Chapter 8 Postmodernism, Indie Media, and Popular Culture

Chapter 8, Postmodernism, Indie Media, and Popular Culture focuses on modern and postmodern society, identity and styles. The author explains that we do not live in a postmodern world, but rather we live in a world in which aspects of postermodernity are in constant tension with aspects of modernity and premodern existence. The world is both preindustrial and postindustrial. French philosopher Jean Baudrillard explains the late twentieth century as a period where images became more real than the real, creating a hyperreality. Images fascinate us because we get caught up in the judgement of reality. Images are the disappearance of meaning and representation. The Western culture was epitomized by the dull flickering of computer and television screens, with virtual media images and technology taking over. This chapter focuses on the underlying meaning of postmodernism and how it translates styles into art, popular media and advertising.
The term postmodern describes the postwar cultural logic of late capitalism, according to Fredric Jameson. Postwar globalization is the emergence of new information technologies, new forms of production and the breakdown of the traditional nation-state. It is linked to the late stages of capitalism. Postmodernism intersects with late modernity, a period where scientific and technological advancement were invoked. The 2000s are characterized as a decade of neoliberalism--a means of promoting economic growth and democratic freedom. This period relates to the Enlightenment period of personal rights and civil liberties. According to the text, postmodernism is described as a questioning of master narratives. A master narrative is a framework that purports to explain society, if not the world, in comprehensive terms. Examples are religion, science, Marxism, psychoanalysis, Enlightenment myths and other theories.
Style is important in defining postmodernism characteristics, such as fashion and politics. Through media images and text, these style elements are revealed and critiqued. Postmodernism heavily relies on politically or aesthetically pleasing images, and messages hidden beneath the glitzy surface of images. Postmodernism emphasizes irony and a sense of one's involvement in a popular culture, in opposition to mass culture. According to postmodern theorist Santiage Colas, "we may attempt to forget or ignore mass culture, but it will neither forget or ignore us." One of the primary aspects of postmodernism is its recognition of consumption, branding, image, media and the "popular". Due to the emergence of the web and digital technology, we can remake culture and achieve new kinds of consumer practices by integrating new concepts of identity. The world we are living in now is like a remix culture, because everything can be remade into something else. Just think about all the songs that have been made into remixes, or the fashions that have become popular from decades ago.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, studio animated films changed dramatically. Shows began to incorporate parody and adult-level humor into their style, so that both parents and children could view the show together. Shows such as Sesame Street, Transformers and Japanese's Astro Boy, awere some examples of shows who used parody. TV shows began to take characters and brought them to life as toys in order to be played with at home. After World War II and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, comic books and anime (animated films) addressed issues of politics, history and culture to children and adults, through drama, comedy, romance, pornography or violence. Postwar, animation and cartoons served a role to be represented and to speak indirectly through media consumption and exchange. The characters unnatural hair color and amazing abilities were expressed as moving away from reality, in which tragedy and disaster took place. In the mid 1990s, Pixar produced computer graphic imagery in their films, using techniques and styles of computer animation that were aimed at adults as well as children. Toy Story, A Bug's Life, and Shrek are some well known examples of films that both adults and children could watch, find humorous and enjoy. Shrek is layered with references from fairy tales and is filled with jokes about representation. The scene when the princess does martial arts moves to fight off robbers is an example of intertextual meaning, in which the reference to The Matrix is seen as a joke in Shrek. Intertextuality is a term derived from literature which means the insertion of part of one text, with its meanings, into another text. The use of celebrities in ads throughout the 20th century to sell products is another example of intertexuality.
Reflexivity is where the text refers to its own means of production and undermines the illusion or fantasy aspects of the narrative. Postmodern artists produce works in which reflexivity examine their own position in relation to the artwork. Cindy Sherman is a good example of this approach because she would paint photographs where she was her own model. However, she is always disguised or playing another role in the photographs. This is a way of using irony in her artwork. Irony refers to a contradiction between the literal meaning of something and its intended meaning. The idea that we perform our identities rather than the idea that they are fixed within us is another key aspect of postmodernism. The surface of a piece of artwork is not the illusion put over the real, like makeup hiding a blemish, but is the crucial meaningful element. We can no longer look deep to find the true meaning, because we will not find the hidden truth.
The emergence of music videos and visual performances became a large part of the pop music culture with the introduction of MTV. Madonna was seen as the postmodern pop figure of the 1980s and early 1990s, along with Michael Jackson. In postmodernism, the body can be easily transformed, as Michael Jackson is a good example of this. He changed his skin color and the look of his face through cosmetic surgeries. Today, one can change one's gender through crossdressing or surgery, one's race by changing skin colors, or appearance through surgery, liposuction or working out. Today, if you are not satisfied with the way you look, you can easily change it, although it is costly. It's amazing how many people have performed surgery on their bodies in order to look better. No one is ever satisfied with the way they look and with today's improved technologies, people can completely transform their image. The body can now be sculpted into new shapes and forms.
The world of images today consists of a huge variety of remakes, copies, parodies, remixes and replicas. The term pastiche refers to an imitation that announces itself as such and involved combining elements from other sources. But today, do people really care about which is the real or original and which is the remake? With today's technologies, replicas can be made almost exactly. The horror film Scream is a parody of the genre of horror films. When I was a young girl and watched Scream, I thought it was very scary. But now that I am older and have watched it, I can see the humor throughout the entire movie. The mask itself isn't even that scary; it almost looks like a grin on the scary face. The way that the characters continue to answer the phone and talk to this stranger is humorous, along with the ways in which he kills people. The Simpsons also remakes old films using parody. One episode they reenacted Psycho, where Homer's eye lies on the floor of the bathroom. This incorporates humor within the audience.
Indie films are movies produced outside the Hollywood studio system, known as Bollywood. Once the Hollywood studios gained control of the movie industry in the 1930s, it made it difficult for producers to get their films shown in popular chain movie theaters. Independents are smaller film companies that were shown in cinema houses in urban areas. U.S. film became more creative due to foreign films being shown. In the 1980s and 1990s, popular music also began to change. The only way artists would be able to make it was if a producer took over them. You could find a CD in a music store such as Wal Mart or Target, whereas the CD may not have the same recognition on iTunes or in a smaller school. Bands create their own CD titles or album covers for niche markets and to make themselves different from other artists. Bands work within the industry to find a new route to achieve publicity and a broad fan base--mostly to get their name and music out there and be known.
The rise of urbanization and communication technologies create a distinction between space and time. Modern space separated time and space through the railroad and the rise in digital technologies, virtual experiences and wireless technology. The concept of the "nonplace" demands a space with less people. Space is referred to as sites of distraction such as the airport or cafes, whereas nonplaces are sites which are disconnected and solitare. This ties into the theory of postmodern architecture and how it emerged when modern achitecture collasped. In modernism, style progresses forward from hte last by introducing a better design. In postmodernism, styles are mixed with no sense that they ar emoving toward something better. Postmodern buildings may have no functions. An arch may have no function and only serve as decoration. A passage may lead no where or a column may just stand there to hold something up. There is a joke about architecture's functional role. The Beaubourg building in Paris is designed to look like it is inside out. After reading this, I didn't realize thats what the intent of the building was. I am excited because I am going to Paris this summer and will get to see this building and it's unique architecture. Architect Teddy Cruz also emphasized the importantance of low income buildings owned by the homeless or migrant workers. This includes shantytowns, or cardboard houses under bridges or on the street. This crafts a new kind of living with everyday materials.
In conclusion, this chapter focuses on the many different views of postmodernism and modernism and how they have changed over the years. We do not live in a world of postmodernism but rather a world in which the tensions of modernity and postmodernity are active and present. Our world consists of many different populations living in life situations that are affecting them; such as poverty. Due to technological advances and other forms of media, the world we live in today is changing. It is difficult to determine what exactly postmodernism is, whether it be a style, a time period, or a set of ideologies and politics.