Postmodernism in music video

 Media Magazine Theory Drop - Postmodernism


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

Postmodernism is making fun of authority to its face. It takes the 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'?

He challenged the tradition as he said that a writers opinions, intentions or interpretation of their own work are no more valid then any one else's. Readers are free to interpret messages in any way they want, irrespective of how the writer wants it.

3) What is metatextuality?

Where a text draws attention to the fact that it is a text as it. It points out 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 experimental with the medium it is presented.

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

Media audiences have become more sophisticated over the years, we realise that some representations mediated give a partial view leading to anxiety over what is real and fake. Baudrillard suggests a 'distinction between what is real and what is imagined is continually blurred and systematically eroded'. This anxiety is then used in films. 'The world is simulated' Baudrillard also suggests.

Music video CSPs and postmodernism

Now apply postmodern ideas to our music video CSPs by answering the following questions:

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

The intertextuality and hybridity - bricolage and pastiche, the blurring of high and low culture through arthouse vs pop music. The narrative of the road movie shows bricolage.

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

The road movie - a group of characters are on a journey together but a clear destination is not reached. (Neal - repetition and difference). Horror - the opening with low key lighting (chiaroscuro effect) creates a dark gloomy atmosphere.

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

Henry Jenkins - textual poaching - links to Red Dead Redemption as Lil Nas X made a promo with the blend of this videogame and his song (intertextuality). The riff is bought from YouTube but the song was made from twitter and TikTok. Celebrity cameos from Billy Ray Cyrus and Chris Rock (intertextuality). The knowing self-referential elements: Billy Ray Cyrus saying "Don't worry your with me now" (country chart controversy). The YeeHaw movement provides bricolage and pastiche due to the historical significance between black communities and cowboys. Reality - 'Old Town Road' plays with our sense of reality.

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

The original riffs of 'Old Town Road' was bought from YouTube which shows how easily accessible products are on the new digital media. The song went viral on TikTok and Twitter showing how many users are on this platforms and how easy it is to be a producer. This can be seen when Lil Nas X is first seen on his horse, two men are watching him and one of them pulls their phone out to record showing how people constantly post videos/content on social media. Also at one scene a girl is dancing, showing referenced to TikTok dance trends.

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?

How American culture has shifted with support of black people to how it used to be in the past. This can be seen from in the beginning, Lil Nas X is shot at by a white man, but later on he is singing with Billy Ray Cyrus and by the end he is line dancing with white people and hugging an old white woman.

A/A* extension reading: Medium article

Read this Medium article on the Postmodern Pop Artist. Do any of the ideas in this article apply to Old Town Road or Ghost Town? How? 

Frith and Horn (1987): "Pop songs are the soundtrack of postmodern daily life". This links to Ghost town as the music is about the current situation of the UK, referencing unemployment, riots etc. 

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