A definition of postmodernism that I found is: a late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism, which represents a departure from modernism and is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories. There are three different elements to a post modern text: 1.Challenging Metanarrative 2.Intertextuality / pastiche 3.Hyperreality

Challenging Metanarrative basically means to challenge the normal ideology of films and not following along with conventions. This can often include things such as having a lead female protagonist. An example of a film where this is used is ‘Kill Bill’ directed by Quentin Tarrantino. This film challenges the meta narrative as it has a female lead as ‘The bride’, not only is she the main female lead but she is strong and is a fighter in the film which isn't often seen as it is usually a male hero.

Intertextuality / Pastiche means that updated ideas are taken from older ideas. This means that a new film would be made and they would refer to the ideas that are in the old one or simply just make an updated film from the old one. You can also have a parody / satire to a film which means that it is making fun of the original product. Tributes are also used to show homage to older films and show respect. Films that are directed by Quentin Tarrantino are often described as pastiche, an example of this is ‘Django Unchained’ which has taken ideas from the old ‘Django’. This makes it postmodern as it is a pastiche film. Tarrantino often has pastiche elements to all of his films. Meaning that he takes elements from previous films that are made and uses updated versions of them in his recent films.

This means to make audiences aware of alternative realities and more often then not these alternative realities challenge our ideas. This can include things like breaking the fourth wall, playing with time. I believe that the film ‘Spaceballs’ is a perfect example of when the fourth wall is broken as the characters pick up the actual film that they are playing in and they forward it to the time that they are at and they start looking at themselves in the film. I’ll provide a link below: This film also includes elements of a parody because it’s obviously using the famous franchise of star wars. Here is a clip from ‘Spaceballs’ as an example

Banksy is the perfect example of postmodernism in art. This is because Banksy uses challenging ideas & contradicts modernism, as you can see with some of the pictures above, Banksy is somewhat mocking the modern culture that we have now. I know that the first sign of postmodernism was in the early 20 th century (Dada artists) who made fun of art establishment.

Where I got my information: