This document discusses aspects of postmodern music videos and analyzes Lady Gaga's videos as examples. It notes that postmodern videos emphasize pastiche, parody, irony, and other techniques. Lady Gaga epitomizes postmodernity through her use of hyperreality and different personas. Her videos also heavily utilize intertextual references to other works, such as referencing "Pulp Fiction" and "Kill Bill" in "Telephone." Additionally, Lady Gaga's style employs bricolage, such as her iconic use of a cup and saucer in "Paparazzi."

1. Music videos as a
postmodern text
Chrissie Bishop

2. Aspects of a post-modern
music video
• Emphasizing pastiche
• Parody
• Irony
• Playfulness
• Fragmentation
• Discontinuity
• Intertexuality
• Paranoia
• Bricolage

3. Post-modern artists and videos
• Lady Gaga
• Lady Gaga is the absolute epitome of post-modernity. Jean Baudrillards idea of
hyper-reality stated that we cannot separate the images that we are shown from
what is the reality. In relation to Lady Gaga, her name is a clear symbol of hyper-reality
as it allows her to have two personalities as she is never referred to as her real
name, Stefani Germanott. Furthermore, with the creation of a hyper-real version of
herself, she is able to keep attention away from the reality of her everyday life.
• Intertextual referencing is another key aspect into Lady Gaga and this factor is used
in almost every one of her music videos. In relation to the ‘Telephone’ video, Gaga
calls Beyonce ‘Honey Bee’ which is indirectly a reference to ‘Honey Bunny’, a
character in Quintin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’. The label of ‘Pussy Wagon’ on the car
that they are driving is taken from ‘Kill Bill’ where the same phrase is used. These
intertextual references give the audience something to relate to, but also makes the
original content and boosts her image.
• Lastly, bricolage is another major influence on Lady Gaga’s persona ad it could also be
argued that the way she dresses alone is a bricolage due to the fact that she is so
eccentric and creates a totally unique image. Bricolage could be denoted in her video
‘Paparazzi’ where she uses the iconic signifier of a cup and saucer and continues to
style herself around those items. This has since before an iconic signifier of Lady
Gaga.

4. ‘Telephone’ – Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce
“Honey bee” - in
Quintin Tarantino’s
‘Pulp Fiction’
“Pussy Wagon”
from ‘Kill Bill’

5. ‘Paparazzi’ – Lady Gaga