Post-Modern Media - Essay Example

Post-modernism has cut off the present from all futures. The daily media add to this by cutting off the past. Which means that critical opinion is often orphaned in the present?” John Berger (English Painter, b.1926) This question addresses the definitional and historical premises behind post modernism and its influence on modern media and advertising. Visionaries like C. Wright Mills (1959) were looking ahead when they described the post-modern period as one where there would be a growth of tertiary sector and the services industry would boom in the era of multi nationals and a rise in capitalism. However the booming freemarket would be unable to boast of free speech and democratic values in the guise of political and social turmoil. For Doherty (1991)post modernism as a phenomena feared human progress and its realities. Other writers have said that this era is a time of uncertainty and doubt (Stacey 1990) and a melting pot of pluralism, democracy and information and consumerism. (Stacey 1990) The post modern person has a chance to see different beliefs and cultures and experience them through the media and information technology. (OHare and Anderson 1991).Shorter (1975) had some more interesting observations to make pertaining to the post-modern era when he said that the “nest” and become nuclear(in context of the family and children’s attitudes).This was the time of social change and feminism.Particularly in terms of newly evolving single-parent, surrogate-mother, and gay and lesbian families.Shorter (1975) explains thus that this was the time when marriage and children were not an social and economic necessity for the newly emancipated woman. The media in particular reflecting the cultural and familial diversity. (Stacey 1990) So this age comes with its packages of closeness and aids to overcome the physical barriers/social barriers through the media and information technology.Shorter (1975) has identified this with “anonymous intimacy”as people scramble to find emotional depth due to family ties becoming more distant through TV talk and advice shows and texting and chatting.Tehchnology has blurred the divide between home and work as the internet brings home the world.So are we “what we know” ? Or has this information overload dominated our culture long enough.Is the candid cam and Reality TV(big brother and the like) the emblem of the Post modern era?In a way it is true.The media is offering strangers to meet up and every individual has the chance of following the “American Dream” and achieve their fifteen minutes of fame via live television and game shows. This is an age of post-modern relativism and pluralism which has replaced the vials the generally accepted universal principles.More importantly critics argue whether Postmodern media actually represents a deteriorated renaissance. (Anderson 1990).Cable TV with its blessings has brought it a medley of cultures but this is not a melting pot.Rather it’s an assorted jumble of pots and pans clinking together in a box. Critics have made some profound reflections on the modern media as ignoring intellectual or aesthetic values promoting an empty and shallow culture and essentially a sign of quasi-intellectualism .However proponents of pluralism and a strong influence of post modernism insist that the modern media is a bulwark of the modern liberal man with his right of freedom of speech.(Anderson 1990) What is essential to distinguish may be how we would like to defend other people’s point of view without defending or accepting their point of view.This proposition alone makes my mind wander to Jerry Springer’s “ Final thought of the day” at the end of a violent and emotionally charged show.Or how Simon Cowell and Howard Stern have proved popular for their blatantly and at times disturbing comment to participants on their show.So is diversity/pluralism of expression devoid of relativism the way ahead for the modern media? An important influence of post modern influence on the media can be seen on the movement of second wave feminism which will become a dominant theme of my essay.However before going to that its would be worth pointing out here the concept of the modern tabloid TV and print media.An important query in this aspect is whether the Media is giving too much importance to what Paris Hilton ate for dinner last night or the sexual preferences of Britney Spears. As Norman Mailer has famously put it, The sickness of our times for me has been just this damn thing that everything has been getting smaller and smaller and less and less important, that the romantic spirit has dried up, that there is no shame today. Were all getting so mean and small and petty and ridiculous, and we all live under the threat of extermination. The role of postmodernism in media aimed at women Coming to the role of post-modern media in the making or breaking of the feminist struggle is worth pointing out that there was a clear cut absence of women’s role in the media prior to these successive feminist movements and there was hardly any mention of domestic and sexual violence ,concepts which women now increasingly began to find themselves studying in legal and sociology courses.The recent Hollywood movie” Mona Lisa Smile” shows strong undertones of feminist depictions with in the British Academia in the 1950s in which a feminist "infiltrates" Wellesley college and is not very popular in the beginning for her freedom based ideas. The movie portrays the dislike of the British society of woman choosing her own husband and her own life. The influence of feminist ideals is very strong even today as the revolution of gender power relations has led to a media war. The world of advertising, fashion, news media, and the entertainment industry in Britain portrays women as equal to men. However at the extreme side of commercialism and exploitation of women it is indeed disturbing to see women go berserk over a man wearing “Axe” body spray or using a certain brand of razor. It is surprising how even in British advertising a bottle of Pepsi makes a wholly unattractive man very desirable. The biases against women continue with the likes of James Bond and his parody Austin Powers where no matter how beautiful or intelligent the sidekick woman or the vamp is, she has to give in to the seduction of good old James Bond.These are all disturbing images even in modern Britain. The media has been successful in creating a world where it is easy for women who are single to be divorced or have babies out of wedlock, go to Pubs and be the proverbial “corporate vampires”. The modern woman as shown as by the media can be a super mum and a high class executive at the same time ,raising children and holding down high powered jobs.The British media makes images of the high street fashion girl running down oxford street and the highly paid executive lawyer coming down Chancery lane in designer shoes and coats. It has done much discrimination to the working class battered women though who are almost always funny looking or black and will own big houses. Black women will always be super slim with amazing bodies in a “Beyonce” like fashion and show a powerful countenance. .So is the media cashing in on the ideals of Post Modern feminist ideals in the wake of fake idealized imagery? It is true that these portrayals are ideal as they build on the issues feminists have raised for decades now that women should be able to fulfil work and family expectations without marriage, that the law will always support a battered woman and empower her and the society will support her; that women of colour are not all servants or maids. This glossy idea of women in the new age of Britain looks very promising to say the least. The media-makers thus cleverly appeal to the British feminist ideals and women with a feminist sensibility without provoking the rage and criticism of feminists. In the modern British Society although you don’t see Advertisements with women endorsing washing powders and looking like the perfect housewives anymore the crass commercialism involving Girl Power is also taking a toll on the true ideals of feminism. The advertisers have tended to ignore reality and made women consumers (of fashion, media, and entertainment) of fashion have a feel good image which sadly might not be true. Sexual harassment at the work place and peer pressure for young girls to get married or have sex is still inherent in this supposedly liberal society. The appeal to feminized women makes them a good and targetable segment of the British Society. However in all these antics I personally see the demise of the essence of what the Second Wave struggle of feminism sought to achieve. While women’s independence and control and feminist-driven issues have become commercial gimmicks the aim of the subversion of the patriarchal society has been lost somewhere between the time we had women doing sexist adds in the late 60’s to the modern image of a highly successful women executive (who supposedly never faces discrimination or sexual harassment) endorsing a type of body spray by making loud sexual advances on a male model wearing this body spray. Has the modern British woman really lost all self respect then? Or is the very image of a woman “taking” a man disturbing or a portrayal of women’s emancipation. In this regard there is a strong criticism that the post modernist feminist of the British Society has lost what the brave women of the Second Wave feminism gained for them and all these "post-feminist,” women are wallowing in the media attention and commercial success thus further downgrading the second wave feminist struggle.Another interesting example is the massive migration of Asian women to Britain during the past five decades, there has been a rather crass commercialisation of the image of the South Asian Women in British Feminism. Consider the two movies of “Bend it like Beckham” and “Provoked” where the empowerment of the Asian Females is suggested through battered wives and suppressed daughters whose tyrant Asian forefathers and paternal relatives keep getting in the way of their success and emancipation. Asian Feminists in Britain are different to the white feminists. The White or Western feminism denotes a radical transformation of the society along a non-patriarchal, non-hierarchical lines. Asian feminists appreciate the idea of a patriarchy but advocate the end of imperialism and racism.The media portrays them as having strong families, who are affluent and educated which is not quite true if you look at the conditions of South Hall and Mile End in London alone. The Asian feminist struggle is just one of the struggles being exploited by popular British media right now.What is really ironic is the low representation of Women of other races in the political structure of Britain and most European countries. The media delights in making fun of lesbian movements and “Judge Judy”charactors. Sadly women are still not welcome in the rooms where war is decided and planned. If you look at the European Community structure itself ,except the German chancellor Angela Merkel no woman is in the photo where the European Community leaders are photographed. The same goes for The US and UK Iraq war strategy where the role of women was strongly downplayed. Conclusion The modern media dominates our lives in this age of Post-modernism where it seems that the media has assumed the role of an image maker and image breaker.It is interesting to see how even the modern politician fears the information overflow.It was indeed interesting to see John McCain’s nervousness over the recent exposure by the press over an alleged affair with the lobbyist. On a more balanced note entertainment has its value but in my view intellectuals, academics, artists, peace workers have their role to play in changing the media in the Western world.The modern journalists should come to realise their policy of enlightening the people rather than playing with them. The post-modern media has on the one hand manifested itself as a large source of information but information alone cannot replace critical reflection, and philosophy and culture which should be an important part of the modern information world.Therefore what we are looking at is a critical, ethical and cultural reflection manifesting itself with in the post-modern media world and we should be rethinking the modern approach to the media. Even as I write this the lyrics of Grunge rocker Kurt Cobain ring in my ears when he sang in his famous song Aero Zeppelin and was probably screaming with his ulcer infested stomach at the crass commercialism which has become a part of the post-modern era. “All I know is just a fact, Where the world is nowadays An idea is what we lack , doesn’t matter anyways” ___________________________________________________ References Anderson, W.T. 1990. Reality Isnt What it Used to Be. San Francisco: Harper and Row. Doherty, W.J. 1991. "Family Therapy Goes Postmodern." Networker, September/ October. Mills, C.W. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. New York: Grove Press. OHara, M., and W.T. Anderson. 1991. "Welcome to the Postmodern World." Networker, September/October. Shorter, E. 1975. The Making of the Modern Family. New York: Basic Books. Norris, Christopher: What’s Wrong with Postmodernism: critical theory and the ends of philosophy (Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990) Uncritical Theory: postmodernism, intellectuals and the Gulf War (London, Lawrence & Wishart, 1992) McGowan, John: Postmodernism and its Critics (Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1991) Rorty, Richard: Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity (CUP, 1989) Kellner, Douglas: Jean Baudrillard: From Marxism to Postmodernism and Beyond Catherine Hoskyns,European Law Review,1996,Publication Review,Integrating gender, women, law and politics in the European Union Penner et. 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