If you are confused, yes, I put Christian Slater's face on Ozymandias' body using the face in a hole website. While the image is not going to be the topic of the whole piece, I think it is a good place to start.
The whole discussion on postmodernism we had in class on Thursday really started to make me think, does the term 'postmodern' really refer to the period of time that has been around since the beginning of the cold war, then became an established genre in the 80s? Is it about empty references to point to the lack of meaning, or uselessness of the reference itself? If that is the case then Greeks were extremely post modern. There were so many references to other stories or names thrown in here and there that do not pertain to the story at all, but the author thought it necessary in order to please the audience.
Since the conception of the United States, we, as a culture, have become more blatant with how we portray life and death in media. The book Watchmen was published in 1986/87 and here we see a true post modern piece. A book that takes a situation to a really large extreme, compared with the situation we face in the real world, and the guy who is trying to make the world right is also the bad guy, because he is doing it in a bad way. I think postmodern piece blur the line between bad guy and good guy using extreme situations as a parallel to out own lives in order to make a point about the state of society.
In this movie we see JD mastermind a series 'suicides' in order to get rid of the popular kids who made everyone else's life a living hell. Once he sees that the people doing these things are not really the problem, someone else just fills in the position, like there was a job opening.
The position of mega-bitch is now an archetype, and JD, who is too smart for his own good, realizes this. He uses the new mega-bitch to get everyone to sign a bunch of papers that end up being a suicide note. JD realizes that in order to get rid of the archetype for good. He must make an example of the school, by blowing them up. He is searching for a school where the hierarchy is gone and everyone is friends and can get along. Which for the 1980's i don't think that is an uncommon theme to be against. With the Cold War raging at the time It is easy to see the capitalist/ socialist commentary. JD wants the school to be socialist, and Victoria realizes that that is not a plausible idea and realizes that they just have to work with the system. She takes the position of Mega-Bitch(President) and decides to use her power to make people happier instead of how it was before.
While the reading totally misses the whole message of the movie. I think it makes some really good points about archetypes in the movie. I thought JD's speech patterns were different when watching the film, and the reading pointed out the crazy similarity between his character and Jack Nicholson, which I think is spot on. It adds a level to the craziness of his character as we are reminded of films like the Shining where Jack Nicholson isn't all there. The reading talks about how there is no romance in the movie. There is no romance we just cut to them post doing it. JD is supposed to be the romantic hero, like Ozymandias is supposed to be the brainiac super-hero. Both of these characters archetype is changed as we progress through the films, they become the bad guy, with a good cause. I think that these blurred lines between good and evil is postmodern. The complexity of these characters is further pushing our intellects to understand the complexity of our own world.
I like your point about the blurring of good and evil because I felt like I sort of wanted to like JD in the beginning but then i realized what he was all about and i hated him obviously. It's one thing to make a point, it's another to go to the extremes he did. I really do think his visions of a clique-less high school was impossible.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the blur between good and evil is a good way to look at postmodernism, at least in the case of Heathers. I find myself really struggling with postmodernism because it seems like such a hard thing to define, so it fits to associate it with a "gray area". My favorite thing about this blog is your comparisons of JD's ideals and Veronica's, and how they could been seen to reflect the Cold War struggle and the conflicting ideologies of the time. I really didn't think of the film in a bigger frame like that, but it fits.
ReplyDeletei liked the whole association with the watchmen i feel that both JD and the character that was the braniac in watchmen fit in a way perfectly together, both of them doing something bad for some higher justice in there mind, or something like that. overall i would have to agree with your closing statement more than anything, because the blurred lines of good and evil really do make you think about your own world as you said, and try to further make sense of it.
ReplyDeleteIt’s strange because from the very beginning, the film does not give us anything that is really positive about J.D. and yet we still find ourselves wanting to like him. I mean, in the first scene he pulls a gun on two other students and then a few scenes later he puts draino in Heather’s mug, clearly knowing that this will kill her. I just find it interesting that we can root for a character that is that bad. I think what the film does successfully though is build up our reservations about the character and the concerns we feel about his actions. We, like Veronica, reach a point where we realize that, while maybe it was exciting at first, what he is doing is incredibly wrong and psychotic.
ReplyDeleteI like how you attempt to break down post modernism and make interesting connections such as with the Greeks. I really don’t understand it that well with the exception of a few key characteristics. This brings me to the question I have for you. You asked a few weeks ago if Dr. Strangelove was post modern and I think professor McRae said that is was in a way. I what ways do you see Strangelove post modern? Are they the same ways that Heathers is? Is this blurring of good and evil that you mention also in Kubrick’s film?
I do still think that there is that blur of good and evil in Dr. Srangelove. The JD parallel would would be General Ripper. He is acting in a completely extreme way to correct what he feels is an injustice. He is an American War hero but we find out that his intentions are anything but good, here also we get a character who blurs that line between good and evil, Mandrake being the Veronica of the pair. He even commits suicide like JD does and Mandrake picks up the pieces the best he can.
ReplyDeleteThere are also the Americans, which in a time like the 60s, we want to route for to be the good guys, but they are all crazy, Dr. Strangelove's plan is totally sadistic but all of them, even the president goes along with it.
The fighter pilots without knowing carryout a world ending blow for nothing. Yes they thought they were doing the right thing, but wasn't everyone in the movie?
I don't know if moral ambiguity is postmodern, per se. It's more postmodern to point out through various aesthetic or narrative devices, that artistic and literary representations don't actually solve those problems. You're quite right that ancient Greek stories were highly referential--that's a definite characteristic of all traditional literature--it refers to tradition in order to establish itself within the larger culture, but also as a shared point of reference for the audience. References in traditional literature have meaning--they point to larger truths or shared understandings. Postmodern references point only to other references, other images, only as stylistic appropriation. Postmodernism takes those references out of the contexts that give them meaning. I think the comparison of JD to Ozymandias is terrific. I don't agree though, that Heathers asks the same moral questions as Watchmen does. They're both stylistically postmodern, but I don't think that JD has the moral agenda you seem to argue for. He claims he does, but unlike Ozymandias, nobody takes him seriously because he's ultimately too obviously a sociopath. His suicide has no effect whatsoever. Nobody even notices but Veronica, who doesn't care. Life at the school goes on exactly as ever, with the slight difference that Veronica probably will be nicer to people.
ReplyDeleteSince you're on the very interesting topic, I'd have liked to see you distinguish between archetype and stereotype. Archetypes are larger, and offer deeper cultural meanings. Stereotypes are narrow--roles and slots we assume that people fit into. Think perhaps of the stereotypes that make up the genre of 80s teen movies, and how Lehmann plays with them.
I just think that there has to be something more to post modernism than the aesthetics of how a story is shot or written. I think there is a thematic difference that involves the intentions of those perpetrating the action.
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