Discuss why some people are not convinced by the idea of post-modernism?

Post-modern media, is media that originates from another time or existing piece, it defies the rules of context and meaning, by formulating creations that use any combination of components. Nothing can be wrong. Works can be full of depth and depth-less at the same time. They steal, change and warp current concepts and change people’s perceptions of reality.

Some people are not convinced by the concept of post-modern media as it suggests that nothing can be original and therefore everything is a copy. Theorist such as Kirby Fergusson, suggested everything is a remix. This is the concept that all new media projects are connected with no originality and creativity relies on the ability to copy, transform and combine current pieces. This idea of continuous transformation can be witnessed in real world texts, for example; The song 'Gold Digger' by Kayne West is a remix of the song 'I got a woman' by Ray Charles, which is in turn a remix of the song 'It must be Jesus' by The Southern Tones. Critics may argue that pieces such as these merely use elements of one another and are ultimately unique, however these pieces are regarded post-modern, as not only do they use elements of backing track etc. but they also warp the meaning of the song taking it out of context and completely changing the original message, this is an example of Levis Strauss 'Bricolage.' The original song goes from being about the wonderful acts of Jesus, to the kind acts of a girlfriend to the degrading song about a Gold digging girlfriend. No consideration of context is applied. This in itself is another area that post-modernism faces opposition, as it can regarded as disrespectful and mocking, such as with the use of parodies. With films such as 'Hobo with a shotgun,' the aim is to create projects that are purposely bad and highlight the failures of previous ventures. The acceptance of post-modern media allows and encourages people to seek such weaknesses and therefore can be seen as negative, as it influences audience’s receptions to new media.

A further issue of post-modern media is that it is thought to manipulate people’s perceptions of reality. For example; with the increasing quantity of advertisements on TV and online, people are bombarded with idyllic and aspirational lifestyles and scenarios that aim to sell a product. But theses adverts can actually be considered, by critics, to be unhealthy or even damaging. Adverts such as that for Nikon, are based on trying to re-create fake memories that have never been, but are represented as real. Hyper-reality was presented by Baudrillard and is described as the inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality. An issue with its present within the media, is that this hyper-real representation of life, may actually replace people’s expectations and view of reality. People no longer aim to attain real individual experiences but replicate the aspirational events they view, and are actually disappointed when their exacting standards are unfulfilled. This media makes the real world inadequate.

Nowadays people aim to be post modern. Media containing Intertextual references are prevalent, such as Quentin Tarintino’s films like ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ The film is formulated on the bases of making it relate to past works and continuously mimic and warp current films. Tarintino aims for his audience to pick up on the references and take enjoyment from identifying the copies, such as; his opening scene, reminiscent of the sound of music and a shot almost identical to one in ‘The Dirty Dozen.’ In the past during modernist times the aim of media projects were to make them as original and unique as possible, often with daring and controversial ideas. The reason people may not be convinced by post-modernism, is that by accepting post-modernism to be inevitable, and that everything is a remix, it formulates the belief that we therefore no longer need to bother trying to make things unique or original. Post-modernism can therefore be argued, to be a mind-set as well as a category of classification. If people are in the mind-set that they can’t make anything new and set out to copy, then everything will be a copy. However critics may argue, that post-modernism is not an eventually for the future of all media.

To conclude, from the perspective of critic Jameson, postmodern media can be regarded as the creation of vacuous pieces that are trapped in circular reference. Therefore the creation of such media destroys the integrity of media, as it does not lead to the valuable work of the past. The influence of this post-modern world can be seen as detrimental to future generations; nowadays people don’t buy things from a shop and hold the product in their hand, they look at a virtual replica online and have it delivered. When someone wants to hear from their friend they don’t meet up for a chat, they virtually meet up through Skype. Although these elements of the modern world can be regarded as a step forward in the development of media, from another perspective it can be regarded as means to move away from what is real and develop into a world that is fake and therefore moving nowhere at all.