Supernatural and Post Modernism

How can we see this text as being Post Modern

Recap1. Strinati has 5 ways of spotting a postmodern text –

what are they?2. What concepts did we look at on the big A3 sheet?3. What was the name of the Supernatural episode

you watched?4. What is the difference between parody and

pastiche?5. What are some techniques a text could use that

would make it self aware?6. How can a text be self reflexive?

Jensen: “They put make-up on us!”

Jared: “I think I know what this is. It’s a TV show”

Man: “We’d have to blow off the scene where they sit on the Impala and talk about their feelings”Bob: “Hah! You answer the hate mail!”

Jensen: “Why would anybody want to watch our lives?”Jared: “According to the interview, not that many people do”

Jensen: “You’re the actress that pays Ruby”

Jensen: “Me and Jared are going to do some actor stuff”

Jared: “Monsters, ghosts, demons, they’re all pretend”

Mischa: “Every get that feeling, someone’s in the back seat?”

Jensen: “What kind of a douche bag names a character after himself?”

Bob: “Guys, you can’t come to work on poppers and smuggle kidneys in from Mexico and make up lines as you go. You can not make up your own lines!”

Eric: “Got us the front page of Variety though, did you see that?”Bob: “Variety?! But Mischa…”Eric: “Yeah…”

StrinatiThe breakdown of the distinction between culture and society. (mediatisation)

They are in a show, in a show and they refer to other shows. They google themselves to find out who they are as they don’t know and need to use the media to learn/define themselves but we know that this is an interpretation of the real society so is not accurate. The boys do not like that they are celebrities and are uncomfortable with their celebrity image as it did not reflect who they thought they were. ult of Celebrity – we buy into the flashy house and great lifestyle, It is also made fun of in the programme

An emphasis on style at the expense of substance and content.

Use of make up on the actors – needs to look good/ at the expense of talent but they were not that happy about it. Good looking car but it breaks down and is not practical!!!!. The glass and other set/prop features are easily breakable. In the show within the show the boys can not act!!! They make lots of mistakes. Jaded has a pet Alpaca – celebrities need to have weird pets to be a ‘celebrity’ – JB had a monkey, MT had a tiger. In J house there is a massive pic of himself on the wall, really big, expensive as is the rest of his house – he has the celebrity house but he is not comfortable in it

The Breakdown of the distinction between high culture (art) and popular culture

The painting of J is in the style of Andy Warhol – a very, very famous artist who personifies this postmodern idea (taking common objects and using them to create new forms of art – blending high art with pop culture).

Confusion over time and space

The two Js are very confused about the space/reality they are in. Is this the director making a subtle point about our world and how we can no longer work out time and space. When the two Js come through the window – this is where the ‘space’ changes and the confusion beginsThen/Now – use of titles to show that the time changes and we need to know what has come before in order to understand the now.Confusion over location – show is set in America but is filmed in Canada. One of boys even says ‘we are not even in America’ (links to culture vs society – Perception vs Reality)

Decline of Meta-Narratives It does have meta narrative - it mostly has a traditional narrative structure (beginning, middle and end) but it is not completed self contained. You do need some prior knowledge to make sense of it all.The Meta Narrative of Religion is extremely important in the narrative – characters are fighting the forces of good and evil (angels and demons) and this has become more important in the TV series in the last 6 years. Linked to the growth of religion in America

Media Concepts

Media Language

It draws attention to the fact that it is constructed – we see the set, use of the clapper board naming itself, we see the green, ‘Freeze Frame’ ‘Cut’, they all play themselves, we see the cameras, we hear them talking about re-setting the window stunt and talking about the combat work. Done in a very mocking style. We see them reading from scripts and acting very badly. The narrative only works if we understand that it is a construction. We are very aware of SFX – angel wings. The storyline only works by showing that the text is constructed and opening criticises it by mocking the ‘real’ world of the construction.

Genre Supernatural is a TV Drama but there are elements of horror, comedy and Sci-fi. This is a hybrid of a number of different genres – very pomo. The narrative is not self contained but carries on across a number of episodes like a soap opera or mini series – pomo but less so. Horror TV Drama which is a new genre!!! Normally on done in Film. The audience is unable to predict what will happen next as the characters appearing in ‘reality’ is unsuspected.

Representation Angels are represented as bad or not always good. Men are meant to be big and strong but Mischa cries like a little girl when he is murdered. J and J as heroes – They are big and strong but they are very confused and don’t act as positive role models, are not always successful. In general though the representation offered would not be the unacceptable for the audience. The heroes are aggressive and are shown drinking copious amounts of alcohol. The programme delights in creating stereotypes of actors which is a comforting expectation of the audience – however, the characters opening criticise their own lifestyle, which creates comedy. Referencing celebrity life-styles and parodying them. Some elements are very traditional however

Ideology Religion is a key motivating factor in the narrative and it is accepted as normal. The view of religion is slightly challenged by the idea of bad angels but in general Religion is seen as correct and normal – not so pomo. It is very dangerous to challenge people’s ideologies as it can make them not like the film/TV programme

Narrative Normal linear narrative but is confusing for someone unfamiliar with the show. It does play around with the idea of hyperreality (the narrative confuses the audience as they are often ‘lied’ to – never really knowing along with the characters which is the ‘real’ reality.)Complex story - this is becoming more normal – audience like it, makes the audience want to keep watching ( audience like and can ‘handle’ a more complex narrative)

Audience It expected that the audience is knowledgeable – to understand the jokes you needed to know the series eg “We are not actors we are hunter”, the boys were very happy to see Cas (Mischa), Jared is married to ‘Ruby’ who was a bad characters from the last series (and they are also married in ‘real life’), the director (Bob Singer) really did name a character after himself). The audience is also ‘active’ – they would know about the real lives of the actors (Jared is married, Jensen was on Days of Our Lives’). It is expected that the audience has a high level of engagement with the text due to its complex narrative, and serial nature (you are expected to watch the whole series – extended narrative runs thru the whole series). References to popular culture/other TV ‘Punked’ and that its audience is familiar with new media technology – Twitter (Mischa sends tweets all the time)

Parody Horror Convention – Mischa tweets about getting that feeling someone is in the back seat and there is!!! TV Programmes in general – plastic knife, breakable glass, fake spell ingredients, the car s, the use of scriptsCelebrity Culture – stupid charity events to attend, Alpaca pet, huge mass house with lots of stuff in it(Style over Substance) “What are you Jay Z or something” pictures of themselves all over the place (and in the style of famous art works), use of magazines and ‘Youtube’ that feature the actor, the boys are very shocked at the size and content of the trailer (important perk for actors)Making fun of themselves – the lifestyle they lead, the money that they have, joking around with the idea that the boys had had a falling out, their bad, bad acting skills

Pastiche The MatrixAndy Warhol painting – copied but made to seem importantBut mostly parody

Self Aware/Intertextual

Talking about TV editing terms quite openly – Freeze Frame, We could see the real set, clapper board, use of make up, talking about how it would take 9 hours to re set the window stunt, we see the markers on the floor of where the actors are meant to stand, We hear them say ‘Cut’ a lot, the boys totally can not act!!!!, We meet the stunt man (so we know that they stunts are fake – including the fight) We see all the behind the scene people – directors, producers etc, the number of takes it takes for some scenesThey boys are always talking about how it is a TV show “I think I know what this is. It is a TV show” “ You’re the actress that plays Ruby” “Me and Jared are going to do some acting stuff” “They put make up on us”References to The Godfather, Dracula, Days of our Lives, Variety Magazine, Supernatural – the Magazine

Self Reflective

Are they commenting on Twitter and how silly it is and how as a society we have become very shallow and self centredInternet as the source of all knowledge – that is where they go first to find out about themselvesIs it making a comment about the place of religion in American society – the early series had no reference to religion but series 5 was all about finding God who was missing and series 6 is all about angelsIs it also looking at religion as no longer being seen as clearly ‘good’ – people are doing things in the name of religion that are truly bad but does the ‘ends justify the means’

Baudrillard• Truth • Simulacra• Hyperreality

Confusion over the ‘real’ world and the ‘made up’ world – the boys think they are in a made up world but we know it is the real world.The world is a totally Hyperreality for the boys – nothing is real (props, houses, life style, marriage etc)Credit cards as simulacra – not real! Dean throws away one card when it is declined and simply uses another one. They think nothing of paying £100,000 for something onlineThe need to reject their Truth (belief in the Super Natural, where they are) in order to survive in the world and get out.But the ‘Truth’ surrounding religion is strongly believed in which Baudrillard would not like

LyotardGrand Narrative

It does have a Grand Narrative – Religion the boys are fighting a religious war – this is not a Pomo thing!Still have the baisc narrative running through it (again not pomo), Good does win out in the end so the Grand Narrative it upheld (not pomo)BUT most pomo texts do still have a Grand Narrative or traditional Narrative structure. It seems that as a society we are not ready to reject this idea and this is a reoccurring criticism of Post Modernism

Not just a one off…

• Changing Channels (2009) – Sitcoms, KnightRider, Japanese game show, CSI, Greys Anatomy and even commercials

• Fan Fiction – parodies itself and its own fans• Book of the Damned

Names…• Blade Runners• Thin man • Mother Little Helper• Stairway to Heaven• Do you Believe in

Miracles• Bad Boys• The Purge• Meta Fiction• Remember the Titans• Taxi Driver

• The Hunter Gamers• About a Boy• Paint it Black• Ask Jeeves• There’s no place like

home• Paper Moon• Reichenbach• We Need to Talk About

Kevin• LARP and the Real Girl

Homework

• Watch a TV Drama of your choice from the list you were given

• Make notes (on the sheet provided) about how it is post modern according to Media concepts. Give specific and detailed examples

• On the back of the sheet make notes about how it is pomo based on the other ideas we have studied. Again give specific and detailed examples