Explain why the idea of

postmodern media might be

considered controversial. by
Niamh Sygrove
OPINION

PAST

Modernism stuck to generic constructs and didnt challenge barriers.

PRESENT

Grimes

The Neon Demon

Deadpool

FUTURE

Music rearrange albums controversial because people wont agree with the
changes and may lose interest in purchasing the album.

Film CGI actors controversial because people wont agree with the idea of
using a dead person for a profit within a new film.

CONCLUDE

The idea of modernism was concerned with the contemporary or modern era,
and was interested in the likes of innovation and moving/looking forward within
its society. Postmodernism rebelled against this movement with the controversial
idea of a complete knowledge of the modern which has then been surpassed by
a new age. It's considered to be a movement of the arts and philosophy which
goes on to obscure modernism into something completely unconventional by
subverting genres and becoming self-referential; something in which not every
audience member will truly appreciate or understand, therefore potentially
making the movement appear controversial to specific audience types. Through
postmodernism, from a film perspective I have looked at the 2016 movie
Deadpool directed by Tim Miller and the 2016 movie The Neon Demon
directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, alongside a musical perspective where I
researched with great depth into producer and singer/songwriter Grimes.

Deadpool features a witty 'anti-hero' who's experimented on, leaving him with
intense healing powers, an ugly face and a quest for revenge on an evil British
man who turned him mutant. The Neon Demon features an aspiring 16 year
old model who moves to LA in order to pursue her career, creating jealous,
beauty-obsessed enemies along the way who reveal their craziness through the
likes of violence, cannibalism and necrophilia. Throughout both films, controversy
may occur towards their constructs based upon the likes of
homage/intertextuality/pastiche and parodies featured, alongside the idea of the
film containing a non-linear narrative in Deadpool, whilst The Neon Demon
may create controversy through its mix of genres and lack of dialogue
throughout.

Deadpool can be seen as a piece of homage to the sci-fi horror film Bride of
Frankenstein. During the plot, Deadpool encounters a blind woman inside a
launderette, where he then befriends her and eventually ends up living with her
too. This can be seen to shadow Frankenstein's bride, whom is consistently there
by Frankenstein's side in their movie. You can also link Deadpool and
Frankenstein themselves together as two characters with 'ugly' faces, who
overcome this issue, making it through both their films successfully with their
loved ones by their side. This may be considered controversial because specific
audiences may recognise the similarities between the two films and will
therefore lack the appreciation for Deadpool due to its lack of originality.
Deadpool's character can also be linked similarly to Don Quixote, who was
famously known for breaking the fourth wall consistently in his film adaptation
just like Deadpool does whenever he wants to narrate something to the audience
outside of the natural constructs of a film. This can be considered controversial
as specific audiences may lack the understanding of Deadpool connecting with
the audience instead of the film itself as it removes the narrative flow multiple
times within the film which may disturb a viewers train of thought, causing them
to lose interest in the film altogether. Postmodern theorist Jameson would also
support this idea as he suggests that realism in culture should remain separate
and distinct, and by breaking the fourth wall within the film Deadpool is
breaking this barrier.

The Neon Demon can be seen purely as a piece of moving art through both its
editing and cinematography. Refns film focuses more upon the visuals and music
rather than actual dialogue from the main characters, contrasting the generic
conventions of mainstream film. This can be considered controversial as specific
audiences may lose interest in the film due to the lack of understanding towards
the plot because of the limited amount of lines featured. A generic audience may
be able to guess towards signs of danger through hearing Cliff Martinezs score
for the film whenever his use of synthesis increases in intensity alongside the
visuals, however besides this feature it is harder for a complete audience to
understand what is truly going on throughout the entirety of the film as there is
no narration to guide them along the way. Only specific audiences with a greater
knowledge of meaning and interpretation are likely to truly appreciate and
potentially understand what The Neon Demon is actually about and this will
limit the amount of viewers who can actually enjoy the film.
Deadpool as one can also be considered a parody film, as Ryan Reynolds'
character consistently makes fun of the medium he inhabits, which is unlike any
other stereotypical superhero movie you would go to see in cinemas or purchase
on DVD, Blu-Ray or digital download. Similarly in The Neon Demon, even
though it isnt a parody film, Refns narrative is unlike any other stereotypical
modelling movie you would watch. The Neon Demon combines modelling,
which originally would be seen as a feature of a comedy or chic flic film,
alongside dreamlike bloodbaths and horrific approaches towards eating another
human being. Both films can be considered controversial as specific audiences
who are used to the stereotypical versions of these types of film may not
appreciate the new rendition that has been created with a twist. Whilst
Deadpool may appear too comical and sexually inappropriate for an original
family audience watching a superhero movie, The Neon Demon may appear
too violent and distressing for an original female audience watching a film about
fashion due to its thrilling, dark twists that progress as the film continues along.

In terms of structuring throughout the film, Deadpool is seen to have a non-

linear narrative, destroying the idea of a chronological structure and instead
containing elements of flashbacks and flashforwards to describe the plot. In
terms of postmodernism, Deadpool removes the element of
straightforwardness in an attempt to rebel against the generic stylings of film,
turning it into a completely different art form by the order in which it is presented
to the audience. This has a larger impact on the audience as it requires a greater
depth of thought and analysis when watching the film in order to understand it
due to the lack of obviousness, potentially limiting who will and who wont
actually appreciate the film due to the extent of whether or not the audience can
go away from the film with any idea of what was truly happening in terms of
meaning instead of remaining confused from its mixed up structure.
Deadpools audience is more likely to feature what postmodern theorist Cohen
would describe as a hyper spectator, due to their already evident
understanding of past references and understanding within meanings of film.
Similarly, The Neon Demon contains what can be described as an episodic
storyline as each scene has potential to appear alone and still make sense, as
well as the ability to be rearranged altogether, creating a brand new order and
have it all still make sense. This again enables an audience to think deeper about
what the film actually means (if it means anything at all). This may be
considered controversial as specific audiences wont be able to adapt to the way
in which these films structures work. Some audience members may grow
confused towards the narrative, lacking appreciation for the visuals they are
witnessing, tuning them out of the film completely. Members of the audience
wont be able to think outside of the box and come up with their own theories for
movies if the meaning isnt evidently on the surface; they will potentially find
confusing or boring to watch.

Grimes is a producer and singer/songwriter featuring in the likes of experimental

pop and ambient music. As a current artist, postmodern theories by Genette and
Baudrillard can be considered towards her stylistic motives based upon the likes
of simulacrum, sampling, intertextuality and consumption, which to specific
audience members may cause controversy towards the idea of creativity and
what can be defined as actual music.

Grimes describes herself as a product of the music industry, a character which

is created by the innovation within Canadian musician, Claire Boucher. In terms
of postmodernism, Bouchers simulacrum is presented by putting on the persona
of another person when she performs music as Grimes. It can also suggest in
terms of postmodern music theorist Kramer that Boucher is presenting multiple
meanings through herself as she is able to act as a completely different person in
any way she chooses to when she takes on the persona of Grimes. This may be
considered as something controversial because some audience members may
lack the appreciation of Bouchers created persona, seeing it as something
unnecessary and unusual. Specific audiences wont be able to recognise the art
form that Grimes is trying to portray within her characters visuals and music and
therefore wont be able to relate to anything she puts out publicly.

Throughout multiple songs produced by Grimes, the use of sampling has been
featured from all kinds of musical time periods, for example, in her 2015 song
Butterfly she samples Penguin Dancer by Masayoshi Takanaka back in 2005,
and her 2012 song Know The Way samples 1888 classical piece First
Gymnopdie by Erik Satie. In terms of postmodernism and Kramer, Grimes can
be seen to show a sign of eclecticism within her character by sampling songs
from such a varied range of time and genres. It also suggests that she challenges
the barriers between 'high' and 'low' styles by combining styles like classical
music (which would be considered high) with elements of rock, pop and
electronic stylings (which would be considered low) to create something
completely new and innovative. Grimes includes references to music of many
traditions and cultures throughout her entire discography, greatly defining her of
postmodernist status. For example, her 2015 song Scream features a
Taiwanese rapper, Aristophanes, who extends Bouchers audience globally
towards an Asian background due to the large contrast of language choice for
this one song, alongside when she performs the song live without Aristophanes
reaching a Russian background due to her extensive knowledge of the Russian
language which she performs the song in herself as well as multiple songs off her
second album Halfaxa. This may be considered controversial as specific
audiences may find the use of sampling to be a lazy feature, suggesting a lack of
creation and innovation within an artist if they have to use someone elses work
within theirs to create something that can be portrayed as a good piece of
music. Some audiences will have a lack of appreciation for an artist who use
others previous work as they look for something which they would define purely
new (even though nothing in the media can truly be described as new
nowadays), and they may find the use of sampling offensive towards the original
artist who created the piece from scratch as they may not be able to adapt to the
new version of the song by another artist due to being completely attached to
the way it originally sounds.

Similarly to the use of sampling within Grimes music, within her music videos
and artwork it is evident that there are signs of intertextual references/samples
featured. For example, in her 2016 music video for Kill V. Maim, Grimes is seen to
be wearing black wings to represent her theme of Art Angels, which
intertextualizes Natalie Portmans character from the movie Black Swan. Its
also evident that in the same music video, Grimes has taken inspiration from
Law and Order through her introductory title, the Dark Souls video game for
the you died sequence and the movie Blade for the blood bath scene at the
end of the video. In terms of postmodernism, this can be seen as Grimes
presenting multiple meanings and temporalities within her art form not just
through her audio, but through her visuals as well, linking herself into the
relevancy of the cultural and social constructs of her time. Like previously stated,
this can be considered controversial as specific audiences may lack the
appreciation of the new rendition of the sample/reference and may take it as an
offence to the original piece or see it as a lack of innovation within the artist and
their constructs in the industry.

Through the use of consumption, Grimes is able to present her four albums, Geidi
Primes, Halfaxa, Visions and Art Angels to the world through platforms like CD,
digital download, vinyl and cassette tapes. In terms of postmodernism, this can
suggest that Grimes considers technology not only as a way to preserve and
transmit music but also as deeply implicated in the production and essence of
music, by allowing her audience to access her music in different forms through
multiple uses of technology. Alongside this, Grimes producing alone allows her
to experience and express her character greater through the use of technology,
by using the DAW Ableton to create her music alongside all the musical
equipment she has purchased along the way, for example, 3D microphones, MIDI
keyboards, loopers and samplers (which she also uses to perform with on stage).
This can be considered controversial because specific audiences may find the
lack of creation of music through real instruments to be a downfall within the
instrumentation of Grimes songs. Even though she uses real instruments like
guitars and violins on occasion, overall Bouchers creations are digital and
audiences may find this disrespectful to the older age of music where artists had
to create their sound purely based on their physical ability to play and perform
with instruments. The use of technology can be considered a cheat into the
industry as anyone can easily learn how to work a computer in comparison to a
real instrument.

The future of postmodernism definitely seems like it can become a strong

movement of growth. For example, future films may begin to include the idea of
using CGI actors within real actors, placing a dead actor's face onto the face of a
stunt double's body to continue filming their production and make it appear as if
they are still there alive, featuring in the production. This would mean the movie
wouldnt lose any interaction from its audience who may have tuned out if that
actor was no longer being featured in the works. This can certainly be seen as a
working factor for film, as global blockbuster series Star Wars are featuring
actor Carrie Fisher in their upcoming 2017 movie regardless of the fact that she
died late 2016. Genres may also be experimented upon within film, mashing up
multiple genres in one that you may not have considered to be a straight
forward, working movement, turning them into something even greater and
more unusual from a visual perspective. You may also say that the idea of non-
linear narratives can be emphasised as well in the future of film, by breaking
down the typical structure of a chronological film structure and turning it into
something mixed up through the likes of both flashbacks and flash-forwards (this
is strongly evident throughout the whole of Deadpool). This may be seen as
controversial as an audience may not appreciate the idea of a company using a
dead actors persona to create something with their contribution without
permission. Obviously they would have to have the permission of the actors
family members, however an audience may still see this as disrespectful towards
the actor because they dont have a voice in the arrangement. Some audience
members may see this method of CGI nothing more than a simple way to create
a profit, using another human for nothing but greed.

Alongside this, the future of postmodernism within music may feature the likes of
re-releasing and editing published albums. For example, when Kanye West
released his 2016 album The Life Of Pablo, he published his album with a
specific tracklist and number of tracks that were available to purchase on CD.
After this he then removed the CD, and messed around with his tracks, taking
some away, adding more in, and even changing verses in particular tracks, re-
releasing them continuously on social media for people to download digitally.
This could suggest a future movement of album creation for artists in the music
industry, as others may want to follow in his footsteps and disobey the generic
constructs of an album release by rearranging theirs whenever they please.
Music and its releases are an ever growing movement that can be taken in any
direction at any moment if it allows an artist to go on and create and distribute
as innovatively as they please. This can be considered controversial however as
audiences who are used to strict album releases may disagree with the idea of
rereleasing and changes due to a loss of money buying multiple versions of the
same album alongside a sense of confusion towards releases. Rereleases make
an album harder to access as shops stop selling their products and previous
versions disappear from the internet, creating a stressful environment for the
audience to actually obtain the music they want to hear.