Postmodernism & The Office

 The Office and Postmodernism

For this week’s blog post, I decided to watch the video titled, The Office & Postmodernism. The Office is a fly-on-the-wall mockumentary parody about modern American office culture. The Office (US Version) airs in March of 2005 and instantly became a massive hit. The office looks at the lives of the works at Dunder Mifflin, a paper supply company located in Scranton Pennsylvania. The show is centered around Regional Manager, Michael Scott, played by the Emmy award winner, Steve Carell, is a single, middle-aged man who serves as an extremely boastful tour guide for the mockumentary. While at first glance, one might not notice the similarities between postmodernism, and the Office – it quickly becomes apparent after taking a closer look. For example, The Office utilizes three different styles of postmodernism, the style of filming, the use of intertextual references, and its presence on the internet. This is formally known as re-articulation, which is defined as the bringing of elements of traditional documentaries, such as single camera set up, and the feeling that a real story is being told. A Mockumentary, which is the style in which The Office utilizes, takes these ideas and elements and provides ironic humor. This is done by the practice of hyperawareness, which is frequently utilized throughout the show in different forms. The Office's use of intertextual references is one of the key elements of its postmodernism. The Office frequently makes references to different popular culture references from other TV shows and films, such as Battlestar Galactica, The Apprentice, and Lord of The Rings. These references are used to provide humor, as well as to push the story forward. These intertextual references are emblematic of the hyper-consciousness of postmodern popular culture, and as such creates an ironic knowingness in the audience as the views know what they’re referring to. Finally, The Office's presence on the internet through their website is a perfect example of postmodernism. In addition to the content created on the TV show, the creators developed a website that provides additional content for the audience. On their website, they have blogs supposedly written by the characters on the show, as well as games, videos and episode guides. It also offers online-only videos such as web-episodes and music videos that add an additional layer of content for the show. As a fan of The Office, I never realized the use of postmodernism throughout the film. While this concept is widely popular nowadays, the idea of watching an episode, then going online to experience even more content is a prime example of postmodernism. Overall, the office illustrates postmodernism with its use of intertextual popular culture references, mockumentary style, and their vast variety of Office related content available online. 

Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lzrZtEedgw&t=0s&list=PL8YtsooGljrlPkr7Ija54C6TtpCElse9j&index=16

Slashing Beauty Standards

I am going to discuss the concept of beauty standards and the effort made to break them, within this idea of cultural hegemony. Don't have any stomach rolls when you sit down. Make sure there is no cellulite in your thighs. Wait, are those stretch marks? Are you bikini season ready? These are some of the many things, due to the standard of beauty pushed by the mainstream media, that girls of all ages worry about daily, whether we like to admit it or not. How are we supposed to think any different when this idea of 'perfection' is plastered all over social media, magazine covers, television, and the like? 

We are all familiar with Victoria's Secret and the body types those models possess, but what message does it send to the 5'4, 140 pound, natural girl, when those are the only body types included in such a company? It sends a large message, one that led to supermodel and activist, Ashley Graham, speaking out on the topic at an NYC Launch party for a new Revlon cosmetic item. "For me beauty has always been beyond size. This is about using women who look different because we all look different and we need to praise that difference about us. That is what is beautiful, it’s that we’re all not created the same" (Kaitlyn Frey, People Magazine 2018). This came about after the 2018 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, and here you can find her initial reaction, along with others, to the issue at hand. 

Ashley Graham is a perfect example of someone breaking the standard of beauty that has been so widely acknowledged. She is not 5'11, she is not 115 pounds, she is not a size 2;  she has curves, cellulite, stretch marks, and is absolutely stunning in every sense of the word. The body positive movement has been around for quite some time, but just recently it seems like the trend is on the rise. Not only are people being vocal about the topic, but the drop in sales at Victoria's Secret, is reflective of women no longer settling for just one body type being deemed 'perfect'. "Just a few weeks ago, VS announced they were shutting down 53 stores after sales dropped 7 percent in its last quarter. This steep decline was a direct result of the brand refusing to listen to customers to include more bra sizes and feature more diverse and inclusive models in their campaigns, reports CNN" (Faith Brar, Shape Magazine 2019). 7% is really just a drop in the bucket for Victoria's Secret, but the need to close down 53 locations may have been somewhat of an eye-opener that VS needed.

This conflict has created some, but not necessarily significant change. Just last week, Barbara Palvin, a 25 year-old Hungarian model, was given her 'wings' and named a Victoria's Secret Angel. Her body type is different from other VS models as she stands at 5'9, weighing 120 pounds, and is between a size 2 and 4. Here is where you can see the varying opinions on her becoming an angel. Some people saw this as the brand being more inclusive, and others, including myself, saw this as the brand completely missing the point.

The attempt made by Victoria's Secret to be more inclusive was minimal, but it was there. Small strides hopefully will lead to larger ones, and maybe one day we'll see some stretch marks and cellulite in a VS magazine or walking down a runway. 

If we don't, there is always the clothing/lingerie/lounge-wear company Aerie, who has made a conscious effort to acknowledge and recognize all body types, as they are; no airbrushing or photo shop. Just women in their natural, god-given beauty. Oh, and a purchase made there versus VS, won't require taking out a small loan.

“That’s Just Their Style:” A Look Into Recycled Pop Electronic Music Icons like The Chainsmokers and Zedd.

Do you remember The Chainsmokers’ 2015 song “Roses”? Maybe not, but you’ve definitely heard 2017 The Chainsmokers’ (featuring Coldplay) hit “Something Just Like This.” If you listen to them, they are the same song with different lyrics. The “drop,” is not changed at all. It is completely the same. The melodies are strikingly similar in The Chainsmokers’ “Honest” when compared to their more popular song featuring Pop Artist Halsey, “Closer” as well.

The same could be said for producer Zedd’s “Stay” and “The Middle.” Although it isn’t as blatantly recycled as The Chainsmokers’, the two songs follow the same recipe of distorted female voice, broken down with ticking noises. The same formula is used in the remixes as well. If you listen to Zedd’s remix to Shawn Mendes’ “Lost In Japan,” it is the same distortion and ticking sound. Sure, it could just be that it is Zedd’s “style,” or “sound,” but it seems to be only slightly varied from “The Middle.”

Each of the songs mentioned had their time in the spotlight, and although their popularity isn’t for lack of trying, as they both found a formula that appeals to the masses and decided to not fix something “if it’s not broken.” This, however, directly relates to Culture Industry. As described by Prof. Eaton, 2000s pop electronic music provides an abundance of itself, in only slightly varied versions of the same song, standardizing what it means to be a popular electronic song in the late 2010s. At the risk of sounding like a mass culture theory post- these songs almost distract the audience into thinking that producers such as The Chainsmokers and Zedd are creating groundbreaking sounds, whereas there are plenty of artists (even electronic artists) who do not get the popularity in which they deserve because they do not fit the mold of the top 40. It seems as if every time a “new” song by artists that are just regurgitations of their older songs takes away from the creativity of it all.

Jay-Z, rap sensation, said it perfectly in his 2009 song “On To The Next One:”

Hov' on that new sh*t, [n-word] like "How come?"

[n-word]s want my old sh*t, buy my old albums
[n-word]s stuck on stupid, I gotta keep it movin'[n-word]s make the same sh*t, me I make The Blueprint

An obvious nod to his albums named The Blueprint, Jay-Z makes the point in which artists should not be discouraged from moving forward with their music. Furthermore, there is an almost infinite amount of music out in the world, and staying within the cheap recycled music within the top 40s is just staying within the dictated popularity from whomever has the largest amount of money to market their sound.

Succubus Sexy and Entertaining; Incubus... Terrifying and Rapey

The Evil Demon Seductress is a trope described by the YouTube channel Feminist Frequency as “Supernatural creature (i.e. demon, robot, alien, vampire) disguised as a sexy human female.” Commentator Anita Sarkeesian continues to give a large list of examples within the film industry in which this trope can be found. Popular examples included characters such as Jennifer Check (played by Megan Fox) from Jennifer’s Body (2009) and Mystique (played by Rebecca Romijn) from X2 (2003). It sounds harmless in that the characters make for good entertainment, but Sarkeesian identifies the underlying misogynist stereotype behind it which is that women primarily use their sexuality to manipulate, trick, and control men. She continues to add that this may give women the impression that their only social power is their sexuality.

The trope can be seen all throughout popular culture, but the video focuses on the film industry. Returning to the examples provided, we can see Jennifer from Jennifer’s Body (2009) is a cheerleader (an already hypersexualized trope) possessed by a succubus. For those unaware of what a succubus is, they are in, in demon mythology, female demons which seduce and have sex with men. In the case of the 2009 horror flick, they are killed as well. The succubus lures men in with her sexuality to ultimately kill them. There’s a perfect scene where this is portrayed, in which Jennifer lures a football player into the woods, seduces him, but they stop due to all the creatures in the wood staring at them. Jennifer realizes she’s lost his attention, and unzips her shirt to reveal that she is wearing nothing underneath. Whilst he has her attention once more, and ends up turning into her succubus form and kills him. This same theme repeats with her other victims. The next example used was Mystique from the movie franchise based off the Marvel comic series X-Men. The movie specifically named was X2: X-Men United (2003).  There is a scene in the movie where Mystique seduces a security guard. She brings him over a couple of beers, which are drugged, and eventually she lures him into the bathroom, where he finishes his beer and he becomes unconscious, and from there she can complete the mission, injecting him with iron.

There are many more examples of The Evil Demon Seductress, for example the POV horror anthology V/H/S (2012) includes a segment in which a vampire-like female  demon devours two men. Sarkeesian notes that this trope is popular in that it gives into objectifying females. This is appealing to the male audiences. It is not, however, rare to see this role switched, in which a male would seduce a female and ultimately kill her, but rare for it to be a male supernatural being unless we’re speaking of examples like The Incubus (1982). Most of the time, the sexual circumstances are depicted as rape instead of something seemingly consensual (aside from being murdered, of course), found in horror such as Rosemary’s Baby (1968).  Honestly, other than Rosemary’s Baby (1968) male incubus-like horror is not as popular. Interesting to note that the popularity of the evil demon seductress trope is contingent on the women being the offender, otherwise it would be a disturbing supernatural rape scene instead of a sexy woman seducing a man. Neither are positive things.

Mass Culture Theory in Youtuber Commentary

Commentator and YouTube Cody Ko has a video titled "It's Everyday? No. (Jake Paul reaction). I believe that in this, although I completely agree with the video, and am a fan of it, critiques an element of popular culture through the lens of mass culture theory. This is an older video, being at about a couple of years old. It is about YouTuber Cody Ko reacting to another YouTubers, Jake Paul,  music video to his song It's Everyday Bro. At the time of the video, around the summer of 2017, the song had made it to the number 2 spot on iTunes music charts, second to Justin Bieber's Despacito, making it popular culture. Cody Ko tears the music video apart humorously, but the video as a whole tends to have a gatekeeping elitist feel to it, similar to the ideas in Mass Culture Theory. Cody Ko compares the song to mainstream rap music, which would be the equivalent of someone comparing a teenager's drawing to a Renaissance painter. It focuses on Cody Ko's taste and aesthetics versus the taste and aesthetics of Jake Paul, and in the end devaluing Jake Paul's work. The YouTuber makes a list of things that shouldn't be rapped about, and talks about the quality and creativity that the lyrics are lacking. He says things such as "It's a sad day for music," and  "don't rap about YouTube. It's not cool" (Cody Ko 2017). Although I agree with Cody Ko on this, it is putting down one aspect of popular culture and devaluing it due to believing that the quality that would have been spent on any other mainstream rapper would have been immensely better. YouTuber Cody Ko addresses that music is much harder to make than it seems, and makes the comment: "This video was wrote, shot, and edited in one day... Yeah. It's pretty [explicit] clear, bro" (Cody Ko 2017). Which comes from the Mass Culture Theory of things that have value in them must take time and not be quick and easy. This video is satire, of course, but within that has some pretty elitist views that I would not have recognized at first.

Is Wolverine a Cow Boy?

When looking at cowboys from past generations when black and white films were popular there were many similarities in characters between Johnny from Rebel and Wolverine. The characters of cowboys tend to be demanding, separates himself from civilization, masculine, self sufficient and adventurous.  So when comparing cowboys traits to modern pop culture films such as the Wolverine from the 2017 film Logan, is he considered a cowboy? 

Logan was released in 2017 and directed by James Mangold. Wolverine was apart of the X men team and known for the steel knives that come out of his hands. He was apart of the X men team until the love of his life passed. He then became depressed and isolated himself from society and became alone wolf.  The leader of X men Professor X discovered a young girl with the same powers is in need of Wolverines help and thats when the trouble beings. Wolverine is also very self reliant and he is stubborn does not like to team up with anyone. As for Cowboys in the black in white films they also tend to keep to themselves as did Johnny from the short film The Rebel. The main character Johnny is always seeking off into the wild west by himself.  Even though the environments are different Wolverine represents characters of the cowboy series by showing the same characteristics such as masculine, protector, self sufficient, demanding, and dealing with enemies. 

In the short lecture of The Cowboy and Western in popular culture professor Eaton talks about the different types of cowboys such as seekers and explorers vs visitors and wanderers.These two main character Jonny and Wolverines are visitors and the trouble seems to find them. When Johnny was visiting a town for a stop he was targeted by other men the moment he arrived. As for Wolverine he was targeted the moment people knew he had super powers. These two characters from these two films are outsiders and other people felt threatened by them which caused the violence. If you really think about our generation today a lot of the movie characters in action films are in a way cowboys by the traits and characteristics they contain, they both just have different way of presenting the characters. 

Link, the Cowboy

In the Legend of Zelda series, the player acts through a character known as Link- the mute protagonist with an affinity for smashing jars. In the most recent installment for the Nintendo Switch, Breath of the Wild, Link wakes up in an unknown "frontier" that is overrun by evil.

The region that he wakes up in is known as The Great Plateau, where he meets a mysterious man who explains that he's been in stasis for 100 years, however Link has no memory of his purpose, and now he has to form a new identity, starting in the Great Plateau. This is fairly reminiscent of cowboys fleeing where they're from to forget their past, and start anew. The Great Plateau might as well be the Wild West. This is the first game in the series to be Open World- that is, a game where the player can decide when they wish the story to progress, and can explore the different regions/frontiers. In this game, Link has to acquire resources, clear out enemies to make things safer for the people that still live in Hyrule, and he even gets weapons and can ride a horse. Cowboys are known to bring order to a lawless land, which in his absence, Hyrule has become. The enemies may as well be the same "foreign invaders" that cowboys defend against, as well as the corruption- Calamity Ganon- that has taken the castle, and left Hyrule with no true leaders which . Civilization as Link knew before he went into stasis has been erased, and all that's left is small towns and groups that are incredibly spaced out and affected differently by what is going on, which is representative of the towns on the frontier. Link has to move through the frontiers and bring order and law back, has weapons and resources that he collects through his journey, and protects against external and internal threats to the land- Link is an elven cowboy!

Robin Hood, a Cowboy?

Robin Hood

Robin Fitzooth otherwise known as Robin Hood was on a personal quest to bring justice to a corrupt Nottingham and Prince John along with his crooked sidekick the sheriff. All very cowboy like behaviors right?
Eventually Hood left Nottingham and moved into near by Sherwood Forest to conceive a plan to right the wrongs of Nottingham.  Hood was an excellent archer and a would get justice for the murder of his father and the mismanaged authority.  The story and character of Hood is good verses evil and as in many other tales good prevails.  Hood was not a typical iconic looking  "Cowboy" wearing a wide brimmed hat with a gun, and stirrups.  Was he a cowboy wearing tights?  A spoof was made of this tale in later years; Robin Hood: Men in Tights, a must see clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G59JnM4JKNQ , does this make him less manly?   In fact the only similarity between a "Western Cowboy" would be getting around on a horse.  Hood in the story carried out the same duties associated with "Cowboy".   As in any good story after good triumphs over evil, the hero gets the girl.  This tale is no different, ending with Hood and Lady Marian

The marriage of Lady Marian and Sir Robin Hood

This tale is no different, ending with Hood and Lady Marian living happily every after.

The Story of Robin Hood 

https://youtu.be/u99fcv16-7U
Image of Robin Hood
 https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS4PuJ86NyqfpwrFRM4WSblAZZR8i6AzJcW1AAMzzPWH5zTRhicGA
Image of Hood and Lady Marian
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSsCWtVffgOHaQ-4NcFFnnI9YYmCV_RQBic7hXtbRYb2MBp7Snp1g
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G59JnM4JKNQ

Frank Castle, Cowboy.

Netflix’s The Punisher series is based off of Marvel comic character Frank Castle, who is an anti-hero who is seeking revenge with whoever was responsible for his family’s murder. For the sake being of this blog post, I will be specifically referring to the Frank Castle which is depicted in the Netflix series, not the comic version of him. I believe the series parallels that of the Western genre.

Frank Castle (i.e. the Punisher) is a cowboy. He embodies that of a hyper-ideal image of masculinity in the Western sense. He is, as the cowboy criteria within the “Cowboy and Western in Popular Culture” video describe, white, male, masculine, and self-sufficient. For physical attributes, the Punisher has a very deep voice, almost to the point where it sounds a bit hoaky. He’s brooding and muscular, miserable within his introspection as he becomes a brick wall without emotion (the peak of toxic masculinity entering around the fact that processing grief and emotion in a healthy manner would be a sign of weakness). As for the Westernization, Frank Castle may not have nationalism in the sense that he feels as if he has been failed by his country, but before the tragedy in his life, he was a proud marine. So, in this sense he would make more of a Jesse James (Jesse James: The Outlaw) than a Jace Pearson (Tale of the Texas Rangers Radio Program). He’s the lone wolf trope who works alone because he feels as if danger is around him so often that he wouldn’t want to bring anyone else down with him. He is, then, surrounded by danger in that it is him versus common criminals, corrupted authority figures within law enforcement, or super villains (within the Marvel universe, of course).

Frank Castle’s character mirrors many famous tropes of Westerns. He has a code-of-honor so to speak, in that he does not kill women or children. How admirable. It is a little wishy-washy in the sense, but within masculinity, there is that obligated sense of responsibility to protect women and children, or, those who are weak (We’ll save the feminist argument against this tired ideology of viewing women as fragile flowers for another time). But, he does embody the romantic notion of fighting for a cause, and to defend the damsel in distress, and take her away from the uncivilized danger in which she finds herself in and take her to a utopian place where they can live quietly. Probably on a ranch or something.

Although Castle is not equipped with a horse or cowboy hat, these icons are swapped for a bullet-proof vest with a skull spray painted onto it, and any car that can easily be hijacked.

He roams the country due to being an outlaw, thus moving through the new frontiers of America, and once he “rides into town,” he takes justice from both internal and external threats into his own hands. There is no shortage of gun violence, however. There are even a few scenes in which the Punisher finds himself in a duel.

Image Sources:

https://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/marvel/278737/the-punisher-season-2-complete-marvel-universe-easter-eggs-and-reference-guide

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/frank-castle-fully-unchains-the-punisher-in-latest-trailer-for-season-2

Indiana Jones the Cowboy

The typical Western movie takes place in the Wild West, has a cowboy that saves the day, and usually includes and intense standoff at the end of the film. These cowboy movies are not made as much as they once were, but there are still many movies that follow the same movie of a typical western. One of these movies is Raiders of the Lost Ark with the character of Indiana Jones. The 1981 classic stars Harrison Ford as archeologist Indiana Jones who goes on an adventure against the Nazis to find the Ark of the Covenant. The movie is not a western and Indiana Jones is not a cowboy, but many of the themes and characteristics line up. One similarity is the idealized man and romance with the attractive woman. Young Harrison Ford can be described as what women want and what men want to be like and he is paired up with an attractive female counter part in the film. Early on in the movie she is kidnapped by the notorious Nazis and throughout a good chunk of the film he is attempting to rescue her. This lines up right with a cowboy in a Western because the cowboy is usually a young, good looking actor like Clint Eastwood who is trying to save a pretty girl from the clutches of evil. Another parallel is that he is trying to restore justice and manages to escape many dire situations. In the movie the Nazis want to use the Ark for personal gain, but Indiana wants to see it preserved and be kept safe in a museum. During his journey to see this happen he is often trapped in what appears to be the end of his voyage, but somehow he always manages to escape in miraculous fashion. This is the same in cowboy movies as the cowboy always prevails when it looks like the end and also always is trying to do the right thing. The most obvious example of the typical cowboy and Harrison Ford's character lining up is the physical appearance. Just like the typical cowboy he is white, masculine, self efficient, and even shares the common grizzled beard. To go along with these traits Indiana is also an American who is fighting foreign threats like Nazis and Egyptian natives much like a cowboy who often fights foreigners like Native Americans. The last similarity that I'll discuss is the shared adventure aspect. The cowboy is always on a wild thrill ride that brings him all over the place. Indiana Jones is on a constant adventure in this film, he is in many different countries, and always finds trouble fighting on villains. I can not think of a movie in recent history that is more closely related to a cowboy in a western than Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.