Until Dawn

Postmodernism is a theory that means ‘after modernism’ and it started in the 20th century and was a reaction to the hyper rationalism of the modernism theory. Modernism is a style or movement within the arts that departs from traditional forms. It is concerned with assigning value to things such as art and using modern ideas to modify traditional beliefs. On the contrary postmodernism has no set definition as it is just a social construct that is completely objective with no absolute truth. It is a way of analysing frameworks or text and is an epistemological issue, in other words, how do we understand what we understand, as well as an ontological issue, which means what it means to be human. However, the theory itself is very contradictory, as it is a theory of everything that states it is a fallacy to have a theory of everything. Nothing is ever fixed due to a constant collapse of metanarratives, it reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classic elements of style. It can be seen in many different types of media, from film to music videos or television.

Until dawn (Jason Graves,2015) is a post modern, interactive, drama, survival, horror, adventure video game, and in this cinematic game the player controls eight different characters and makes the decisions for them, however, the decisions made will alter the narrative of the game creating what is known as the butterfly effect. The choices made will affect how the game plays out, for example locating a weapon in an earlier chapter may allow the player to pick it up down the line when a chase scene leads back to the same room. The game blurs the lines between reality and virtual life forming Baudrillard’s concept of the Simulacra. This is due to the verisimilitude of the game, and how unsettlingly realistic the game characters look to their voice actors forming this augmented reality and uncanny valley as it seems as though the player is controlling the actor rather than just a characters. Furthermore, the game continuously breaks the forth wall with the therapist Dr Hill asking questions directly to the ‘camera’ or player about what scares them and they have the choice to answer, this intense audience interaction immerses the player in the game, potentially forming a loss of identify and conforming to Lyotard’s postmodern self and how the audience becomes part of the simulated game and loses their sense of identity and self. Additionally, Csikszentmihalyi explains that flow is a heavy idea in the game as the player has to make choices that challenge their own morals to reach their desired goal, in the games case this would be keeping a character a live to produce the best possible ending as there are many depending on how you8 play the game. Moreover, the immersion in the game is also evident when making the choices such as to ‘run’, ‘stay’, ‘help a character’ and many more, however, the game takes a further postmodern turn by also providing the option to not act in situations which is, in itself, acting, as well as the game physically making the player stay still as moving the controller will move the character in the game due to the censored controller.

The game plays out like a film, with a very long story line introduction to build up a character hierarchy so the audience connects with their favourite characters and will try harder to make them live by making, what the player hopes to be, the right choice, as if they were directing a friend in trouble. Further adding verisimilitude to the exaggerated horror scenario, and constructing an augmented false reality, especially as the characters look so realistic. Additional Postmodern aspects are the declining of meta narratives, once the villain in the game is revealed, as the audience then play as the antihero establishing that there is no clear definition who is good or bad in the metafictional media. This also creates meta discourse as the player is figuring out how they want the narrative to go by choosing what to do or who to kill, for example, the player can choice to shoot another character in the head or allow themselves to die in a gruesome way. The choices made form a strong critical awareness of the player’s actions, building a sense of moral subjectivity and making the audience aware of their own moral conscience. Furthermore, within the game, there are element of Nudity for Nudity’s sake, forming a very postmodern feature of flattening of effect, such as when Samantha is wondering around in a towel after taking a bath and them hiding from the potential killer.  

Postmodernism Essay 2

Postmodernism is a theory that means ‘after modernism’ and it started in the 20th century and was a reaction to the hyper rationalism of the modernism theory. Modernism is a style or movement within the arts that departs from traditional forms. It is concerned with assigning value to things such as art and using modern ideas to modify traditional beliefs. On the contrary postmodernism has no set definition as it is just a social construct that is completely objective with no absolute truth. It is a way of analysing frameworks or text and is an epistemological issue, in other words, how do we understand what we understand, as well as an ontological issue, which means what it means to be human. However, the theory itself is very contradictory, as it is a theory of everything that states it is a fallacy to have a theory of everything. Nothing is ever fixed due to a constant collapse of metanarratives, it reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classic elements of style. It can be seen in many different types of media, from film to music videos or television.

Postmodernity is evident in many artistic creations from art, to films to music videos and many more. The music video for ‘Knights of Cydonia’ by Muse (Joseph Kahn, 2006) is an extremely postmodern video that is flooded with intertextual references, irony, parody and consumerism, whilst also completely disregarding the need for verisimilitude. The video is a cinematic, cattle punk western video with narratives, characters and even credits, which purposely use clichéd western fonts to constantly push the over stylised theme. It is clear that the film directly intertextually references Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977) with sci-fi bars, robots and lasers in deserts. As Star Wars is so widely recognised, including the conglomerate is strategic because most will understand the direct link to what the video is parodying, which is entertaining for the viewer. Jameson states that a parody has an ulterior motive to mock its reference, whereas pastiche is a ‘blank parody’ it is simply referring to something without the intent to mock it. A perfect example of parody, evident in contemporary text, is Blink 182’s ‘All the Small Things’ (Marcos Siega, 1999) as the video mocks artists such as N-sync and Backstreet Boys, as well as videos from Brittney Spears and Christina Aguilera. The material references created a flattening of effect, whilst focusing solely on style over substance. Jameson would highlight that the use of parody is contributing to a crisis in history, as this jumble of different styles no longer links to historical content, which to himself is very negative. This video parodies all of its references as the video itself is sarcastic, it mocks stereotypical kung-fu films as the beginning shows the protagonist practising generic moves, labelled ‘the circle of death’, moreover, the sarcastic big fight scene is a hand kung-fu battle that defeats the protagonist in a humorous way.

Additionally, the juxtaposition between spaghetti western iconography and the futuristic elements to the video, is very postmodern, as these merging of contrasting styles would not be a thing of the past, but instead a more present day idea and acceptable in today’s society. Furthermore, the video over sexualises the only female character in the story, she is shown on a unicorn in a bikini and this overtly sexual gender representation conforms to the hegemonic norms of females being inferior. Although, it could be argued that the video actually represents female empowerment, as the female then essentially saves the day and the male protagonist, which in a sense, defies hegmonic norms that males are the heroic ones. This concept is supported by Camille Paglia, who explores the idea that women should be proud of themselves and portraying women as powerful and sexy is a part of feminist empowerment. Throughout the video there is blatant and ironic use of consumerism, the video revolves around Muse’s CD being the saviour weapon, the exaggerated self-awareness is a key feature of postmodernity as it is very ironic and obvious, although, it also plays off the modernism idea that texts take a large role in the association of ‘me’. Consumerism and self-referential is a concept that Baudrillard heavily developed, he explains that one way an object can obtain value is with the symbolic value, which Muse’s video does as it assigns value to an object (the object being the CD) in relation to another subject (selling the CD/saving the day).

It is important, however, to look at older examples to truly see how this transition came to be. Films like Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) are perfect examples of strong postmodernism, whilst this only came out in the mid 1990s it highlights the evolution of art into postmodernism. The lack of metanarratives in the film, such as when Vincent and Jules discuss hamburgers with the same tone and seriousness as killing people, supports the declining Meta narratives over time that Lyotard explains are an essential feature of modernity. Moreover, the film fractures time, as the scenes are not shot chronologically, yet everything is explained at the end of the film. Year’s later, films such as Ex machine (Alex Garland, 2015) continue to develop postmodernity and create postmodern ideas about artificial intelligence. Ex machine heavily includes Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality and the simulacra, as the story questions what is real and what is not by using AI to question verisimilitude. Ava, the robot, is made to look like a female human to then extend our questions beyond the basic questions of AI as it asks; where does gender reside? What does it mean to be human? Do AI’s have rights if they are considered human? The constant ontological issues in the film are most present when Caleb asks Nathan in a scene if he programmed Ava to like him, to suggest feelings and sexuality are not natural, but programmed. Ex Machina also has many intertextual references, such as Nathan’s relation to Apocalypse Now’s, Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, as they are both mentally and geographically isolated. Moreover, Nathan’s ignorance towards the bigger picture and lack of care towards Ava, causes a juxtaposition between subjectivity which is a key feature of postmodernity, as everyone interprets something differently, creating the idea that morality is relativist. Baudrillard also commented on AI as he said ‘the sad thing about Artificial Intelligence, is that it lack artifice and therefore intelligence’, so he would argue it is not a clever or intelligence idea. This lack of realism with AI is an undressed issue due to humanities overwhelming concern with AI.

Postmodernity also transitions into TV shows such as Humans (Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley, 2015) which also has a similar underlying message to Ex Machina. There is an intertextual reference for the show as it stems from the Swedish show ‘Real humans’, telling the story of what robots living amongst humans would be like. The AI’s or ‘Synths’ are made to look like humans to create this blurring of reality and hyperreality that Baudrillard explains, making it harder to determine what is real and what is not, this is also part of the postmodern condition that both Ex Machina and Humans explore. The Cartesian self, or the fragmented self is a concept that Lyotard developed, and it is this loss of identity which is a common feature in postmodern text. Furthermore, the show focuses on the style or ‘look’, as the show simultaneously cares about verisimilitude as the synths look human, however, it contradicts itself by using AIs in the first place. The show also juxtaposes normality with futuristic technology to create over exaggerated parallels between humans and the Synths. The pilot episode explore the concept of AI and the ontological issue that surrounds postmodernism, as Anita is made to look human, although it could be argues this is just bricolage as nothing is ever new, and films such as blade runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) focus on the human look of AI and testing consciousness, therefore, the idea of merging humanity with robots is not new but simply empty borrowing. Also the character DR. George Millican, created a synth to look like his son, so he forms a personal connect to it, this sense of identity is Lyotard’s concept of a fractured/false sense of self.

Another TV show that venture into postmodernity is The Mighty Boosch (Paul King, 2004-2007), the show is full of postmodern stereotypes, as it focuses largely on style over substance and mocks many genres and ideas, creating a flattening effect and declining metanarratives. The show is mise en scene based and colourful, playing with eccentric costumes and set designs, however, it is also very ironic and plays off simulacra and the merging of real and fake and creating hyperreal situations and scenes. One of the most popular episodes is ‘Old Gregg’ who is a very unique, postmodern character who wears a pink tu tu, ha green skin, long hair, and is obsessed with watercolour. The eccentric characters has phrases such as ‘mother licker’ as well as being quite absurd and over the top. The Mighty Bosch shows no care for verisimilitude and due to the sarcastic, mocking tone of the show with also contribute towards a crisis in historicity which is negative according to Jameson.

As a whole, postmodernity is indefinable and subjective and it is difficult to predict is we are in the postmodern era or not, and it is only ever recycling ideas, known as ‘empty borrowing’. I agree that bricolage is a key feature of postmodernity, most Disney films are all remakes of cartoons, just with new technology to fit the modern age, therefore, complying with the concept of recycling ideas. It is difficult to predict where postmodernity goes from here as we do not even know what it means due to it being such a complex theory that will only ever create more eschatological or ontological issues.

Postmodernism Essay 1

Most would suggest that society are currently in the postmodern era as we have transitioned from the enlightenment period of modernism, despite this, no one ever truly understands if we are in the postmodern era or not as such a concept cannot be defined. Modernism is a style or movement within the arts that departs from traditional forms. It is concerned with assigning value to things such as art and using modern ideas to modify traditional beliefs. It takes a more active role with regards to ‘me’, meaning that it focuses on one’s self. On the contrary there is postmodernism, which literally means ‘after modernism’ as it was a reaction to hyper rationalism of the theory. There is no set definition for it as it is just a social construct that is completely objective with no absolute truth. It is a way of analysing frameworks or text and is an epistemological issue, in other words, how do we understand what we understand, as well as an ontological issue, which means what it means to be human. However, the theory itself is very contradictory, as it is a theory of everything that states it is a fallacy to have a theory of everything. Nothing is ever fixed due to a constant collapse of metanarratives, it reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classic elements of style. This transition from modernism into the postmodernism shapes a vast majority of what and how we perceive art, architecture and text today.

Postmodernity is evident in many artistic creations from art, to films to music videos and many more. The music video for ‘Knights of Cydonia’ by Muse (Joseph Kahn, 2006) is an extremely postmodern video that is flooded with intertextual references, irony, parody and consumerism, whilst also completely disregarding the need for verisimilitude. The video is a cinematic, cattle punk western video with narratives, characters and even credits, which purposely use clichéd western fonts to constantly push the over stylised theme. In terms of postmodern aspects, it is clear that the film directly intertextually references Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977) with sci-fi bars, robots and lasers in deserts. As Star Wars is so widely recognised, including the conglomerate is strategic because most will understand the direct link to what the video is parodying, which is entertaining for the viewer. Intertextuality is a very common feature of postmodernity as it can either be a parody or pastiche of a particular genre or art, the video can be explained as a parody rather than pastiche in the way it includes its intertextual references. Jameson states that a parody has an ulterior motive to mock its reference, whereas pastiche is a ‘blank parody’ it is simply referring to something without the intent to mock it. A perfect example of parody, evident in contemporary text, is Blink 182’s ‘All the Small Things’ (Marcos Siega, 1999) as the video mocks artists such as N-sync and Backstreet Boys, as well as videos from Brittney Spears and Christina Aguilera. The material references created a flattening of effect, whilst focusing solely on style over substance. Jameson would highlight that the use of parody is contributing to a crisis in history, as this jumble of different styles no longer links to historical content, which to himself is very negative. This video parodies all of its references as the video itself is sarcastic, it mocks stereotypical kung-fu films as the beginning shows the protagonist practising generic moves, labelled ‘the circle of death’, moreover, the sarcastic big fight scene is a hand kung-fu battle that defeats the protagonist in a humorous way.

Additionally, the juxtaposition between spaghetti western iconography and the futuristic elements to the video, is very postmodern, as these merging of contrasting styles would not be a thing of the past, but instead a more present day idea and acceptable in today’s society. Furthermore, the video over sexualises the only female character in the story, she is shown on a unicorn in a bikini and this overtly sexual gender representation conforms to the hegemonic norms of females being inferior. Although, it could be argued that the video actually represents female empowerment, as the female then essentially saves the day and the male protagonist, which in a sense, defies hegmonic norms that males are the heroic ones. This concept is supported by Camille Paglia, who explores the idea that women should be proud of themselves and portraying women as powerful and sexy is a part of feminist empowerment. Throughout the video there is blatant and ironic use of consumerism, the video revolves around Muse’s CD being the saviour weapon, the exaggerated self-awareness is a key feature of postmodernity as it is very ironic and obvious, although, it also plays off the modernism idea that texts take a large role in the association of ‘me’. Consumerism and self-referential is a concept that Baudrillard heavily developed, he explains that one way an object can obtain value is with the symbolic value, which Muse’s video does as it assigns value to an object (the object being the CD) in relation to another subject (selling the CD/saving the day).

It is important, however, to look at older examples to truly see how this transition came to be. Films like Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) are perfect examples of strong postmodernism, whilst this only came out in the mid 1990s it highlights the evolution of art into postmodernism. The lack of metanarratives in the film, such as when Vincent and Jules discuss hamburgers with the same tone and seriousness as killing people, supports the declining Meta narratives over time that Lyotard explains are an essential feature of modernity. Moreover, the film fractures time as the scenes are not shot chronologically, yet everything is explained at the end of the film. Hyper reality is a concept that Baurdillard developed, and it is somewhat present in this film and its fracturing of time. It is the idea that reality is replaced by the simulacra, meaning something has lost its relation to reality and becomes nothing more than a simulation, and the division between reality and simulation collapses. This idea is particularly evident in the Matrix Trilogy (Lana/Andy Wachowski, 1999) (particularly the first one), as what is reality and what is the simulated machines starts to blur and the illusion becomes our reality.

Overall, the transition from modernism to postmodernism has been quite significant and most prominent in types of art. Society has shifted from a more traditional set of beliefs revolving around the self, to a more abstract epistemology, that aims to analysis more unconventional frameworks. It is difficult to predict how music videos can become more postmodern in the future, as many argue society is at the peak of postmodernity, however, I would suggest that videos will only get more postmodern. By this I mean that they will evolve to defy even more hegemonic norms, the boundary between what is acceptable and what is not will become even more blurred. I further argue that postmodernity is everywhere and that music videos will continue to be advertisements from helping audiences understand artist through simulacra.