. Examples of this are: the fancy superhero vehicle has been
substituted for a taxi, the technology-filled base has been swapped for an apartment
Deadpool shares with an old blind lady and most importantly, Deadpool has traded the
audience of younger, superhero-loving children for adult viewers who love comedies and
aspects of superhero films. The final element of bricolage Deadpool uses is Transposition.
This is to take something from a myth or fairy tale and apply it to a piece. Deadpool has a
similar storyline to the Greek myth- Orpheus, who went through hell to get his true love back
from the underworld. Similarly, Deadpool goes through hell (his facial disfigurement and
battles) to get his girlfriend back from the villain of the film. These elements of bricolage link
to Levi-Strauss theory that any text is constructed out of socially recognisable debris from
other texts.
Parodies are extremely common within all types of media; films being one of the most
common. In Deadpool, the main use of parody is towards its broad variety of genres. Two
genres it focuses on most is romance and superhero films. Deadpool isnt a traditional
superhero who loves being a hero and saving the world. Deadpool is different and doesnt
want his powers. His life was taken away and having the powers have made it worse as it
changed him as a person. He isnt seen flying around, crushing things and using ice or fire
like in most films. His power is to heal quickly which could be unimpressive compared to the
ability to fly etc, which most superheroes can do. Because of this power, Deadpool is seen
wearing a costume and goes off to save the love of his life. This becomes a parody as it isnt
the traditional guy saves the girl and they live happily ever after storyline. In some respects,
it is however, towards the end, Deadpool and Francis fight and it is Vanessa who withdraws
a knife from her thigh and uses it to get Francis off Deadpool. This is unusual as the female
in distress never turns around to be strong and helping to destroy the enemy. It is usually the
male protagonist who helps the female lead. This is where it is evident that the screen writer
has changed the way genre works and made more of a postmodern approach to the
tradition of the male saving the female. This links to Kramers idea about binary oppositions
and how they roles have reversed making it something less traditional.
The Neon Demon is a 2016 psychological horror film by Nicolas Winding Refn. It is based on
an aspiring model in Los Angeles, whose beauty and youth generate intense fascination and
jealousy within the industry, leading to her murder. The Neon Demon is seen as a
postmodern film. This is due to the hyperreal world and what the characters think is normal,
but we dont. For example, the three models, who are consumed by jealousy over the new
model (Jesse), murder her by pushing her into an empty swimming pool, cut her body up
and eat her. This is something we, as an audience, wouldnt be used to in the real world,
however they seem used to it in their world. This shows how a model can be consumed by
the industry, and in this film, it is literal as they eat Jesse- possibly to consume her beauty.
Furthermore, another area of hyperrealism is when one of the models (Ruby) goes to work in
a morgue and performs sexual activities with a female corpse. Necrophilia is extremely
uncommon and frowned upon in our world, however it seems to be acceptable in theirs. This
reflects Baudrillards idea that the real is no longer possible as postmodern films have taken
a turn to different narratives from the traditional, realistic ones we are used to.
The episodic nature of The Neon Demon comes from there being short scenes with very
little dialogue. Audiences are no longer concerned with the process of understanding a text
(through dialogue) as they can interpret it from the visuals. The linear narrative enables
audiences to follow the film in a way that would make them understand it; even with little
dialogue. This would not be possible in Deadpool as the narrative is fragmented and non-
linear. Deadpool plays around with time and, as an audience, it would be harder to
understand as the dialogue would carry the events happening in the film. The lack of
dialogue was replaced by music which was upbeat and continuously increased tension, as
well as allowed room for interpretation. This could be considered controversial as some
theorists (Kramer) would suggest that multiple meanings to media is a good thing as it allows
us to take something from the film that we would value. However, some criticise this and
suggest there are certain elements of a films structure that are necessary in order for the
audience to understand the narrative (Parsons).
Postmodernism doesnt just exist in film, it exists in all kinds of media. Like Deadpool, artists
like Kanye West, Eminem and Grimes all use elements of bricolage, parody, homage etc to
form their music; leading them to be labelled as postmodern artists.
Eminem is a singer, songwriter and musician within the hip hop/rap genre of music. He
frequently collaborates with artists from the same genre and from a multitude of others. Like
Deadpool, Eminem could be seen as postmodern due to his crossover between genres;
using bricolage. Eminem first collaborated with singer/ songwriter Rihanna on his seventh
studio album Recovery in 2010. Rihanna is an artist within the pop, r&b and regge genres
which contrasts against Eminems rap. They collaborate again on his eighth studio album
The Marshall Mathers LP.2 in 2013 which, again, uses multiple genres. Rihanna isnt the
only artist he has collaborated with. He joined together with rock artist Pink! in 2010 for the
fourth track on his Recovery album. Much like how Deadpools mixture of genres widened
its audience, Eminem opens his music up to a variety of consumers as he, not only targets
his own fans, but targets the fans of the artists he collaborates with. Thus, introducing his
audience to a wider variety of genres they may not have heard of if they have only been
experienced in his own. Kramer would suggest Eminem is a postmodern artist as he does
not respect boundaries between sonorities through his use of mixed genres.
Furthermore, Eminem uses sampling as a way of creating sounds for his music and as a
way of paying homage to other artists. On his track Berzerk from The Marshall Mathers
LP.2 he samples four different tracks. The song sampled the most is Billy Squires The
Stroke which influenced the drums, electric guitar and other instruments in the track. Certain
riffs are taken from Squires work and placed into Eminems to give the track more sound.
Furthermore, Eminem sampled Labi Siffres I Got The from 1975 in his track My Name Is
on his debut album The Slim Shady LP in 1999. The elements used from Siffres track are
funk, soul and disco. The sample used in Eminems song has a jazzy feel to it which
contrasts against his hip hop/rap genre. This, again, introduces Eminems audience to a
form of music they may not have heard of and brings the jazz style back into music. Eminem
clearly adopts Kramers theory that postmodern music challenges barriers between 'high'
and 'low' styles as Jazz would be a high style and rap would be a low style. Eminem
mixes the two together to produce sounds that an audience would never have heard of
before.
Predicting the future for postmodernism is difficult as there as so many routes a postmodern
film or artist can go down. Technology allows us to explore things further and come up with
new ideas that no one would have thought about. For example, Michael Jackson was made
into a hologram for the 2014 Billboard Music Awards where he performed his first set after
his death in 2009. Since then, companies have been experimenting and recently, in Star
Wars Rouge One, there have been CGI effects added to place the faces of past characters
(of whom the actors are now dead) onto the bodies of other people so they could return for
the film. This has had some criticism as many dont want the CGI faces to replace the past
actors as they should be remembered for what they did. But, this seems to be the route that
postmodernism is going down. If it is happening for stars, maybe people will invent ways of
bringing back friends and family that they could interact with like those who interacted with
Michael Jacksons hologram on stage.