Notes for how Gorrilaz, The only way is essex and X-factor are POSTMODERN:
Gorillaz and The Only Way is Essex:
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Xfactor:
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1.Blurring the boundaries between Audience, Text & Producer:
Audience being able to vote and create the outcome of the ‘results’, audience being the producers? Deciding the text/acts and those who go through.
“The members of the audience know that they are also part of a structured reality show, and they embrace the artifice. They're told to boo when the judges say something they don't like, and to cheer when they approve, but they already know the routine. This is a church of the devoted, a place of happy ritual. They cheer the playback of the songs performed an hour ago because they look much more exciting on video, with the camera swooping and swirling around static performers.”
2.Simulacra
Simulation of the acts on screen... really the real thing? Acts on the programme really themselves?
“Wembley Arena, where the show is broadcast live, nobody was actually looking at Marcus, either; they were looking at the big screen, or at the tiny windows on their own phones. There were 10,000 people in a hangar together watching a giant television, and half of them were filming the television to watch later (fascinated by/preferring the simulation - The larger-than-life close-up of the singer has become more fascinating than the diminutive, silhouetted figure onstage (heightened simulation)” “They cheer the confetti falling from the ceiling: a wedding between audience and the TV, between simulation and the real.”
The difference between simulation and the real doesn't matter any more. The two are mashed-up, mixed-up, merged.
Simulation of the acts on screen... really the real thing? Acts on the programme really themselves?
“Wembley Arena, where the show is broadcast live, nobody was actually looking at Marcus, either; they were looking at the big screen, or at the tiny windows on their own phones. There were 10,000 people in a hangar together watching a giant television, and half of them were filming the television to watch later (fascinated by/preferring the simulation - The larger-than-life close-up of the singer has become more fascinating than the diminutive, silhouetted figure onstage (heightened simulation)” “They cheer the confetti falling from the ceiling: a wedding between audience and the TV, between simulation and the real.”
The difference between simulation and the real doesn't matter any more. The two are mashed-up, mixed-up, merged.
3.Vacuous
Narratives (empty, superficial, fame for fame's sake - no 'Grand-narrative')
Is there a purpose to xfactor... apparently making ordinary peoples wishes ‘come true’.
Is there a purpose to xfactor... apparently making ordinary peoples wishes ‘come true’.
4.Self
Reflexive (being aware of its construction/making the production process
apparent)
Contestants talking at the camera... making mistakes on camera (being shown) / bloopers, talking about their life in contrast to being on the show.
Contestants talking at the camera... making mistakes on camera (being shown) / bloopers, talking about their life in contrast to being on the show.
5.Voyeurism:
Cameras looking into the ‘lives’ of the contestants, live performances
Cameras looking into the ‘lives’ of the contestants, live performances
6.Style
over substance (Celebrity culture, superficial, vacuous, fame for fame's sake -
no 'Grand-narrative')
Producers of the show ensuring contestants look the part and sell to the audience by having an ‘image’ – costume, make up, lighting, flashing lights, smoke machines... style over the substance/singing talent?
Producers of the show ensuring contestants look the part and sell to the audience by having an ‘image’ – costume, make up, lighting, flashing lights, smoke machines... style over the substance/singing talent?
7.Intertextuality
(think about how other Media & Celebrity Culture re-enforces the Show)
Live performances
Reality TV
Music Videos
“Their rival is Marcus Collins, the first out gay man to reach the final; he performed on a real plane surrounded by short-skirted dolly birds in a pastiche of television's Pan Am, itself a pale copy of Mad Men, itself a nostalgia trip back to a 1960s that never was. The "mode rétro" discussed in Jameson's article - films in the style of an earlier time - now seems quaintly simple and straightforward, compared with this mise en abyme of frames within frames.” “ittle Mix, the first band to reach the final, is in essence a tribute act to Girls Aloud, the winners of another pop music reality show nine years ago;”
Live performances
Reality TV
Music Videos
“Their rival is Marcus Collins, the first out gay man to reach the final; he performed on a real plane surrounded by short-skirted dolly birds in a pastiche of television's Pan Am, itself a pale copy of Mad Men, itself a nostalgia trip back to a 1960s that never was. The "mode rétro" discussed in Jameson's article - films in the style of an earlier time - now seems quaintly simple and straightforward, compared with this mise en abyme of frames within frames.” “ittle Mix, the first band to reach the final, is in essence a tribute act to Girls Aloud, the winners of another pop music reality show nine years ago;”
8.Consumerism
(music, culture, relationships become a commodity or product)
The show is a massive product of consumerism, audience at home watching the programme, voting in by mobile or home phone, growing a liking or disliking to the contestants (developing a relationship / relation with that contestant)
The show is a massive product of consumerism, audience at home watching the programme, voting in by mobile or home phone, growing a liking or disliking to the contestants (developing a relationship / relation with that contestant)
9.Hyper-reality
(obviously this is crucially important: 'Reality TV?')
Are the attitudes/personalities of the contestants real... can the show really count as reality tv when the reality may be taken away by contestants being told/knowing how to behave.
“the home-made, hand-held digital video, the grainy, shaky video ready to be uploaded to Facebook as an authentic souvenir, the proof that they were actually there (Hyper-real)”
Are the attitudes/personalities of the contestants real... can the show really count as reality tv when the reality may be taken away by contestants being told/knowing how to behave.
“the home-made, hand-held digital video, the grainy, shaky video ready to be uploaded to Facebook as an authentic souvenir, the proof that they were actually there (Hyper-real)”
The Only Way is Essex:
1.Blurring the boundaries between Audience, Text & Producer:
The text can be argued to be the audience? (similarity)
1.Blurring the boundaries between Audience, Text & Producer:
The text can be argued to be the audience? (similarity)
2.Simulacra
Fake tanned
Fake tanned
3.Vacuous
Narratives (empty, superficial, fame for fame's sake - no 'Grand-narrative')
No real meaning within The only way is essex storylines, but it can be argued that some of the content can relate to the viewers or intrigue viewers of the show.
No real meaning within The only way is essex storylines, but it can be argued that some of the content can relate to the viewers or intrigue viewers of the show.
4.Self
Reflexive (being aware of its construction/making the production process
apparent)
5.Voyeurism:
6.Style
over substance (Celebrity culture, superficial, vacuous, fame for fame's sake -
no 'Grand-narrative')
television establishment's reaction to a bunch of spray-tanned amateurs waltzing off with a trophy more usually afforded to skilled craftspeople. (judgements of taste over populism)
television establishment's reaction to a bunch of spray-tanned amateurs waltzing off with a trophy more usually afforded to skilled craftspeople. (judgements of taste over populism)
7.Intertextuality
(think about how other Media & Celebrity Culture re-enforces the Show)
“features a cast of real people, living around Brentwood, Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell, going about their daily lives. They are brash, fake-tanned and young. And, most importantly, they conform to the stereotypes of Essex man and woman. He is flash, arrogant and sexually prolific. She is obsessed with beauty treatments and snaring the aforementioned Jack-the-lad. “
“asked it to make a British version of the hit US show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. The US show was inspired by teen drama The OC and borrowed many of its techniques to create a kind of real-life soap”
“The US show was inspired by teen drama The OC and borrowed many of its techniques to create a kind of real-life soap.”
“When Lime pitched the show to ITV originally, it described it as "Big Brother without the walls".”
“features a cast of real people, living around Brentwood, Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell, going about their daily lives. They are brash, fake-tanned and young. And, most importantly, they conform to the stereotypes of Essex man and woman. He is flash, arrogant and sexually prolific. She is obsessed with beauty treatments and snaring the aforementioned Jack-the-lad. “
“asked it to make a British version of the hit US show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. The US show was inspired by teen drama The OC and borrowed many of its techniques to create a kind of real-life soap”
“The US show was inspired by teen drama The OC and borrowed many of its techniques to create a kind of real-life soap.”
“When Lime pitched the show to ITV originally, it described it as "Big Brother without the walls".”
8.Consumerism
(music, culture, relationships become a commodity or product)
1.5 million viewers, In an age when TV fakery scandals have caused public uproar, why is a huge audience buying into something so obviously artificial?
winning a bafta award...
1.5 million viewers, In an age when TV fakery scandals have caused public uproar, why is a huge audience buying into something so obviously artificial?
winning a bafta award...
9.Hyper-reality
(obviously this is crucially important: 'Reality TV?')
The only way is essex can be argued to be reality tv or a fictional product. Some were not pleased about the programme not being real, whereas others didn’t mind that it wasn’t based on real events. It is hard to tell whether the only way is essex is even a reality tv show if it isn’t even based on reality...
“But this new hybrid genre – of which E4's Made in Chelsea is another example – is neither fiction nor reality but a strange marriage of the two. Are we supposed to believe it?”
“What you see on screen looks like drama but it is, the producers claim, based on the real lives of their subjects. "Story producers" plot out what they are going to film in advance after discussion with the cast”
“And now they are springing up all over our digital schedules amid press accusations that scenes are being "faked" and relationships are being "manufactured" to assist the narrative.”
"At the heart of this was always a desire to put in the audience's mind: 'Is it real? Are they acting? Is it scripted? Is it not?' and to leave that as an open question for them,"
The only way is essex can be argued to be reality tv or a fictional product. Some were not pleased about the programme not being real, whereas others didn’t mind that it wasn’t based on real events. It is hard to tell whether the only way is essex is even a reality tv show if it isn’t even based on reality...
“But this new hybrid genre – of which E4's Made in Chelsea is another example – is neither fiction nor reality but a strange marriage of the two. Are we supposed to believe it?”
“What you see on screen looks like drama but it is, the producers claim, based on the real lives of their subjects. "Story producers" plot out what they are going to film in advance after discussion with the cast”
“And now they are springing up all over our digital schedules amid press accusations that scenes are being "faked" and relationships are being "manufactured" to assist the narrative.”
"At the heart of this was always a desire to put in the audience's mind: 'Is it real? Are they acting? Is it scripted? Is it not?' and to leave that as an open question for them,"
Gorillaz:
1.Blurring
the boundaries between Audience, Text & Producer:
“They blur the boundaries of high and popular culture, once considered fixed, by placing popular music in a high cultural context just as the great surreal artist Marcel Duchamp might place a urinal in an art gallery.”
“They blur the boundaries of high and popular culture, once considered fixed, by placing popular music in a high cultural context just as the great surreal artist Marcel Duchamp might place a urinal in an art gallery.”
2.Simulacra
The gorrilaz cartoon band are the simulation of the real life human band, who don’t want to be displayed because they want it to be about ‘the music’ and not the image. This can be argued to be contradictory because they have made a band image with the simulated gorillaz band!
The gorrilaz cartoon band are the simulation of the real life human band, who don’t want to be displayed because they want it to be about ‘the music’ and not the image. This can be argued to be contradictory because they have made a band image with the simulated gorillaz band!
3.Vacuous
Narratives (empty, superficial, fame for fame's sake - no 'Grand-narrative')
4.Self
Reflexive (being aware of its construction/making the production process
apparent)
“but we all know cartoons can’t play music, however accustomed modern audiences are to suspending disbelief to enter fictional narrative worlds.”
“but we all know cartoons can’t play music, however accustomed modern audiences are to suspending disbelief to enter fictional narrative worlds.”
5.Voyeurism:
6.Style
over substance (Celebrity culture, superficial, vacuous, fame for fame's sake -
no 'Grand-narrative')
“an aesthetic style, something we can recognise in media texts, and also a state of cultural being,”
“In postmodern music, the cultural image surrounding the music, which reverberates through film, television, and other media, is all that matters”
“image now, music later’. The Gorillaz’ slogan, Reject False Icons, appears to confront this trend; challenging the audience to care about the music, rather than the performer”
7.Intertextuality (think about how other Media & Celebrity Culture re-enforces the Show)
eclectic style,
“Even for The Gorillaz’ target audience, whose edgy sensibility might reject the Pixar/Disney formula, Tarantino’s recent Kill Bill regenerated interest in the Japanese animé that informs Hewlett’s creations.”
“Far from being original, The Gorillaz simply cut up the pieces of established styles and genres, to create something new, a technique known in postmodernism as ‘bricolage’.”
“an aesthetic style, something we can recognise in media texts, and also a state of cultural being,”
“In postmodern music, the cultural image surrounding the music, which reverberates through film, television, and other media, is all that matters”
“image now, music later’. The Gorillaz’ slogan, Reject False Icons, appears to confront this trend; challenging the audience to care about the music, rather than the performer”
7.Intertextuality (think about how other Media & Celebrity Culture re-enforces the Show)
eclectic style,
“Even for The Gorillaz’ target audience, whose edgy sensibility might reject the Pixar/Disney formula, Tarantino’s recent Kill Bill regenerated interest in the Japanese animé that informs Hewlett’s creations.”
“Far from being original, The Gorillaz simply cut up the pieces of established styles and genres, to create something new, a technique known in postmodernism as ‘bricolage’.”
8.Consumerism (music, culture, relationships become a commodity or
product)
sociologically it describes the way society is increasingly characterised by consumerism, information technology, and globalisation
psychologically it describes audiences’ increasing ability to navigate and communicate in the technologically driven modern world, but also the resulting changes to our sense of identity
“audiences became fans of fictional characters; the ‘high concept’ shifted their interest into the profitable realm of cult fandom.”
sociologically it describes the way society is increasingly characterised by consumerism, information technology, and globalisation
psychologically it describes audiences’ increasing ability to navigate and communicate in the technologically driven modern world, but also the resulting changes to our sense of identity
“audiences became fans of fictional characters; the ‘high concept’ shifted their interest into the profitable realm of cult fandom.”
9.Hyper-reality
(obviously this is crucially important: 'Reality TV?')
philosophically, it suggests that ‘absolute truths’ are non-existent, and questions the concept of ‘reality’.
holographic technology
‘virtual personalities’ serving audiences with pop music from outside the shackles of the cult of celebrity.
“Whilst a fictional animated band might seem a shrewd move in an industry where bands are notorious for fall outs, diva demands and drink or drug problems, The Gorillaz website gives a full run down of the band members’ trials and tribulations. Murdoc, for example, has been in prison for ripping off a Mexican whorehouse, Noodle is one of 23 children trained as part of an elite military team, and good natured front man 2D is constantly battling bullying from Murdoc.”
“Philosophically, they pose questions around the nature of representation, performance and existence, as they play with modes and expressions of realism.”
philosophically, it suggests that ‘absolute truths’ are non-existent, and questions the concept of ‘reality’.
holographic technology
‘virtual personalities’ serving audiences with pop music from outside the shackles of the cult of celebrity.
“Whilst a fictional animated band might seem a shrewd move in an industry where bands are notorious for fall outs, diva demands and drink or drug problems, The Gorillaz website gives a full run down of the band members’ trials and tribulations. Murdoc, for example, has been in prison for ripping off a Mexican whorehouse, Noodle is one of 23 children trained as part of an elite military team, and good natured front man 2D is constantly battling bullying from Murdoc.”
“Philosophically, they pose questions around the nature of representation, performance and existence, as they play with modes and expressions of realism.”
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