Fifteen Million Merits

"Fifteen Million Merits is not a postmodern text." Discuss this claim with reference to the Wachowski brothers' The Matrix and one other text.

Many would argue that Fifteen Million Merits is not a postmodern text due to the fact it faces post modernity or the postmodern condition within the short film. Post modernity is the state of condition and reaction to being postmodern. At the present moment we are in a state of postmodernity.

Throughout the film there is evidence that there is hegemony in place, for example in this film how the celebrities dominate the way in which people live in the film, there is a clear divide and they control all of the people working for merits and this is a way in which the short film deals with post modernity. Another key feature of post modernity within the short film is the way in which the main character Bing finally feels something real which is the singing of the girl Abi. This is post modernity as due to postmodernism the reaction of distortion of the real and the simulated has been blurred. This is a key feature of the theorist Baudrillard who believes that post modernism blurs the boundary of the real and the simulated. So the way in which Bing comments on Abi’s singing being ‘the most real thing he has seen in here’ relates to the film dealing with post modernity. This is a key concept of the theorist Jameson as he argues that we do not realise what is real or simulated anymore. The boundary between the real and simulated has been blurred, this is played around with a lot during the film narrative. The film also could arguably just be a metaphoric view of the modern life that we live. It could be seen as an exaggerated reality of how we live now, being surrounded by computers and media. The way in which we can't get away from adverts just like we see within the movie, the characters have to pay with their merits to avoid and skip the adverts just like we have to with some products such as applications on phones where you have to buy upgraded versions where we are promised no adverts. Also post modernism is referred to by the way bing says everything around is pointless and the items are ‘confetti’ and ‘shit’ or ‘stuff’, this links into the theorist jameson where things are built up of depthlessness and spectacle.

The text has a conventional linear narrative, however there are small amounts of intertextuality evident such as the parody of britains got talent and one character's likeness to Simon Cowell, however post modern features do not build up the whole text so it is not a post modern text. Another feature that is very conventional within the text is the way that we feel and have an emotional attachment to Bing and they way he gives his money to the main female character Abi only for it to be lost and wasted. This is a conventional feature not a postmodern feature as it creates a emotional depth into the text instead of all being spectacle.

The Matrix is similar in the way that it deals with a dystopian view of the future. The Matrix deals with the amount of machines making reality become a simulated one.However i feel that the matrix differs to fifteen million merits because it is a post modern text, as it includes lots of spectacle which decreases the depth of the film. Also it breaks a meta narrative and binary of either man or machine as there are machines. This refers to the theory of Lyotard, another post modern theorist that could be brought into the movie the matrix is Jameson as there are intertextual references to different genres such as kung fu movies when actually its a science fiction action film.

One final text that i am going to talk about is twitter once again this text could be heavily linked to Jean Baudrillard due to the way in which someone's twitter page could be seen to be them, and they are imaged as just being identical to all they post. However the person may actually not be anything like what they post or what there picture looks like, within websites like twitter it is possible to only let people see what you want them to and distort reality. Another theorist that could be applied to this text is Lyotard because the way in which the meta narratives are all broken down, there is what modernists would call high cultures and low cultures are mixed together on a news feed with all sexuality's and ethnic groups also.

In conclusion i feel that Fifteen Million Merits is not a postmodern text how ever it does deal with post modernity in depth. It is not post modern due to the many conventional features that are involved within the text. Along with the dystopian future we see shown from the metaphoric present time also.

Post Modern Texts

'Explain how certain types of media can be described as postmodern.'

A number of texts that i have been looking at could be described as postmodern for a number of reasons which i am going to discuss in this essay, with the links of post modern theorists and their theories.

The first text that i am going to talk about arguably being postmodern is the film ‘The Expendables’, i feel that the three main post modern theories that i have studied could be associated with this film. I feel that baudrillard’s theory could be included, i believe this as there are events that could arguably include hyper reality, the film builds up a hyper real image of battle and war that have previously been created through time. The film carries on the whole hyperreal image of action packed war zones that people believe war is like in reality. Another text that could arguably use this theorists view is twitter, however this is in a different way. Twitter builds up an image of what the particular person who is tweeting is like and distorts the reality of what the human in control of the page may really be like. This is much like instagram which arguably uses bricolage and builds a range of materials (the images) to create one page representing the user. However once again instagram is possibly distorting reality with the filters that can be put in place and is putting a twist by the click of a button to create a whole different meaning, for example how a dark filter could give a sad emotional feeling.

The Expendables also could be post modern due to the way there is a large use of spectacle there is no real deep storyline to the film. The film is largely built up of spectacle with no deep meaning such as the large explosions and over the top fighting techniques. This is an example of lyotard's theory where he believes postmodernism could possibly replace meta narratives and deep storylines with spectacle and lighter storylines. Also the way in which we don't gather any emotional feeling for the characters like the conventional films draw us into doing. Another media text that also uses similar ideas such as these from the same theorist could be the film i Robot which arguably is post modern as it breaks the metanarrative of either ‘male or female’ due to the way there is a cyborg, a half male and half robot character this breaks a metanarrative which theorists such as lyotard believe in as they feel a metanarrative can always be questioned and scrutinized in more detail, which then creates an argument against the metanarrative.

Once again The expendables could also be linked to the theorist jameson, for the intertextual references that the large amount of big name actors who have been brought into the film. The actors bring intertextual references to different genres of films like the way in which chuck norris brings the karate genre into the film and then bruce willis brings the action theme like the film is based on with twists of other genres within. This could arguably be the use of pastiche, jameson believes this is because we are running out of original ideas, this once again could be classed as bricolage however. Another text that could be linked to jameson's theory could be celebrity juice in the way that parody is involved how keith lemon mocks many people and copies the way they act etc.

A link again to the expendables which i have based my essay on could be the way in which how all these conventions go along with post modern theorists and against modern conventions there is still one clear convention that goes against the postmodern ideas, this is the way in which the film still includes ‘the heroes journey’ where there is clear good and evil and the good is victorious overall. This is a standard convention in films and does not follow the other post modern features i earlier spoke about.

In conclusion in this essay i have linked many media examples of postmodern texts to theories and argued about how i believe that they are postmodern.

Theorist Posters

Hot Fuzz Essay

Hot Fuzz Essay

Explain how Hot Fuzz could be described as Post modern media.

Within this essay i am going to discuss in what ways that hot fuzz could show post modern features and also talk about how hot fuzz also uses conventional features. Also i shall look at how intertextuality is a key feature within the movie along with the relationship the film develops with the audience and what effect it has upon them.

Throughout the hot fuzz movie there are many intertextual features and references, this is a post modern feature. One of the main features of intertextuality is the ‘blood and ice cream trilogy’ that the film is part of. The trilogy includes a different colour ice cream cornetto for each of the films. This links each of the three movies together for starters when each cornetto appears. Also this intertextual link is to the ‘the three colors trilogy’ that is frech trilogy which includes three colours therefore the three different ice cream colours are an intertextual reference to this. This reference also blurs the line of low culture that usually this mainstream popular film would be classed as, with high culture as the french film trilogy would be seen as upper class due to this is what 80’s and 90’s french films usually would be classed as. We also see intertextuality in the way that the murderers in the film are always dressed like the ‘grim reaper’. Also during the early period of the film we see a shot very similar to one that is in ‘The Shining’ with the old lady at the desk, this is also intertextual references to the horror genre that at some points is brought into the films, however it is not its sole genre. Within the film we also see intertextual references to ‘Badass 2’ and ‘Die Hard’ particularly at the end we see a scene where ‘Hot Fuzz’ pays homage to badass where danny lies on his back and repeatedly shoots his gun up into the air.

The Hot Fuzz movie uses many conventional techniques along with postmodern techniques, examples of these could be things such as, how th\ere are a variety of genres brought into the film such as slasher, comedy and thriller, this is a post modern technique, however it is not a complete hodgepodge of ideas and the audiences can work out the direction of the narrative as it is linear, this is a usual convention. The story swiftly moves towards a resolution and the whole plot of the story is a resolution being found, this is a usual convention for movies. During the most part of the film there is focus on the storyline however during the start when there are fast edits that create a spectacle along with the loud music and fast edits when someone has been arrested and are in the police station. This is against the usual modernist productions as it reminds the audience that it is a film they are watching and that it is not real life, it stops them getting as indulged with the movie. Also during the final parts of the movie spectacle starts to take a bigger part with much more violence and more guns and weapons are involved. Once again this reminds the audience it is definitely a movie and not ‘real life’, this is a post modern technique.  Another post modern technique that is used within the movie is the way in which the whole movie is built up from over movies, for example how police officers aren't actually like simon pegg is represented in the film, the film just uses the typical image of the police from a number of movies that has been built up. Hyperreality is being built up within the film, even though we all know that police are not actually like that in real life. However the conventional technique of us becoming attached to the character is used, particularly with danny in this movie.

Also the way in which there are so many intertextual references within the film the audience have a challenge to understand the text, they have to bring a lot of information to the film to be able to understand it fully. However this post modern technique can almost make the audience feel as if they are achieving something from the film and enjoy the humour more as if they understand all the intertextual jokes it blatantly is for that particular audience.

In conclusion i feel that there are a few key post modern features within the movie particular the spectacle side of the film along with the large amount of intertextuality used. I feel that these are key features within the film. However it has many conventional features also. I would not say it is as much of a post modern film as pulp fiction for example however there are many features.