"Postmodern media blur the boundary between reality and representation"

Postmodernism is a rejection of modernism (the movement in western arts, architecture and design)
and traditional narrative structures like grand narratives- love, religion, war (Lyotard). Postmodernism
is characterised by using earlier styles and conventions; mixing different artistic styles and media
together, as well as a general distrust of theories.

Postmodern media texts include anything from hyperreality, intertextuality, bricolage, homage,
pastiche and many more. Some of these elements, like hyperreality and self-reflexivity, can be used
to suggest the film is representational; thus, reminding the audience it is a film. Self-reflexivity can be
argued to be one of the biggest features in postmodern films and other medias. An example of self-
reflexivity being used is in the 2016 superhero film Deadpool, directed by Tim Miller. Deadpool is self-
referential towards: himself, the film and the fact he knows the audience are watching him in a film
throughout the movie. He performs multiple asides to the audience which breaks the fourth wall and
reminds the audience they are watching a film. His self-referential actions can range from a wink to
direct address to the audience- A 4th-wall break inside a 4th-wall break! That's like, 16 walls!". This
has been criticised as Jameson suggests postmodern films are nothing more than a series of self-
referential jokes which have no deeper meaning or purpose. Postmodernists dont disagree with this
statement; however, they use this as their purpose for including self-referential jokes within media.
Self-reflexivity has become a convention of postmodern media which, like Jameson, Noam Chomsky
sees as "meaningless because it adds nothing to analytical knowledge. The self-reflexivity stands out
as being a representational postmodern convention as it gives reminders within the text, subtly, to the
audience they are watching a film; meaning they would be less likely to process the idea it is reality.
Therefore, the differences between representation and reality blurred.

Hyperreality is also a convention which stands out as being postmodern. Ritzer suggested one way
postmodern culture can be shown is through the blurring of distinctions between representation and
reality, thus supporting the statement. An example of hyperreality being used in film to blur
representation and reality is in the 2016 psychological horror The Neon Demon, directed by Nicolas
Winding Refn. It is based on an aspiring model in Los Angeles, whose beauty and youth generate
intense fascination and jealousy within the industry, leading to her murder. The Neon Demon is a
postmodern film. This is due to the hyperreal world and what the characters think is normal, but we
dont. For example, the three models, who are consumed by jealousy over the new model (Jesse),
murder her by pushing her into an empty swimming pool, cut her body up and eat her. This is
something we, as an audience, wouldnt be used to in reality, however they seem used to it in their
world. This shows how a model can be consumed by the industry, and in this film, it is literal as they
eat Jesse- possibly to consume her beauty. Furthermore, another area of hyperrealism is when one of
the models (Ruby) goes to work in a morgue and performs sexual activities with a female corpse.
Necrophilia is extremely uncommon and frowned upon in our world, however it seems to be
acceptable in theirs. This reflects Baudrillards idea that the real is no longer possible as postmodern
films have taken a turn to different, artistic narratives from the traditional, realistic grand narratives we
are used to. In addition, the episodic nature of The Neon Demon comes from there being short
scenes with very little dialogue. Audiences are no longer concerned with the process of understanding
a text (through dialogue) as they can interpret it from the visuals. The linear narrative enables
audiences to follow the film in a way that would make them understand it; even with little dialogue.
This would not be possible in Deadpool as the narrative is fragmented and non-linear. Deadpool plays
around with time and, as an audience, it would be harder to understand as the dialogue would carry
the events happening in the film. The lack of dialogue was replaced by music which was upbeat and
continuously increased tension, as well as allowed room for interpretation. Theorists (Kramer) would
suggest that multiple meanings to media is a good thing as it allows us to take something from the film
that we would value. However, some criticise this as there must be certain elements of a films
structure that are necessary for the audience to understand the narrative (Parsons). This can also be
viewed as representational, as the action represents the spoken narrative that is deleted, however the
dialogue creates the realism. This shows evidence of blurring the distinctions between representation
and reality which supports the statement.
Postmodernism doesnt just exist in film, it exists in all kinds of media. Like Deadpool, artists like
Kanye West, Eminem and Grimes all use elements of bricolage, parody, homage etc to form their
music; leading them to be labelled as postmodern artists.

Eminem is a singer, songwriter and musician within the hip hop/rap genre of music. He frequently
collaborates with artists from the same genre and from a multitude of others. Eminem is a postmodern
artist due to his crossover between genres; using bricolage; much like Deadpool. Eminem first
collaborated with singer/ songwriter Rihanna on his seventh studio album Recovery in 2010. Rihanna
is an artist within the pop, r&b and regge genres which contrasts against Eminems rap . They
collaborate again on his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP.2 in 2013 which, again, uses
multiple genres. Rihanna isnt the only artist he has collaborated with. He joined together with rock
artist Pink! in 2010 for the fourth track on his Recovery album. Much like how Deadpools mixture of
genres widened its audience, Eminem opens his music up to a variety of consumers as he, not only
targets his own fans, but targets the fans of the artists he collaborates with. Thus, introducing his
audience to a wider variety of genres they may not have heard of if they have only been experienced
in his own. Kramer would suggest Eminem is a postmodern artist as he does not respect boundaries
between sonorities through his use of mixed genres. Eminem uses sampling as a way of creating
sounds for his music and as a way of paying homage to other artists. On his track Berzerk from The
Marshall Mathers LP.2 he samples four different tracks. The song sampled the most is Billy Squires
The Stroke which influenced the drums, electric guitar and other instruments in the track. Certain riffs
are taken from Squires work and placed into Eminems to give the track more sound. Furthermore,
Eminem sampled Labi Siffres I Got The from 1975 in his track My Name Is on his debut album
The Slim Shady LP in 1999. The elements used from Siffres track are funk, soul and disco. The
sample used in Eminems song has a jazzy feel to it which contrasts against his hip hop/rap genre.
This, again, introduces Eminems audience to a form of music they may not have heard of and brings
the jazz style back into music. Eminem clearly adopts Kramers theory that postmodern music
challenges barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles as Jazz would be a high style and rap would be a
low style. Eminem mixes the two together to produce sounds that an audience would never have
heard of before.This reflects Ritzers theory that postmodern culture can is signified by the breakdown
of barriers between genres and styles.

Predicting the future for postmodernism is difficult as there as so many routes postmodern media can
go down. Technology allows us to explore things further and come up with new ideas that no one
would have thought about. For example, Michael Jackson was made into a hologram for the 2014
Billboard Music Awards where he performed his first set after his death in 2009 . Since then,
companies have been experimenting and recently, in Star Wars Rogue One, there have been CGI
effects added to place the faces of past characters (of whom the actors are now dead) onto the
bodies of other people so they could return for the film. This has had some criticism as many dont
want the CGI faces to replace the past actors as they should be remembered for what they did. But,
this seems to be the route that postmodernism is going down. If it is happening for stars, maybe
people will invent ways of bringing back friends and family that they could interact with like those who
interacted with Michael Jacksons hologram on stage.