DUST OF SNOW_BY ROBERT FROST_EDITED BY_ TANMOY MISHRA
Q2 - why are some media products described as postmodern
1. Q2
‘Why are some media products described as Postmodern?’
Postmodernmediarejectsthe ideathatanymediaproducts/textisof anygreatervalue than
another.Furthermore it’sthe ideathatnothingisoriginal,justoldideasrenewingtogitintomodern
day world/societyhence the distinctionsbetweenmediaandrealityhascollapsed,andwe live ina
‘reality’definedbe imagedandrepresentation –‘a state of simulacra’.Some mediaproductsare
postmoderndue totheirdeliberate manipulationof consideredreality.These textsdeliberatelyplay
withmeaning,employingarange of referential techniques,suchasbricolage orintertextualityto
directlyorindirectlyreference othertextstocreate new meanings.Postmodernisttextsare not
confinedtogenre conventions,challengingmodernistassumptionsof narrative suchasculture and
the dimensionof time.Oftenthiscreatesaknownhyperrealityrecognisedbythe audience in media
texts.
Firstof all,there are manymediaproducts,fromclassicsto currenttextsthatare classifiedas
postmodern.Inmusicvideos,therecanbe intertextualitywhichcansupporttheoristssuchasKatie
Walesand DavidBuckingham.A postmodernmusicvideosuchas‘ArianaGrande – BreakFree’
featurestypical keyconventionsof postmodern.The whole musicvideocanbe classifiedas
intertextualityasthere isa lotreferencingtosci-fi flicksfromthe 60’s,70’s and 80’s, for example;
ArianaGrande’soutfitisa clearcopy of ‘Barbella’s’outfitalongsideactingasa heroine of space.The
musicvideobeginwithacrawl of the textwhichisalsobeensaidinthe musicvideo,thisisgreat
reference tothe infamousstarwars.Furthermore,it’sgotasense of parodyas the storyline takes
seriousspace situationsandturnsintosomethingentertaining,whichdidn’treallyseemtomatch
the song.The storyline featuresthe artist‘ArianaGrande’savingthe enslavedhumansfromthe
aliens,buttheniscapturedherself.Towardsthe endof the videoanotherfeature of postmodernis
consumerism.WithproductplacementssuchasBeatsPill andBeatsheadphone isusedtoamplify
the music. While productplacementisfairlynormal invideothese days,the ideaof having
consumerisminthiscertainmusicvideodidn’tsuitthe outerspace theme. Thiscansupportthe
theoryof the ‘systemof object;byJeanBaudrillard.He suggestedthatone componentsthatthe
emergingconsumersocietyandhypermarketbecome the new experimental space of technology.
Anothermediaproductwhichcanbe classifiedaspostmodernare videogames,andone in
particular;isthe ‘Batman Arkham’series. The mostrecentBatman instalmentof the videogame
series‘BatmanArkham:Knight’(2015 ispublishedbyWarnerBros,Interactive Entertainment,which
was foundin1993, in California.Theyare alsoknownfor othervideogame productssuchas the
L.E.G.O seriesandthe spyhunterseries.All the BatmanArkhamvideogamesare postmodernas
firstly,anaestheticwhere style triumphsoversubstance.The use of superficialcharactersand
storiedfromthe comicsand filmshave beenused inthe videogames,insteadof novelsandplays.
Secondly,the use of pastiche andrecyclingespeciallyrecyclingof charactersandstoriedfromone
medium(comicsinthiscase) toanothermedium(filmandvideogames).
Also,eachof the Batmangame hasa narrative.Theyare viewedfromthe 3rd
personperspective.
The playable charactercan be visible onthe screenandthe camera can be freelyrotatedaround
him.
2. The openingareasof the game are linear,servingasa tutorial;additionallythereisachoice of
whetheryouwantto dothe missionimmediatelyorlater.ThisstronglysupportsLyotard’stheoryon
the decline of metanarratives.The actionsandinteractionswithinthe textitself are constructedby
the gamers.Thismeansthat one personplayingthe game indifferenttothe otherpersonplaying
due to itsnarrative beingcreatedbythe gameras theycan choose the nextstep.
Concluding,postmodernismore evidentincurrentmediatextsasthere isthatideaof justadapting
oldideasintosomething ‘new’.Thistheoryhave beenacceptedintothe society,howevermedia
textshave beenexpectedata newerstandardbyaudience,astheywouldliketosee textstofitin
withthe postpostmodernismgenre,where the mediumsare rathermeaningful,realistic and
serious.