'Media products' means the 3 films that you have studied. Read through the posts on my blog (especially the theory), your presentations, your Inglourious Basterds essay and any research you have completed. Remember to refer to modernism at the start of the essay and keep referring back to the words from the question.
Postmodernism was a movement used
as a reaction to the previous era of modernism. Postmodern texts play with
meaning and because of the great use of intertexuality these texts are made for
a literate audience. Postmodern texts will also use techniques such as
bricolage; creating a new piece of work from old parts, pastiche;
self-conscious imitation and parody among others. Postmodernism also uses irony
to express itself and challenges boundaries between genres, art forms and the
class of high and low art. The constructs in society such as gender, race and
sexuality are explored in postmodern texts; they are questioned and reassessed.
Many postmodern texts are very self-aware, for instance in a lot of postmodern
films the edges of the set will be shown, as if to say to the audience ‘this
isn’t real’.
That is just one of the ways that
‘Inglourious Basterds’, a film directed by Quentin Tarantino, fits into the
‘postmodern’ label. Tarantino is known for his postmodern film making,
including widely known films such as ‘Pulp Fiction’, ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘Reservoir
Dogs’. ‘Inglourious Basterds’ is laced with postmodern elements and though it
is predominantly a war film it encompasses features of many genres and many
intertextual references.
Another reason that this film, as
well as many of Tarantino’s others, can be labelled postmodern is the
soundtrack. This is another example of the texts being self-aware as Tarantino deliberately
chooses music that connotes a feeling of a certain genre or time period,
drawing the audience to it rather than it just being washed over them.
Hyper reality can be explored in
many different ways and is another widely used postmodern element. The
characters of ‘Inglourious Basterds’ are exaggerated and over played; they use
stereotypical accents and unrealistic behaviour. This can often make a film
seem less serious and more comical, as well as, again, being self-aware. Another
hyperreal aspect included within ‘Inglourious Basterds’ is to do with costume.
Even through fight scenes and such the clothes of the characters are pristine
and which is completely unrealistic. The lack of realism also makes an
appearance when there are any scenes of ‘gore’. The special effects for these
parts aren't particularly unrealistic, which you might expect given the rest of
the film but it still doesn't seem real given the lack of emotion and
detachment of the characters. Within any other film this may simply say
something about the characters themselves but within a postmodern setting it
alters the tone of the film.
‘Drive’, a 2011 crime drama film
directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling also uses postmodern
elements. The setting of ‘Drive’ is ambiguous as there are no obvious clues to
define its supposed time period. There are 80’s elements throughout but it
could just as easily be a modern setting. This is another postmodern element as
it refers to the fact that the text is fictional. Another hyperreal element to
this film is how the city of L.A is
portrayed. Throughout the film is seems that the main characters are almost
alone, the streets are almost empty of people and cars which you wouldn’t
expect. This also helps to makes the time period vague. It also means that the city
itself appears to be more than just a setting; it seems lonely and reflective
of the main character, ‘The Kid’.
‘Being John Malkovich’ is a film
directed by Spike Jonze and uses a lot of postmodern elements within it. It’s
ideas are based around postmodern techniques and it questions the constructs of
social ideology. The film explores the ideas of identity extensively and uses
completely fantastical situations and themes to do so. Irony is a large part of
postmodern film and it seems that ‘Being John Malkovich’ was based on this
idea. The main ironic theme to this film is that the main character is a puppeteer
and that he happens to be the one to find a portal that leads into the head of
actor, John Malkovich, making it possible for him to control him, like a puppet.
Another ironic part of the film is the relationship between the main character,
his wife and his new love interest. If this were a romantic comedy or a romance
film then the plot involving this love triangle would be predictable but
instead his wife and love interest end up together, leaving him alone. The
lesbian relationship is also used as a device to question and explore
constructs of sexuality. At first their relationship is only possible through
the use of John Malkovich’s body and makes the audience wonder whether they can
ever be together properly if Maxine is not attracted to Lotte’s physical
appearance. This blurs the edges of the labels given to differing sexual
orientations.
The boundaries in terms of genre
of this film are very blurred. Though it is a fantasy film predominantly the
postmodern elements make it hard to tell whether it is supposed to be comical,
dramatic or both. A lot of the actual fantast elements of the film are created
by the fact that the film is postmodern. There are also elements of romance,
comedy and drama within ‘Being John Malkovich’.
The main feature of the narrative
that explores the ideas of identity and the constructs that society has made is
when Lotte, the wife, begins to reassess her gender. She tells her husband that she thinks she is transsexual.
He goes on to tell her that she only feels this way because of her time spent
in John Malkovich’s body and that its just the excitement of seeing things
through someone else’s eyes.
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