"Postmodern media manipulate time and space." To what extent does this definition apply to the texts you have studied?
Postmodernism is the rejection of modernism. Modernism offers truth, hierarchy, order and improvement. Postmodernism rejects all absolutes and all grand narratives like the big bang and the existence of god. Industrialisation created the possibility for pop to exist because everything became identical which results into the loss of identity which can be linked with simulacrum which is where some artist play with ideas and images to create something new. Industrialisation allowed us to mass produce for the consumer, this in turn resulted in mass production of material things we don't need (do not help us stay alive). They either represent themselves or play the part of a character which I will later give an example for.
An example of postmodern media within the film industry is the 2012 Quentin Tarantino film Django Unchained. Quentin is known for referencing other films. He pays homage to both Mandingo and the 1966 spaghetti western Django directed by Sergio Corbucci as he based the name of his film on both of these films. Tarantino pays pastiche at the Ku Klux Klan in one of the film’s funnier scenes in which a KKK group mount an inept attack on Django and Schultz. The attack is scored by The Ride of the Valkyries, undoubtedly inspired by its use in D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation. Where Griffith opted to celebrate the KKK and portray them heroically, Tarantino ridicules them and uses the music to directly parody Griffith’s cinematic representation of the Klan. Tarantino also undermines and ridicules Hollywood’s previous approach to civil rights when Django and Schultz enter Mississippi. The text ‘MISSISSIPPI’ fills the screen and scrolls from one side to the other. This is almost certainly a pardoy at the expense of Gone with the Wind, which opens with a very similar title sequence. Where Gone with the Wind portrayed a rather ideal view of the South, Tarantino lays the text over slaves trudging in mud. Django Unchained manipulates time and space because Tarentino takes references from different eras (time).
An example of simularcrum in the music industry is Miley Cyrus. She found fame on the hit Disney channel Hannah Montana. Miley Cyrus plays both Miley Stuart and Hannah Montana so we don't actually know who the real Miley Cyrus is or whether she is just playing a character. In recent years Miley has changed her image from 'Disney sweetheart' to someone who is more controversial. Hannah Montana was a TV programme on Disney where Miley Cyrus played a teenager called Miley Stewart who was secretly a pop artist which is postmodern because Miley Cyrus is a pop star in real life, so is she playing herself? We don't know. As her real name is Destiny Hope Cyrus then none of the above names are her own, making her a character in the media's eye. Miley Cyrus manipulates time and space because she takes music from different decades, for example she pays homage to Dolly Parton and covers her Jolene hit and also uses bricolage to take music from different genres so for example on her latest album 'Bangerz' she has a mixture of Country, Rap and RnB.
Millie. Take another look at the second half of your intro. You need to explain that industrialisation created the environment whereby society could mass produce items for a consumer market, this in turn resulted in the mass production of things we don't need (i.e. things which are not essential for our survival) as well as things which intentionally don't last (i.e. fashion) to encourage a constant state of need from the public. We all end up wanting the same things (same clothes, same music, same electronics) which led to music which is often accused of being generic and repatative. We can now mass produce pop stars, pop bands etc through autotuning, stylists and the like whilst some artists 'play' with this idea and intentionally alter their 'character' (like Miley). That rather complex explanation needs weaving into your intro.
ReplyDeleteIn addition some reference to time and space needs to be in your intro, focus on how artists take music from difference eras (time) and different genres (space) to create new sounds just as Tarantino does in his film Django.
Then in every subsequent point ensure you mention either time or space.
This is an improvement, your introduction begins to cover the bigger issues. You need to explain that modernism was born out of industrialisation as an attempt to make it more 'human' and use it for societies betterment. Obviously it lost its way and that is why PostModernism started.
ReplyDeleteYou pay homage but USE pastiche. Remember to also mention time and space in this response. For your examples of homage and pastiche ensure you say whether they are examples of manipulating time or space.