To what extent can the set episode of life on mars be seen as postmodern? (15 marks)
Postmodernism is the idea that the imagined state of a perfect world is in actual fact impossible and that society is fragmented. Some of the key features of postmodernism are intertextuality, hybridity, bricolage, parody and/or pastiche, irony and hyperreality.
Life on mars could be seen as postmodern because it conforms to some of the features of postmodernism. One of the features presented in life on mars is intertextuality. Intertextuality is a reference in a media text via another media text which some of the audience can understand depending on whether they have the knowledge of the reference. Life on mars represents intertextuality through a number of things such as the david bowie song ‘life on mars’ which is deliberate and overt intertextuality. The intertextuality of the song ‘life on mars’ can also link with the postmodern feature irony. It is ironic how the song title is the same as the programme title, this is why it is deliberate intertextuality because the producers purposely made the reference. Another intertextual reference in life on mars is the ‘high noon’ poster that is in on the wall of Gene Hunt's office, this is known as subtle intertextuality because it's not very noticeable.
Life on mars also conforms to the postmodern features genre hybridity and bricolage. Genre hybridity is when a media text (e.g programme, film) has more than one genre. Life on mars combines the conventions of a crime drama and science-fiction.Life on mars shows the genre hybridity of crime drama and science fiction through scenes such as the interrogation with a suspect at the beginning of the episode, and at the end when we see the man trying to communicate with Sam. Having a genre hybridity tv programme will enhance the audience number as people may be into at least one of the genres. Bricolage is a postmodern features and is also presented in life on mars. Bricolage is the ‘debris’ of other media texts combined into another one. This is shown in life on mars because of the recent past which gives the audience nostalgia.
Baudrillard has a theory which backs up postmodernity. He argues that the media creates hyper-realities. What is encoded as ‘real’ is not ‘real’ but instead a ‘simulacrum’ which offers us a hyper-reality that we accept as real because we are so consistently exposed to it. This theory can be linked to life on mars because we are shown Sams typical view of the 1970s.We are constantly exposed to the stereotypical representation of 1970s which is also why Sam sees manchester in the past the way he does. This can link in with the idea of blurred boundaries between fiction and reality. In life on mars there is a blurred boundary between fiction and reality as the … from present day goes into Sam's imagined version on 1970s to push him in the directions of getting out of this unconscious state.
I would agree that life on mars is postmodern because it meets many of the features of a postmodern media text, such as the use of parody and pastiche as the programme can be seen to parody popular crime dramas of the 1970s like ‘The sweeney’.
Someone might argue life on mars isn't postmodern and is in actual fact a modernism programme. This might be because of the modern society views sam portrays when he is in the 1970s. In the 1970s women didn't have as many rights as men did so when sam asks annie for her input into the case, he is enforcing modern ideas into a stereotypical society.
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