Take one contemporary film of your choice and critically analyze how Essay

Take one contemporary film of your choice and critically analyze how it might be considered postmodern - Essay Example Post-modernist films are characterized by self-referentiality, pastiche, intertextuality, and parody (Hill 2000, p.93). The features of post-modernist films may be identified in a film’s plot, casting/characterization, form, or visual theme. Post-modernist films may also play like a collage of stereotypes and tropes and may mix different types of media. A closer analysis of the film Kick Ass helps to identify its integrated postmodernist traits. The film Kick Ass provides a fine parody of superhero films and the genre. The film comments ironically on the superhero genre and the conventions it encompasses. It has spoof written all over it. Frederic Jameson (1988, p.15), identifies both the use of Pastiche and parody as a significant characteristic in post-modernist art. He notes that â€Å"one of the most significant features or practices in postmodernism today is pastiche† (Jameson 1988, p15). He notes that both pastiche and parody involve the mimicry of other styles and particularly the stylistic twitches of other styles. In her article, Linda Hutcheon argues that post-modernism main interest is parody. She references the use of parody in postmodern architecture to stress her point by stating â€Å"parodic references to the history of architecture textually reinstate a dialogue with the past and inescapably with the social and ideological context in which architecture is and has been both produced and lived† (Hutcheon 1986, p.181). Kick-Ass pokes fun at the entire superhero genre. The film encompasses its parody through the humor it employs within key stages that demystify the invincibility of a superhero. For example, the film parodies from the superhero film Spider-Man. While Spider-Man is able to take giant leaps across buildings, Kick-Ass almost attempts to do the same but inescapably gets terrified and retaliates. Unlike in other superhero films where the

Literature Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 7

Literature Review - Essay Example In the study, the theorists demonstrated the correlation between what residents in Chapel Hill, North Carolina considered as the most important election issue, and what the national and local news media reported as important (McCombs, Shaw & Weaver, 2013). Through the comparison of the salience issues in the news with the perceptions of the public, the researchers determined the extent to which media determines public opinion. Walter Lippmann first published this theory in the Public Opinion. In this publication, Lippmann developed the connection between the mind of people and worldly events. Later in 1963, Bernard Cohen showed that though the media was not powerful in influencing people on how to think, it played a crucial role in providing the public with issues. This idea led to the development of the agenda setting theory by Shaw and McCombs (McCombs, Shaw & Weaver, 2013). The agenda setting theory is based on two important assumptions. The first assumption is that the media and press do not reflect reality. The theory considers the two entities to shape and filter reality. The second assumption is that media concentration on subjects and issues leads the public to consider these issues as important (Dearing & Rogers, 1996). The most imperative aspect of the theory is the period of the agenda setting function of mass communication. It is vital to note that different media have different potentials to set the agenda. The agenda setting theory is dependent on the cognitive abilities of audiences and users of mass media. This means that agenda setting takes place through a cognitive method called accessibility. The higher the frequencies of news outlets focus on an issue, the higher the probability of the issue to become accessible to audiences. When audiences and user of the news media are asked the most important issue or problem facing them, they are likely to answer according to their