Post-Modernism can be seen as the trend for media to move away from the purely factual reality to a combination of hidden meanings, parodies, and imitations. By using well known themes and subjects, and distorting them, the users of post-modern media provide a system of delivering messages that are not as direct or truthful as factual statements and could be viewed as a superficial ‘reality’ where ‘we have lost all ability to make sense of the distinction between nature and artifice’ (Jean Baudrillard, post-modern theorist) . Where there is no distinction between the reality and its representation, this is known as simulacra (simulacra is the plural of simulacrum). An example of this would be the newspapers; considered a mirror of the real world that sometimes distort and sometimes make up the truth - in which case, actually create it! Newspapers and the media generally are particularly good examples of where post-modernist theories come into play. They are full of Lyotard’s ‘outmoded myths’ - simplified stereotypical judgements of people that make life easier to understand.
Other examples of the use of Post-Modernism in the media are as follows:
Types Of Media and Examples of Post-Modern
1. Advertising Media
Advertisement for ‘Demand More’ parodies the old class system: A stand off between two men with guns turns out to be bubble bath guns. Our expectations are set up because we recognise a familiar code, that is the gun duel, but then this is completely subverted by the guns turning out to not be real. There is a clear mixing of class codes and comic codes.
Another example would be the firm ‘Specsavers’, who take an original idea of a walk in the park and an elderly couple sitting down on a bench to eat a cheese sandwich. The scene then shifts as a rollercoaster harness suddenly clamps them into their seat, and they experience a horrible ride through water and doing loop the loop. There is also a final joke at the end, as the old man says ‘What sort of cheese sandwich was that?’
The reason this advert works so well is that it plays around with our sense of reality and expectations by setting up the reality of the park and suddenly making it collide with a completely different reality, ie a theme park. The advert freezes on a shot of the bewildered couple, with the strapline ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ which is the punchline. The whole advert is an effective example of simulation, as it blurs the boundary between reality and representation, and is also a pastiche (a term favoured by the theorist Jameson) as the opening scene is an imitation of the classic park bench scene.
2. Social Media
Facebook encourages narcissistic tendencies by constantly talking about oneself’s own activities in the belief they are of interest to other people. Facebook has almost turned into Twitter, with people ‘tweeting’ bland updates such as: ‘woke up and forgot to put my slippers on!’. This is an example of Baudrillard’s hyper-reality, as people are living their lives through a simulated online version of reality.
3. Films
James Bond demonstrates the post-modern concepts of intertextuality and parody by making comments that reference topics outside the film. For example, Bond says ‘Last man standing’ when he kills the enemy in Skyfall.
Pulp Fiction uses references from other films and doesn’t run a predictable course. Talks about irrelevant stuff before something happens; irrelevant dialogue between two people before they do something really big. – Bricolage and Parody
4. Magazines/Comics
5. Novels
6. Games
7. Music/ Music Videos
8. TV Programs
9. Artist Appearance
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