1. G325 Critical perspectives in Media Section B: Contemporary Media issues Postmodern Media
Task
Identify features of postmodernism in the ‘Jack Rabbit Slims’ Sequence from ‘Pulp Fiction’
Postmodern feature Example(s)
Intertextuality: References to other media texts
Using the famous iconic clip of Marilyn Monroe skirt blowing up
taking it from the film 7 year itch.
Parody: To copy another media text in a humorous way
They use parody in the Jack rabbit slims scene by taking the dance
out of John Travolta’s Saturday night fever scene and mimicking in
the dance scene in pulp fiction, this is parody because it’s Asif
they’re taking the mic out of John Travolta’s character and his
crazy dancing.
Pastiche: where a text closely imitates the work of a previous artist,
usually distinguished from parody in the sense that it celebrates
rather than mocks the work it imitates. (similar to intertextuality)
This is quite relevant to the scene I used for parody, the way they
use John Travolta to dance like how he did in Saturday night fever.
Reflexivity: Where the filmmaker refers to the film making process
within the mise en scene or narrative, breaking the illusion that the
She draws a square on the screen which is clearly not real.
The scene is like a complete remake of a scene in the movie grease
again starring John Travolta.
2. film or TV show is not real
Bricolage (Baudrillard): References to a mix of genres/historical eras
within one shot or scene
There’s a mix of different era’s using people to wear different
clothing from a multiple years, 1950’s clashing with the 1990’s.
Self-referentiality: Where a producer of a media text or actor makes
direct reference to previous work
They mention a group/show called Fox force 5 during the scene in
Pulp Fiction, which is also involved in the movie Kill Bill made by
the same people as Pulp Fiction.
John Travolta uses another reference to the film Saturday night
Fever by dancing the same.
