Post modernity: Films

Sophie Boston

Postmodernism in films

• “Postmodernist film attempts to subvert the mainstream conventions of narrative structure, characterization and destroys (or, at least, toys with) the audience's suspension of disbelief. Typically, such films also break down the cultural divide between high and low art and often upend typical portrayals of gender, race, class, genre, and time with the goal of creating something different from traditional narrative expression.” - Wikipedia

Postmodernism in films• Postmodernism applied to film has four main concepts to

think about.

• Simulation- taking what has been made, and reusing it. -Through pastiche: intentionally replicated style. -Through parody: drawing irony from styles to make new styles

• Pre-fabrication- similar to simulation, draws even closer to already existing and noticeable scenes, and simply reuses them, in narrative, dialogue, etc.

• Intertextuality- similar to prefabrication, it’s a text that draws upon other texts. The clearest example is the blatant remake.

• Bricolage- building a film like a collage of different film styles and genres

Conventions of Postmodern films• Pastiche Self-referential, tongue-in-cheek, rehashes of

classic pop culture

• Flattening of Affect Technology, violence, drugs, and the media lead to detached, emotionless, unauthentic lives

• Hyper reality Technologically created realities are often more authentic or desirable than the real world

• Time Bending Time travel provides another way to shape reality and play "what if" games with society

• Altered States Drugs, mental illness and technology provide a dark, often psychedelic, gateway to new internal realities

• More Human than Human Artificial intelligence, robotics, and cybernetics seek to enhance, or replace, humanity

Conventions (Continued)• Quite a lot of the time, they don’t take themselves too

seriously, and will often draw attention to the fact that the film is fictitious.

• Leading on from this previous point, the characters in a post modern film will quite often stop what they’re doing, and stare straight into the lens, as if they’re talking to the audience.

• The structure is usually a disrupted linear narrative. It is rare it will be a simple linear structure or circular narrative.

• The characters are usually quite lonely, both physically and mentally. Alienated from society, possibly due to either appearance or ambitions.

• A lot of the time they will ‘steal’ from other cultures e.g. Kill Bill has huge oriental/Asian themes to it.

Examples of Post Modern films• There have been many Post Modern films over the

decades, but these are perhaps the most popular:

PULP FICTION 1994 – (Quentin Taratino) Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson, John Travolta, Bruce Willis

Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega are two hitmen who are out to retrieve a suitcase stolen from their employer, mob boss Marsellus Wallace. Wallace has also asked Vincent to take his wife Mia out a few days later when Wallace himself will be out of town. Butch Coolidge is an aging boxer who is paid by Wallace to lose his next fight. The lives of these seemingly unrelated people are woven together comprising of a series of funny, bizarre and uncalled-for incidents.

Pomo elements: more than one tale being told, Pastiche,Quirky tribute to old Hollywood crime dramas and "Pulp" magazines, filled with numerous pop culture references, the director himself stars in a cameo part.

Examples of Post Modern films (cntd)KICK ASS – 2010 (Matthew Vaughn) starring Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Chris Mintz Plasse, Mark Strong and Nicholas Cage.

Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan with a few friends and who lives alone with his father. His life is not very difficult and his personal trials not that overwhelming. However, one day he makes the simple decision to become a super-hero even though he has no powers or training.

Post Modern elements: Hyper-reality, Comic book geeks turned vigilantes make their superhero fantasies a bloody reality in this dark action-comedy, it’s based on an existing comic book, he’s not actually supernatural – he’s normal – not how superheroes are typically portrayed

Examples of Post Modern films (cntd)AVATAR – 2009 (James Cameron) starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver

When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge's intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.

Post Modern elements: weapons, war, new technology, human/vsnon human – humans transforming into ‘aliens’, machines vs nature, the human desire for conquest and control, science, individuality vsunity, consumerism.Crippled Marine dons "new flesh" and regains his humanity among an indigenous alien population he was sent to eradicateAvatar is a film that brings to life the worst parts of human nature.

Post Modern films: Audiences• I think the main thing that audiences get whilst viewing a post

modern film is the questioning of what the film has proposed –going against conventions that society (most likely) has laid out.

• It has been said that post modern films help destroy an audiences’ suspension of disbelief, and their feelings are toyed with hugely. This gives the audience a chance to appreciate the message of the film. Pomo films rely on the fact that its audience will have a seen a similar film of the same genre, and it works to disrupt the audience’s expectations.

• Certain pomo genres, such as horror are said to have been designed and created specifically to cause the audience to feel fear and panic on the surface, but also to allow us to see our most human primal nature and its fears e.g. Our nightmares (of which many people have the same recurring vision), our vulnerability, our alienation, what we consider to be repulsive, the damage we do with too much knowledge, the fear of the unknown, fear of death, even loss of identity.

Criticism

• Philosopher Noam Chomsky has argued that postmodernism is meaningless because it adds nothing to analytical or empirical knowledge. He asks why postmodernist intellectuals won't respond like people in other fields when asked:

“Seriously, what are the principles of their theories, on what evidence are they based, what do they explain that wasn't already obvious, etc? These are fair requests for anyone to make. If they can't be met, then I'd suggest recourse to Hume's advice in similar circumstances: to the flames.”

Criticism

• Alex Callinicos attacks notable postmodern thinkers such as Baudrillard and Lyotard, arguing postmodernism "reflects the disappointed revolutionary generation of 1968, (particularly those of May 1968 in France) and the incorporation of many of its members into the professional and managerial 'new middle class'. It is best read as a symptom of political frustration and social mobility rather than as a significant intellectual or cultural phenomenon in its own right."

My Case Studies• These are just a few ideas of which film I am going to choose to be my

Post Modern filmc case study:

1. The Lego Movie (2014) Chris Miller, Chris McKay, Phil Lord. Starring Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett

2. Boyhood (2014) Richard Linklater. Starring Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane3. Maleficent (2014) Robert Stromberg. Starring Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning4. Lucy (2014) Luc Besson. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman5. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) James Gunn. Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe

Saldana, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel