Explain how certain types of media can be defined as postmodern

Postmodern media rejects the idea that any media product is of greater value than another. All judgements of value are merely individual taste. They can be self-referential, with complete knowledge of the modern that has been surpassed by a new age. This is opposing to modernism, which is concerned with the contemporary or modern, interested in innovation and moving forward. Postmodernism exists in all types of media texts, especially in film and music in modern times. Examples of a postmodern film is Deadpool and a postmodern music artist, Logic.

Postmodern Film – Deadpool (2016)

Deadpool (2016) directed by Tim Miller is an example of a postmodern text. Deadpool is clearly a postmodern film. It breaks the forth wall consistently and constantly mocks real life events, people and existing media products. The movie has a self-aware non-linear narrative which flashes between the past and present day until the audience is caught up with the story. It uses several various types of intertextual references including bricolage, homage, pastiche and but parodying existing media products.

Intertextuality is ever-present throughout Deadpool and shows many intertextual references in the form of bricolage. Theorist Levi-Strauss developed the concept of bricolage believed that all texts are constructed out of recognisable ‘debris of other texts. Deadpool has numerous examples of this. In the first few minutes of the movie we see Hello Kitty lip balm flying through the air as well as Deadpool wearing an Adventure Time watch under his suit.  Bricolage is also used in Deadpool through referencing a number of different well known movies. For example, the comparison made between Negasonic and Ripley from Alien 3. Also, the film uses the example of the movie 127 Hours to compare it to Deadpool cutting of his hand. The clothing of Ajax and Angel’s crew has similarities to the crew of Blade 2 and Weasel mentions this by mocking them; ‘Have fun at your midnight screening of Blade 2’. Deadpool also compares his relationship with Blind Al to Batman and Robin.

There are many times in which Deadpool pays homage to other media texts. Most notable is the end credit scene which pays homage to the end credit scene of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). This scene plays with the fact that the viewers have stayed through the credits even though the film has ended. In Deadpool, similar mise-en-scene and dialogue is used, such as “You're still here? It's over. Go home!”, along with addition dialogue which teases the film’s sequel. Deadpool brings this up with dialogue like “Oh, you're expecting a teaser for Deadpool 2. Well, we don't have that kind of money. What are you expecting, Sam Jackson show up with an eyepatch and a saucy little leather number? Go, go”. Musical Duo Wham! is also paid homage to significantly in the movie. There song Careless Whisper is included as the outro song of the movie and it is used to link the love between characters Wade and Vanessa. Deadpool also pays homage to its source material in the comics. For example, snippets of different issues are used through the movie such as at the beginning where Wade deals with the stalker by ordering pizza to lure him to his location. It is also clear that Deadpool took a large amount of inspiration from other superhero movies. For example, the montage sequence when Wade creates his suit has visual similarities to montage sequences used in Spider-Man (2002), The Amazing Spiderman (2012), Batman Begins (2005) and Kick-Ass (2010). This is clearly homage to the genre of superhero movies.

Pastiche is present a number of times during Deadpool. For example, Deadpool mimics the amputation scene of 127 Hours by cutting his hand off. Before doing this, he says ‘Ever seen 127 Hours? Spoiler Alert!’. This makes it clear he is imitation the particular scene.  A number of superhero movies have slow motion shots of a group walking towards the camera, for example in Avengers Assemble and the Blade Trilogy. This is imitated in the third act with Deadpool, Colossus and Negasonic. It is also clear that Deadpool imitates the montage sequence when superheroes create their suit. Such as in Spider-Man (2002), The Amazing Spiderman (2012), Batman Begins (2005) and Kick-Ass (2010). This is clear imitation to the genre of superhero movies.

Examples of Parody is one of the strongest forms of intertextuality which occurs throughout Deadpool. Many of these references are included for the enjoyment of hyper- spectators. This immediately apparent in the opening credits where the film resorts to making fun of each and every person involved. For example, the star Ryan Reynolds is referred to as ‘God’s Perfect Idiot’, the director Tim Miller is referred to as a ‘Overpaid Tool’, the producers are called ‘Asshats’ and the writers are called ‘the real heroes here’. It is immediately clear, a minute into the film that it is not taking itself seriously.

 Alongside these credits are visual parodies including a card in a henchman’s wallet that resembles DC Comic Character Green Lantern. This is a parody which takes a dig at a previous Ryan Reynolds role where he played a character from the rival of Marvel. The movie was a flop and disappointed fans. Later in the movie Reynolds’ character makes another comment about his role in Green Lantern asking not to making his superhero suit ‘Green. Or Animated!’. Something Green Lantern was highly criticised for. These references to Green Lantern break the fourth wall of the Marvel Universe as well as make it clear to the audience that Deadpool is self-aware of other media products.

Another previous Reynolds role which was mocked was his first time playing Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Fans were outraged by the inaccurate depiction of Deadpool and how his mouth was sewn shut. The fourth wall was broken to take a dig at the movie when Ajax threatens to sew Wade’s lips shut, in reply he says ‘Oh I would do that if I was you’ making an inside reference to the criticism that came with doing so in X-Men Origins.  This is an example of the many references that only hyper-spectators would understand.

Deadpool also mocks the studio 20^th Century Fox and the X-Men universe on multiple occasions. For example, there is dialogue in the third act when Deadpool visits X-Manor where he finds it is completely empty besides Colossus and Negasonic. Immediately, the script pokes fun at how they were given a small budget and therefore couldn’t pay for higher profile X-Men such as Professor X, saying ‘it’s a big house, it’s funny that I only see two of you. It’s almost like the studio couldn’t afford another X-Man’. The low budget is brought up again during the end credit scene when Deadpool says they can’t tease a sequel as “we don't have that kind of money”. This is ironic because the X-Mansion is usually filled will mutants.

 When Colossus captures Deadpool he says that he is going to take him to Professor X. In response Deadpool say ‘McAvoy or Stewart? These timelines are so confusing.’ This is in address to the timeline of the X-Men universe which has several duel castings for past and present times which has been confusing to many viewers.  These inclusions of parody agree with the Genette’s idea of hypo textuality, in which Deadpool transforms, modifies, elaborates and extends other texts through parody. Also, metatextuality applies to Deadpool as the film consistently provides explicit critical commentary about others.

For as successful as Deadpool was as a Postmodern film, there are many criticisms of Postmodernism. For instance, many believe that a postmodern film like Deadpool should not even be considered a film and feel that it is just a mash up of pre-existing ideas and jokes based on society and the superhero genre. Theorist Jameson sees Postmodernism as nothing but a series of self-referential ‘jokes (something Deadpool is self-aware of). Jameson sees literacy and culture output as far more purposeful. Popular culture would disagree with this, as postmodern texts are predominant and successful.

Postmodern Artist – Logic

In addition to film, music in modern times can be considered as postmodern. An example of a postmodern music artist is Logic. Logic is a Hip-Hop artist who has taken a number of influences from various mediums and implemented them into his music.

There are several things which Logic pays homage to throughout his work. He makes his love for film known and often references Quentin Tarantino, even naming his latest release Bobby Tarantino’. There is a large conversation in his Incredible True Story album between the characters about what the best Tarantino film is and another conversation occurs in his first album, Under Pressure when Logic and a girl on a train talk about movies in the song Metropolis. There is abundance of other references to Tarantino made in Logic’s body of work, and this because Logic has labelled Tarantino style as a huge influence.

Logic samples music and spoken words from various periods of time and various genres of music. He tends to like sampling mellow instrumentals and vocalisations, such as The Singer’s Unlimited version of ‘Deck the Halls’ which Logic cuts up in ‘Fade Away’. In his latest album, he includes Cassius Clay’s spoken word album ‘I Am the Greatest’ in his song of the same name.  The wide range of influences from various types of films and genres of music agrees with Kramer’s belief that postmodern music includes quotations of or references to music of many traditions and cultures. The samples that are used by Logic challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles.

Frank Sinatra is also a huge influence of Logic; his nickname is Young Sinatra. The Real-All-the-time crew (Rattpak) created by the Logic just as Frank Sinatra called his crew the RatPack. A Tribe Called Quest is another huge inspiration to Logic. He pays homage to them by using his own version the Midnight Marauders Tour Guide on Both his Under Pressure and The Incredible True Story Albums. (Thalia – Midnight Marauders Tour Guide) are also paid homage to. His love for video games are also show, with homage paid to Super Mario on the track ‘Super Mario World’.

The Incredible True Story is a Hip-Hop Si-Fi Album. Logic has stated that films like Interstellar were a huge inspiration when writing the script of his concept Album ‘The Incredible True Story’. Logic has stated that he came up with the idea for the album after driving back home from watching Interstellar.

The cover artwork for Logic’s body of work portrays this inspiration taken from films. On ‘The Incredible True Story Album art work there is a clear resemblance to an image from Wes Anderson’s film ‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’. On Logic’s 2016 Release ‘Bobby Tarantino’, he named the mixtape after Quentin Tarantino.

His love for video games are also show, with homage paid to Super Mario on the track ‘Super Mario World’. The Super Mario Soundtrack is sampled over this track along with references to games like Uncharted 4 and his love for films like Jurassic Park. Logic has said that the track shows his ‘inner-nerd’. The inclusion of the Super Mario soundtrack can also be considered as a form of bricolage as the sample is taken to create an entirely new track.

The final track of The Incredible True Story (of the same name) includes a snippet of philosopher Alan Watts’ ‘What if money was no object speech. The inclusion of this speech is used to location meaning and structure. A postmodern element discussed by Kramer. Logic has said that this speech is able to summaries the message of the entire album and is very impactful.   

Logic has been very forward about wanting his audience to receive the message left in his music of keeping ‘Peace, Love and Positivity’ and to follow your dreams. At the beginning of his career, logic was unknown and released mixtapes online for people online. After attracting attention and signing for Def Jam Record, he released is debut album in 2014 – Under Pressure. From here, his music has been released on major platforms like iTunes for sale as well as streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. He also released physicals for his two albums in both CD and Vinyl formats.

Future of Postmodern Media

Postmodernism seems to appeal very much to modern society and so it is clear that it has a future in films yet to come. Personally, I feel that Hollywood has learnt from the success of Deadpool and how it was able to connect to the audience. Therefore, I feel that in the future we will see more films like Deadpool and artist like logic that break these walls of modernism and create more postmodern texts.  

What I feel is becoming more advanced is CGI. It has become more and more progressive to the point that it looks extremely close to lifelike. One feature is the ability to bring people back to life by digitally recreating them. This has been done in film via CGI recreation and in music using holographic recreations (Elvis, Tupac Shakur, Michael Jackson). Most recently, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story used CGI to bring back an old character where Peter Cushing’s character Tarkin was bought back, after his death in 1994.  However, with these innovations, there have been questions about how ethical it is to bring back dead actors and music artists, and remain respectful. For example, after the death of Carrie Fisher in late 2016, large numbers of fans petitioned to ensure that she was not recreated with CGI for the ninth instalment of the Star Wars out of respect. Fans were later insured that her character, General Leia Organa, will not be recreated. 

In regards to music, evolutions have occurred with the advancements in technology which have provided new ways of releasing music. As music streaming services, such as Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal have become a primary way to listen to music, artists have adopted this online platform to release their music. Kanye West’s ‘The Life of Pablo’ album was released as a timed exclusive to Tidal. During this time, Kanye made a number of changes to album by adding songs and tweaking elements. These tweaks were made while on Tidal till eventually he became happy with it. The delayed release on the more popular platforms frustrated audiences, and had many of them download the album illegally. Shortly after the album was released on Spotify and Apple Music. According to Billboard, The Life of Pablo arrives at No. 1 as the first record where “the majority (70 percent) of its units were generated by streaming equivalent albums. The album became the first album to go #1 off of streaming alone. This shows the scale of music streaming platforms and the audience that they are able to gather.

Another example of how streaming has been used by artists is Chance the Rapper release of his third project, ‘Coloring Book’. Chance the Rapper is an independent artist who is known for not selling his music and instead releases it for free. Instead, Chance makes his money primarily from selling merchandise and touring. This provides fans with quality music from an exceptional artist without spending a penny.  For ‘Coloring Book’, Chance the Rapper decided to release his third project as a timed exclusive using Apple Music. Later, it was released on Spotify. From the release of this album, Chance changed a number of things in the industry. Firstly, The Grammy’s decided to change their rules which stated that independent artists could not earn a Grammy nomination. This was addressed in Kanye West’s ‘Ultralight Beams’ when Chances raps: “I heard you gotta sell it to snatch the Grammy”. In February 2017, Chance became the first independent artist to win a Grammy – Winning a total of 3. Best Rap Song, Best New Artist and Best Rap Album. Chance has created a postmodern impact on the industry by combating the traditional belief that a music artist must be signed to a record label to be rewarded any type of recognition.  This comes at a time of technological evolution as there are more independent artists as ever, releasing music online through platforms like SoundCloud.

Visual Albums have also become something being adopted more and more. In 2016, the most recognised two were Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ and Frank Ocean’s ‘Endless’. Beyoncé released here visual album on HBO while Frank Ocean livestreamed his. Although this has been done before such as Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, Visual Albums are returning in bigger and more accessible way for audiences to see an artist with the use of the internet and TV.  Beyoncé’s Lemonade had a $1,345,405 budget and was nominated for 3 Emmy Awards. Endless was a video music album by Frank Ocean. It was released exclusively through Apple Music on August 19, 2016. It was his last release with his record label Def Jam Recordings to fulfil his recording contract. Soon after Frank Ocean then released his album Blonde as an independent artist. These visual albums provided music but also acted as marketing techniques for both of their albums – Exciting audiences for the release of Lemonade and Blonde.

Conclusion

To conclude, postmodern texts are frequently released in modern times and can be identified in all kinds of media texts by being self-aware and referential of itself and other media texts. Film and Music can be defined as postmodern through several techniques and theories which have been discussed in this essay and can label Deadpool and Logic as postmodern. Postmodernism seems to appeal very much to modern society and so it is clear that it has a future in modern popular culture.