Post Modern Theory
Many Films and Television Programmes exhibit postmodern traits. Descriptions of the most significant Postmodern themes in Television and Films are below:
Pastiche - Means to combine, multiple elements. In postmodernist media this can be an homage to or a parody of past styles. It can often reference pop culture as part of the narrative.
Spectacle – Television creates spectacle from time to time to grab attention and keep audiences coming back for more.
Faux TV – Mockumentaries, television shows about television shows and fake news.
Magical Realism – is where the magic, the supernatural or ultra advanced technologies are often presented in real world mundane settings.
Anti-Hero – Postmodern productions often blur the lines between good and evil, light and dark, for both characters and viewers.
Examples of Post Modernism in Television
Pastiche
Life on Mars – Set 25 years before production, homage to British 1970’s cop shows.
The Simpsons – US TV’s longest running sitcom, often uses popular culture references
Spectacle
The Jeremy Kyle Show – Sets up hapless/ uneducated guests to embarrass themselves in trashy situations and to fight each other.
Big Brother – Postmodern game show, mixes reality TV with dystopian novel 1984. Housemates, bitch, plot and scheme to win a cash prize.
Faux TV
The Office – Mockumentary sitcom parodying reality TV documentaries set in work places such as The Call Centre and The Airport
Modern Family – Mockumentary sitcom of a large extended family made up of stero-typical characters
Magical Realism
Humans – Drama set in modern world where life like androids are used as servants by the human population.
Game of Thrones – Medieval set fantasy where dragons mix with political intrigue and ancient mythologies.
Anti-Hero
Breaking Bad – Chemistry teacher Walt evolves throughout the series progression into drug lord. This driven by his terminal cancer and wish to cement a legacy.
Sons of Anarchy – Jax Teller rises to become leader of a motorcycle gang who use drug money to control the town in which they live.
Key Theorists
Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007) was a French sociologist, cultural theorist, author, political commentator. His best known theories involve hyperreality and simulation. Baudrillard described hyperreality as "the generation by models of a real without origin or reality”.
Hyperreality is an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality, especially in advanced postmodern societies. Hyperreality is seen as a condition of what is real and what is fiction are blended together so there is no clear distinction to where one ends and the other begins.
