What Are Characteristics of Post-modern Aesthetics - Essay Example

What are characteristics of post-modern aesthetics Analyse the body of work of one artist in any medium. How is this work post-modern A post-modern cinematic piece such as The Truman Show operates at many levels of meaning. Some of these levels will be explored in this piece with direct references to scenes from the movie directed by Peter Weir, starring Jim Carrey playing the eponymous Truman. Carrey's character, the everyman of modern suburbia, leads an average suburban life. The post-modern aesthetic of the film is a deep irony that pervades Truman's life because he is the subject of a reality television show. We will concentrate on the relationship between irony and postmodernism, on the shifting veils between reality and illusion, between expectation and fulfilment, between the ego, id and superego. A tool by which to analyse The Truman Show is irony. What this means essentially is that the levels of meaning intersect only through the audience, because the levels of meaning are all contained in one artistic work but can only be dissected by the audience, who connect with the artist through the work. It is irrelevant which medium the work is in for it to be ironic and in fact the term post-modern essentially means only that it comes in the period after the modern. The audience and the artist have become familiar to such a degree that levels of meaning can be understood by one another without explicit definition or formulation, with shifting definitions and formulations seeming to be more of a conversation. We must use irony so that the conversation can be analysed. Much of the conversation is mediated by Christof, the character who created the Truman Show, who directs from the Lunar Room. Christof may be seen as a form of alter ego for Truman, because whereas Truman believes that he is leading his own life, in reality he is being led by Christof. The Lunar Room is a command post through which all the characters in Truman's world - Seahaven Island - walk on their ironic way from an ever intruding, yet supervening, reality. "It's a life", says Christof, about Truman in the opening sequence in the Lunar Room, although we are not given to understand whether he is referring to himself or to Truman. He speaks with a self-reflexivity, using the collective pronoun "we", but we - as the audience - do not know for sure whether Christof regards himself as the "we", because Christof is an actor in a movie. Perhaps the contextualising of the film means that the real irony lays in the fact that Peter Weir is Christof and Christof is Weir. Such appropriation of identity never really leaves us throughout the movie. Each character in the movie has multiple characteristics. For example, Meryl who plays Truman's wife speaks rapturously: MERYL Well, I mean, there is no--there is no difference between a private life and a public life. My--my life is my life, is The Truman Show. The Truman Show is...a lifestyle. It's a noble life. It is...a truly blessed life. The post-modern characteristic is that Meryl's life is not her life at all, it is not The Truman Show; it is neither public, nor private. This aesthetic denies that it is aesthetic through repetition and irony - note the repetition of "there is no", "my - my", "The Truman Show". What Weir's script and the magnificent acting of Laura Linney - as Hannah Gill, as Meryl Burbank - has achieved is to erase the lines between fantasy and reality; however we need a point of contact with the movie. It becomes essential for us to identify with Truman Burbank. There is a very neutral aesthetic running throughout The Truman Show whose purpose is to draw as many of the audience as possible into the drama. Along with the controlled action, which many audience members will be able to identify with, Truman works in the seemingly ubiquitous corporate world: TRUMAN (to mirror cam) I'm not going to make it. You're going to have to go on without me. No way, mister, you're going to the top of this mountain...Broken legs and all. The rapidly intertwining of levels of meaning, from Truman speaking to himself in the mirror, with the camera behind it and through it to Christof, to the audience watching The Truman Show requires a sophisticated medium such as cinema and some degree of familiarity with actors. Much of the success of The Truman Show comes from the star quality of Jim Carrey, therefore without him the movie would be unlikely to succeed. The return of repressed narrative is clear from the structure of The Truman Show. Using the mirror camera as a dissimulating embellishment for us to look at Jim Carrey's actions, Jim Carrey speaks apparently free from any inhibition, narrating his own repressed fears and anxieties about success and failure in the corporate world. He feels as though he is being eaten alive by the corporate life and it is certainly a plausible interpretation of Peter Weir's intent that the movie is anti-corporate: TRUMAN (to mirror cam) I'm not going to get to the top. All right, promise me one thing though: If I die before I reach the summit, you will use me as an alternative source of food. Eeeewwww, gross. For Truman's character to feel so repressed by corporatism to view himself as an "alternative source of food" sends a strong message to the audience who may equally feel appropriated by their lives. The strong message of identity is not manipulative in the sense that the movie is anything other than entertainment, however, because payment to the corporate world is required to see the movie in the first instance. The economic fundamentals should not be forgotten. Fiji becomes for Truman a metaphorical escape from Seahaven Island. He has a fear of travelling over water that prevents his leaving the island, however; in spite of this he tries repeatedly to book a flight, book a bus trip, travel on the ferry, in fact any mode of transport in order to reach Fiji. At every instance his plans are foiled by Christof and an induced false memory from his childhood that causes his water phobia. Where the memory comes from is never made clear and this is perhaps a weakness of the movie that is pasted over with dramatic flashbacks to a presumed early experienced, sometimes referred to by characters such as Truman's best friend Marlon, otherwise genuinely believed by Jim Carrey himself - at least such is the quality of Carrey's acting that it seems genuine. Marlon and Truman, in a memorable scene, talk of leaving the fabulous island they call their home: TRUMAN Don't you ever get restless Itchy feet MARLON Where is there to go TRUMAN Fiji. MARLON Where the hell is Fiji Near Florida Marlon's ignorance in believing Fiji is anywhere near Florida is convincing enough to maintain the ironic detachment through irreverence. If the two places were near each other Marlon would not, of course, be a better friend to Truman. Similarly, there is loneliness to Truman's life that he feels all the more keenly because he is deceived by everyone; members of the audience share his loneliness. The Truman Show is, at heart, a love story. The post-modern twist to the story is that we don't know who Truman's love is. She may be Meryl, the woman who pretends to be his wife; or she may be Sylvia, or Lauren. This issue of changing identity happens frequently, apparently mediated through Carrey's character, whose name is allegorical for "true-man". Truman's love at first declares herself as Lauren, a character in the show, but she then appears at a later point in argument with Christof, before entering the film as an extra in her true identity. She herself is rather vague about her identity, however, so as to be largely unconvincing as someone who Truman can rely on for confirmation of his suspicions. Nevertheless, the beautiful Sylvia in this scene on the beach is his would-be saviour and lover: LAUREN Listen to me. Everyone knows about-- everyone knows everything you do. 'Cause they're pretending, Truman. Do you--Do you understand Everybody's pretending. TRUMAN ____. LAUREN No no no, ah, my name's not Lauren. No no. My name's Sylvia. TRUMAN Sylvia LAUREN Yeah. In different versions of the script her character has different names, all adding to the complexities of identifying her truly, she being transiently named but constantly identifiable. At any rate, she is not a reliable character, although she does figure strongly at the end of the movie, running to meet Truman, as his true love. A post-modern characteristic is that an artist is inclusive of women and ethnic minorities. The Truman Show thankfully has plenty of women, for example Sylvia and Meryl; however ethnic minorities are sorely excluded. On the other hand, because the movie is probably largely targeted at suburban customers, we must forgive Weir the limited social classification of his characters. Ethnic minorities are unlikely to add to the aesthetics of this movie. Irony requires a directorial hand to direct our attention as the story unfolds. The Truman Show's tagline, "The Story of a Lifetime" is guardedly ironic, with a delicious ambiguity in meaning that throws the audience's attention vacillating between Truman and him or herself. This is where the idea of the superego is useful, because this idea of Freud's describes the way the conscience constantly processes the narrative, without any attention paid to the directorial hand that in fact is unfolding the story for us. As a post-modern piece must analyse the way that Peter Weir handles Andrew Niccol's story irony is maintained because we are ignorant of the relationship between the writer and the director. For example, if the director had also been the writer, the ironic multiple levels of meaning would be reduced by at least one. Multiplying meaning is closely connected to intertextuality whose cinematic equivalent is perspective. The first shot of Christof has a neutral perspective. The second shot, of Truman through the mirror camera builds meaning by introducing the perspective of Truman Burbank. The third perspective is a feminine perspective. Since none of these perspectives last for any length of time Peter Weir is able to build a nexus of meaning by changing perspectives that draws his audience into it, alternately being asked to sympathise with Truman Burbank whilst presumably allowing Weir himself an opportunity to express his feminine side. Femininity is therefore the other primary characteristic and aesthetic of this particular artist's postmodernism, in addition to irony. During a scene in which Truman is listening to the radio in his car, on his way to work at the insurance company, an announcer becomes the director of the reality show. The scene is quoted in full: RADIO And it's another beautiful day in paradise, folks, but don't forget to buckle up out there in radio land. remember...a good driver....go go go go go go go driver good driver really good good good good good driver good driver goo driver goo goo goo... (TRUMAN plays with knob) Wait for the cue ____ wait for the cue. Standby one. Stand by to watch him. Stand by (static...) He's heading west on Stewart. Stand by all extras. Lynn, he'll be on you in about 90 seconds, props make sure the copies out. Okay, he's making his turn onto Lancaster Square... (screams) Oh my God! He knew we were following, something's wrong, uh, change frequencies! (Feed back, everyone on the street reacts) Ouch! Huh, sorry about that, folks, I guess we picked up a police frequency or something. It sometimes happens and it can drive you crazy. Okay, it's classical climb, back on the air, and we've still got some great music up ahead. But hey! Don't forget to buckle up. Remember safety. A good driver is a safe driver. A safe driver is what Yes! Haha! *click* Here the artist, Peter Weir, is processor of the information coming from the radio. He plays alternately the radio announcer brightening up Truman Burbank's day with enthusiasm, alternately the broadcaster directing the members of the cast to their positions, whilst continuously being Truman/Carrey's director and our processor. The effect of Weir's processing is to focus on representation in the sense that we need artists' focus to be able to represent our own lives. With so much information in our lives, the artist provides a point of reference that represents the information and processes vicariously. The post-modern artist is a nexus of meaning who is able to process information on somebody else's behalf, however we would be hard-pressed to identify this as a feature particularly of the post-modern artist, he or she always being to some degree a processor. In simple terms, artists help us to make sense of our lives, especially when there is such a complexity of information that threatens to paralyse us into indecision. Paralysis is exactly what happens to Truman when he is confronted with a situation that brings him to the edge of his world. Having confronted his worst hears Truman steps into his boat, Santa Maria, to sail away from Seahaven. Truman reaches the edge of the world and the Santa Maria crunches into a wall. Truman can go no further and consternation breaks out in the Lunar Control Room. Christof demands to speak to Truman Burbank: TRUMAN (gasps in shock) CHRISTOF You can speak. I can hear you. TRUMAN Who are you CHRISTOF I am the creator..of a television show that gives hope and joy and inspiration to millions. TRUMAN And who am I The pregnant pause between Christof saying "I am the creator" before proceeding with the rest of the sentence is full of dramatic irony. Of course there is nothing ironic as comedy, but somehow Truman's sincerity coupled with Carrey's superb acting keeps us from laughing; Truman/Burbank's paralysis is one we have all felt from time to time. The question of identity reaches a poignant climax because Truman is able to speak openly for the first time in his life, free from Christof's control, a freely willing creature. Post-modern artists appropriate from other artists. In this scene Weir appropriates from another medium entirely, albeit a visual medium like Weir's own: television. Both mediums employ cameras to focus our attention, but the difference between cinema and television is characteristically post-modern in The Truman Show. The difference is that television apparently has a greater level of meaning than cinema, as shown by the movie's final sequence of two security guards watching television asking one another what is on television. Highly comical, this light-hearted turn of events is simultaneously tragic for those members of the audience who might have wished for a more romantic ending. Sylvia is last seen running towards Truman, but we never see her and Truman meeting, Truman himself being the focus of the last cinematic scenes before televisual meanings gain the ascendancy to give the movie is final funny flourish. The ego, superego and id of Truman Burbank are never truly resolved into a coherent set of values. He is certainly an "everyman" character with elitist values and a disarmingly nave, yet attractive, friendliness. He's the star of the show - but he does not know. We like to watch him unaware on air, to see what happens in his story for the purpose of being enlightened in our own lives; a degree of intertextuality, or borrowing of meaning, is given authority by movies such as The Truman Show, because they allow us to borrow from others. Although the pervading irony is that Truman's ego, superego and id are all one, the fascinating drama of a character becoming one is instructive. With such an educative and cathartic element to the movie it certainly becomes entertainment with an extra, teaching us something about our own lives' story, allegorically. Analysing meaning in post-modern artists' bodies of work is possible only if a narrative is maintained. As well as the characteristics and aesthetics of The Truman Show, we have shown how Peter Weir has made his own work post-modern in collaboration with the acting skills of stars such as Jim Carrey and the writing skills of Andrew Niccol, to create a fantastic reality on Seahaven Island. Many of the characters have multiple identities and much of the narrative depends on our questioning of Truman's true identity - and his love's identity. Read More