Narrative and Audience

Speech on the mighty boosh

Narrative in my music video

Postmodernism in the Mighty Boosh

Postmodernism; a word with no set definition. However it is a word which many have challenged to try and form its meaning and purpose in our society.

We do know, that postmodernism is seen as a rejection of the modernist movement. Modernism seemed to fade as the postmodern movement challenged and changed modern beliefs and styles. This could be seen within various forms of media, such as art, culture, t.v. , music and many more.Theorists, artists, musicians, creators, all challenged postmodernism with their own interpretations, and things we had always seen as 'truth' began to be seen in a new light.

TV has always been a major part of everyone's lives. It is said that we live in a 3 minute world where we have become so used to absorbing information from these squares screens. Adverts, programs and music videos have nearly all either embraced or neglected postmodernism.

The Mighty Boosh is a perfect example of how TV has become postmodern. 20 episodes were aired on BBC three with the first being aired on the 18 May 2004 , and was written by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt. Although ever episode includes postmodernism, one in particular that drew my attention was the episode of Milky Joe.

Even before the episode begins, it is clear to see that postmodernism is featured within the series. A mixture of random squiggles, cartoon characters and eerie music which has no set genre all come together to create an artistic beginning, which in itself is postmodern due to making the audience wonder what the series is going to be about, and what characters may appear. This would influence an active audience before the start of the program as it leaves questions unanswered about what is potentially going to happen.

The episode of Milky Joe is about the main characters, Vince and Howard, becoming stranded on an island, and create the character Milky Joe using coconuts and sticks to keep them company. The coconut is seen to be given human like qualities which would resemble anthropomorphism. A very highly used concept within postmodernism to confuse audiences and once again, make them ask questions as a response.  Nearer the end of the series, the coconuts actually come alive, which would then further push the boundaries of hyper realism as it is not actually possible for this to ever happen in reality.

This episode clearly uses intertextual references from the film 'Castaway' in which a man is deserted on an island and uses a football named Wilson as a companion. The fact that an object is used as a character in both The Mighty Boosh and this film, may also tell us that the mighty boosh might be trying to parody the film, especially by giving it a postmodern twist by actually making the coconut characters come to life, which we do not see in Castaway.

Bricolage is a theory which was formed by Claud Levi Straus which is said to be a technique where works of art are constructed from various materials available. In Milky Joe, this can be seen by the various mixture of genres, and concepts. This episode could be considered to be more like a short film than part of a series due to its narrative structure being based on the Castaway film. However it clearly embraces aspects of a musical and even a romantic comedy if you could class the coconuts as an actual character in which Vince and Howard become attracted to them.

Overall it is clear to see that The Might Boosh has embraced and taken on board postmodernism from every angle. It pushed the limits of postmodernism on TV  by creating something viewers had never come across before, and to this day I still believe that it is impossible for another TV series to be as postmodern as the mighty boosh was. I consider the series almost to be like a piece of artwork in which it cannot be re-created or interpreted. It leaves audiences with mixed emotions from confusion to happiness and it is obvious that the episode of Milky Joe contains many aspects considered to be postmodern.

Postmodernism in TV and Music Videos

Postmodernism in TV and music videos

Katie Norris

 

Postmodernism does not have a set definition. There are many different interpretations of it by different people. Many theorists have described what they think postmodernism is.

 

The term ‘postmodern’ was first stated around the 1870’s and was then used in 1921 and 1925 to describe new forms of art and music. However it mainly gained popularity during the twentieth century.  Postmodernism was initially created as a response to modernism and was therefore known as the era that followed modernism. An overall view of postmodernism is that it is an overreaching term for sceptical interpretations of culture, literature, art or philosophy, economics, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. An example of postmodernism being used in our society can clearly be seen in music videos and TV, of both previous years and in today’s age.

 

Madonna first came around in the 1980’s after signing with Sign Records, and soon began to create a number of songs which topped the charts. She soon became renowned for pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream pop music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. One main music video that could clearly be classed as postmodern was ‘Like a Prayer’ which was released in 1989. The video, a lot of catholic symbols were represented, as well as stigmata, and burning of the cross. It also challenges stereotypical religious beliefs that Jesus was a white male, as in the video, the character that is representing Jesus is a black male. This contradicted what many people believed Jesus to look like, and therefore caused upset amongst audiences. Not only this, but the obvious references in the video to Jesus and the catholic religion. So much so that the Vatican also acknowledged the video and condemned it. 

 

The video can be seen as postmodern due to the amount of religious references and questions it creates for an audience. Religion is a sensitive topic for many, and to contradict religious beliefs in the way in which Madonna does would clearly be seen as a revolt against modernism in terms of religion and the fact that everyone tends to only preach what they know. In the lyrics, Madonna states that “life is a mystery” and “everyone should stand alone” which may demonstrate that Madonna disagrees in the Bible and there is still a lot to question about how life itself began, and that by standing alone, no one should follow one another or rely on what they have been told (such as being informed of Jesus and believing he exists). Her use of sexual innuendo in the line “I’m down on my knees, I wanna take you there” was put into the song by Madonna herself to purposely provoke her audience.  This being a very postmodern as getting an audience interested or confused by what they see or hear is a typical aspect of postmodernism.

 

The Mighty Boosh is a T.V series that started out based from three stage shows and 6 radio performances which then developed into 20 episodes and was aired on BBC Three.  This TV series can be considered to be highly postmodern for many reasons.

 

From the moment the opening sequence begins, it is clear to see that this program contains postmodernism. From random squiggles and characters moving across the screen, to eerie music and a futuristic voice that talks about taking a journey “through time and space”. It is clear to see we are about to delve into the postmodern world of TV.  Through out all the series, many concepts and theories of post modernism can be found. This includes the continuous transformation of one of the main characters style ( Vince Noir) which seems to in one episode, be that of a goth, and the next a retro style for example. Mixing and matching a certain style to a different era that it was founded in can be seen as eclecticism which is highly used in postmodernism to question and confuse audiences about the current trends they live with. At the same time, this can also be seen through out the Mighty Boosh in terms of genres. The Mighty Boosh mixes comedy with aspects of a musical and fantasy. Making it highly postmodern. 

 

One episode in particular that I have studied is clearly postmodern. This being the episode of Milky Joe. A coconut becomes a character when Vince and Howard become stranded on an Island. As they are left longer on the island, more coconut characters begin to appear such as Ruby and Precious. These coconuts are seen to be given personalities which would resemble anthropomorphism. This episode can also be seen as a parody of the film Castaway, starring Tom Hanks. There are obvious parallels between the two as in Castaway a football is used to create a character whilst in this case, Milky Joe is created. However the story is developed further as a postmodern episode as the coconuts ‘come alive’ and become surreal when they try to capture Howard and Vince. 

 

Overall, it is clear to see that postmodernism has been used in music videos and TV. It seems like music videos have adapted to become more like short films over the years with less meaning involved, whilst TV has merged many different forms of postmodern media such as art and music with visual imagery and peculiar storylines. 

 

 

 

 

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Postmodernism does not have a set definition. There are many different interpretations of it by different people. Many theorists have described what they think postmodernism is.

The term ‘postmodern’ was first stated around the 1870’s and was then used in 1921 and 1925 to describe new forms of art and music. However it mainly gained popularity during the twentieth century.  Postmodernism was initially created as a response to modernism and was therefore known as the era that followed modernism. An overall view of postmodernism is that it is an overreaching term for sceptical interpretations of culture, literature, art or philosophy, economics, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. An example of postmodernism being used in our society can clearly be seen in music videos of both previous years and in today’s age. Not only have music videos been considered to be postmodern, the lyrics and songs which accompany them have also become postmodern.  Madonna is one example of a postmodern artist.

Madonna first came around in the 1980’s after signing with Sign Records, and soon began to create a number of songs which topped the charts. She soon became renowned for pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream pop music and imagery in her music videos, which became a fixture on MTV. One main music video that could clearly be classed as postmodern was ‘Like a Prayer’ which was released in 1989. The video, a lot of catholic symbols were represented, as well as stigmata, and burning of the cross. It also challenges stereotypical religious beliefs that Jesus was a white male, as in the video, the character that is representing Jesus is a black male. This contradicted what many people believed Jesus to look like, and therefore caused upset amongst audiences. Not only this, but the obvious references in the video to Jesus and the catholic religion. So much so that the Vatican also acknowledged the video and condemned it.  

The video can be seen as postmodern due to the amount of religious references and questions it creates for an audience. Religion is a sensitive topic for many, and to contradict religious beliefs in the way in which Madonna does would clearly be seen as a revolt against modernism in terms of religion and the fact that everyone tends to only preach what they know. In the lyrics, Madonna states that “life is a mystery” and “everyone should stand alone” which may demonstrate that Madonna disagrees in the Bible and there is still a lot to question about how life itself began, and that by standing alone, no one should follow one another or rely on what they have been told (such as being informed of Jesus and believing he exists). Her use of sexual innuendo in the line “I’m down on my knees, I wanna take you there” was put into the song by Madonna herself to purposely provoke her audience.  This being a very postmodern as getting an audience interested or confused by what they see or hear is a typical aspect of postmodernism.

Many years later after ‘Like a Prayer’, postmodernism continues.  In the twenty first century, Lady Gaga is a clear example of postmodernism in music and music videos. Her music video to her song ‘Judas’ seems to almost be an updated postmodern version of ‘Like a Prayer’.  However the video is clearly different in terms of the postmodernism shown. In Gaga’s video, there are more sexual scenes shown in the video rather than in the lyrics in the song. Instead, the lyrics are more unclear and could be interpreted with many different meanings. Some of the lyrics include “ fame hooker, prostitute wench, vomits her mind” and “wear an ear condom next time”. These are very postmodern lyrics in the fact that they are not words that an audience would expect to hear. Due to the lyrics being something unusual and not usually used within pop music, Lady Gaga has demonstrated another form of postmodernism.  Her music video does have a narrative, however it is not clear to understand, and certain scenes seem to be of no relevance at all to the video, such as Gaga being submerged in water.

These two videos both have aspects of the hyper reality theory which was thought of by James Baudrillard. Hyper reality is described as “an image or simulation, or an aggregate of images and simulations, that either distorts the reality it purports to depict or does not in fact depict anything with a real existence at all, but which nonetheless comes to constitute reality”. The videos use hyper reality as reality in terms of religion in both these videos is distorted. For example Madonna’s video twists reality in the fact that most people believe Jesus was a white male, however in the video he is portrayed as a black male. In Lady Gaga’s video, reality is completely distorted as audiences have no real sense of what is going on, and therefore the reality of the video cannot be made sense of.

Overall, it is clear to see that postmodernism has continued to widen and develop within the music industry in both music videos and song lyrics. Claims were made that, mainly due to television (MTV being a major player) we now live in a ‘three minute culture’  or that we are part of an over visual society, being a ‘society of the spectacle’- due to the nature of television and the internet.  It is now also known that three minutes is the average attention span of a person, which is proof that music videos seem to be what audiences would mainly focus on. The boundaries and possibilities of music videos have widened immensely due to postmodernism. I believe that postmodernism is almost used as a simple excuse for artists and directors to produce whatever they wish and place whatever meaning they wish to what they create, and therefore enables them to challenge audience’s views on many things, such as religion and sexuality.

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