Dominic Strinati - "Fetishised Hyperreality" where the simulation has lost all connection or objective with reality.
"Postmodernism tries to come to terms with and understand a
media-saturated society. The mass media, for example, were once thought
of as holding up a mirror to, and thereby reflecting, a wider social
reality. Now that reality is only definable in terms of surface
reflection of the mirror." - meaning society has become subsumed
within the mass media, the term implies that there is a reality outside
the surface simulation of the media which can be distored. This is the
issue that postmodernist point out - how can we tell what is right if we
no longer know what is real?
"Postmodernism
is sceptical of any absolute, universal and all-embracing claim to
knowledge and argues that theories or doctrines which make such claims
are increasingly open to criticism, contestation and doubt." (Strinati) This links to Jean-Francois Lyotard's theory of Micro-Narratives where narratives are unpredictable which can often leave the audience open to interpret the reasoning or purpose of the text.
"Media
images encourage superficiality rather than substance, cynicism rather
than belief, the thirst for constant change rather than security of
stable traditions, the desires of the moment rather than the truths of
history." - meaning postmodern TV & film have become dominated
by surface style and imagery rather than deeper underlying themes, which
might relate to the "realities" of society.
Carla Kaplan (1987) identifies
that music videos abandon narrative structure, they make no attempt to
tell a story instead the power of a music video lies in the collage of
images mixed with music - there is no deeper meaning or purpose it.
Frederic Jameson agrees with this calling it "Depthlessness"
of contemporary cultural production - sees it as superficial cutting
& pasting of ready-made images and styles which are abstracted from
their true origins and reused in meaningless new combinations in the
trivial commercialized space created by mass culture which will wear out
with time. "The writers and artists of the present day will no
longer be able to invent new styles and worlds... only a limited number
of combinations are possible, the most unique ones have been thought of
already."
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