Postmodernism in Music Videos

 Media Magazine Theory Drop - Postmodernism

1) How does the article define postmodernism in the first page of the article?

If modernism is beginning to question authority, then postmodernism is making fun of authority to its face. Postmodernism takes this concept of questioning traditional structures, representations and expectations and pushes things a step further.

2) What did media theorist and Semiotician Roland Barthes suggest in his essay 'The Death of the Author'?

In 'The Death of the Author', Roland Barthes challenged tradition when he said that a writer’s opinions, intentions or interpretation of their own work are no more valid than anyone else’s. Readers are free to interpret a work however they choose, irrespective of what the creator thinks.

3) What is Metatextuality?

Metatextuality is where a text draws attention to the fact that it is a text. It points to the process of its own creation. 

4) What is the repeated phrase on the cartoon on postmodernism on page 28?

"Postmodernism is a cultural movement that distrusts all established philosophies and frequently experiments with the medium it is presented in." 

5) How does postmodernism link to media representations and reality?

As media audiences have become more sophisticated over the years, we realise on some level or other that the images we see are mediated to give us only a partial version of the story. This has led to an anxiety over what is ‘real’ and what is not. As the key postmodern thinker Jean Baudrillard put it; ‘the distinction between what is real and what is imagined is continually blurred and meaning is systematically eroded’.


Music video CSPs and postmodernism

1) How does the music video for Ghost Town incorporate elements of postmodernism?

-The genre of the music (Ska) could be seen as an element of bricolage due to the different music tastes being combined together.
-We can also see the difference in art and popular culture, 'Arthouse' feel combined with a popular genre of music. 
-The narrative also offers an example of bricolage, which is a postmodern take on the 'road movie' but with no destination or quest to complete. 

2) What film genres are alluded to in the music video for Ghost Town? Which scenes in particular created these links?

We can see elements of bricolage and pastiche due to the merging of British film genres such as social realism, arthouse and hammer horror in order to create something new. The lighting (underlighting) colour and camerawork create intertextual references to these film genres. 

3) How does Old Town Road use postmodern elements in its music video?

- Uses intertextuality due to the western conventions throughout the music video. 
- Taps into celebrity culture, celebrity cameo of Chris Rock, as well as the feature from Billy Ray Cyrus. 

4) How does the Old Town Road music video reflect technological convergence and modern digital culture?  


5) What do YOU think Lil Nas X was trying to say about reality and American culture in the music video for Old Town Road?

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