4.6 Postmodern Media

Post modern media is the distinction between reality and the media. There are many examples that go against the rules of realism, they don't represent reality but media reality. Some of these examples of the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers, the matrix, big brother, the mighty boosh and video games such as grant theft auto.
There were two french key thinkers, Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jean Baudrillard. Both had different theories and versions of either postmodernism or postmodernity.
Jean Baudrillard - said that once someone knows the truth they should share it and that anyone who hangs on to the truth has lost. He refers to the truth as an illness saying the only way that you will be cured of it is to pass it on. People criticised Baudrillard theory as they said that policy was ok if you lived is a democratic state or a rich region however if you live is a country that is governed by the truth such as Zimbabway or Iraq then this policy no longer applies as they as believe what they are told to believe.
Another idea of Baudrillard is Hyperreality which is a real place in a real time but is based on fiction such as Disney land. It is a real place with real people and the public can visit however its contents and what is stands for is all fictional.
Baudrillard is a controversial theorist as he believes in people should be truthful but their not. Is the world Hyperreal?
Baudrillard's view on the 9/11 attack on the world trade centre can only be understood as media events. He refers to the television repeats and the live pictures and how it all became symbolic. so that terrorism and military invasion are seen as semiotic and symbolic just as much as they are physical. He also said that the 9/11 events are as much televisual as they are 'Real' and we cannot distinguish the representation of the events on the television from the actual events which would then mean the vents are hyperreal. If the public accepted this theory it doesn't mean that people no longer believe in reality but that idea of 'Pure reality' that is tainted by media representation.

Postmodern TV: The Mighty Boosh, Ricky Gervais and The wire - as TV has got older and become more modern it has become harder to differentiate between reality, ordinary people and tv personalities.
Ricky Gervais wrote and stars in two popular TV series, The office and extras. The office and the character of David Brent makes the audience feel a mixture of pleasure and pain when they watch it and if the audience wasn't culturally aware of this genre then the humour wouldn't work as its taking normal people in normal jobs and giving them other characteristics. Gervais's other tv programme Extras can be seen as post modern because of the way it deconstructs itself as it confuses itself between the writer of the programme, Ricky Gervais and the character he is playing. Are they near enough the same person?
Another example of this is Gervais has celebrities guest star in the programme, such as David Bowie, Kate Winslet, Ross Kemp and Les Dennis. As these celebrities guest star the audience is forced to think what are they doing? are they acting? and is he being himself?. As they guest star they are being themselves media texts and it is a direct, visable and unusual example of intertextuality. As the audience will ask is this their real character? or are they playing a different role?
Postmodern soap opera - soap operas such as echo beach, moving wallpaperare parallel and post modern TV shows. These shows along with soap operas such as Eastenders blur and confuse reality with media reality. These soaps refer to and link with Baudrillard's idea of hyperreal. Newspapers treat the characters of the soaps as if they are real people, Fans therefore send the characters things such as birthday cards and magazines and tabloids will provide extra-textual information about characters and story lines. Fans and the public can also go visit the pub that is located in Coronation street which is a pub that is real but not real at the same time which means it then becomes hyperreal.
Magazines and postmodernism - Magazines aren't necessarily post modern but the whole concept of 'belonging' to a magazine and the magazines aim of representing a certain gender such as Nuts or Sugar which are obviously and are intended to be specifically for a man or for a woman. However when an unintended secondary reader such as a gay man reading Elle or a female reading Mens Health then it becomes post modern and a thing called 'Pick and Mix', people forming their identities in relation to media texts.
Grand theft auto - Video games can now be classed as post modern as they are questioning the distinction between reality and stimulation. its the idea of a person submerging themselves into a video game and experiencing something that seems like reality but in fact is not reality. There are two concepts that identify video games as post modern and these are flow and immersion. immersion being the gamer will immerse totally into the imagination of the game and is absorbed into that world and flow being the process of the games getting harder and achieving them giving the gamer a feeling or pleasure or success. Within this immersion a pleasurable loss of reality then becomes difficult. with the feeling of being lost in this gameworld reality leads to a state of 'Happy hyperrality'.
The expeiriences that happen in the video game such as violence, sex and crime in that hyperreal situation is questioned to maybe effect the real society.