Pastiche and Postmodernism in Film

Pastiche: “An artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist or period”

  Oxford English Dictionary

Fredric Jameson (1991) believes that postmodern film involves the reworking of representations, aesthetic codes and forms from the past into the present. In Jameson’s famous essay ‘Postmodernism; or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism’ he suggests that postmodern culture highlights reaching the end of a historical period, one which has failed to move forwards resulting in the past being continuously recycled and reused in the present day by various cultural forms, such as architecture, art and cinema. Baudrillard elaborates on this point and discusses possible explanations, for instance the representation of events have become so overlapped that linear time, and the difference between what is real and what is represented, becomes unsustainable. Jameson argues that as a result society has managed to lose touch with the reality of accurate history as people are no longer able to relate to their past.

Pastiche is featured heavily in Jameson’s essay, when identifying the features of postmodern culture he refers to pastiche as a “flat multiplication and collage of styles” (Connor, 1997, p.44) which he compares to the ‘deep’ and unique aesthetic qualities of modernism. Whilst both parody and pastiche are both considered postmodern traits, Hill (1998) highlights Jameson’s insistence that pastiche is the dominant one out of the two in Hollywood films; parody involves mockery or criticism of the film being parodied whereas Jameson believes that pastiche is empty and acts only as a surface aesthetic, a “neutral mimicry without parody’s ulterior motives” (Jameson, 1984, p.64-5).

Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film Pulp Fiction is often described by critics as a prime example of a postmodern film due to its extensive use of pastiche and references towards popular culture. In the scene ‘Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife’ one of the main characters, Vincent Vega played by John Travolta, is responsible for entertaining his boss’s wife, Mia played by Uma Thurman, whilst he is out of town. Mia and Vincent visit a 1950s-themed restaurant called Jack Rabbit Slim’s, in which the waiting staff at the restaurant are all lookalikes of popular icons of the decade; such as Buddy Holly, Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. 

Some of the pastiche included in the film was more implicit than the scene involving the waiters at Jack Rabbit Slim’s, as the film is rife with scenes and quotes which are taken from various other films and forms of popular culture. For example, a scene in ‘The Gold Watch’ sees Marsellus turn his head to watch Bruce the boxer then hit him with his car; this is an exact re-enactment of the scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).

Linda Hutcheon criticises Jameson for condemning all Hollywood films as postmodern, as she believes that some Hollywood films use parody in order to acknowledge history (for instance, in Woody Allen’s Zelig, 1983). Although, Hill states, Hutcheon is aware of the fact that postmodern films are not always challenging and that they may tend to be contradictory due to their use of irony.

Jameson (1991) discusses what he refers to as the ‘nostalgia film’; he claims that the nostalgia film is an attempt to recapture a missing past by completely restructuring the idea of pastiche. Within nostalgia films there tends to be a portrayal of the dominant ideologies of a specific generation. As discussed by Maltby (1995) and Bignell (2000) Jameson discusses the postmodern films of the 70s and 80s, which was when filmmakers began to produce films which were set in the 1950s and early 1960s. He uses George Lucas’s coming of age film, American Graffiti (1973), as an example as it was set in 1962. He claims that American Graffiti, alongside others made around the same time, like Grease (1978), are the results of a longing for the “lost reality of the Eisenhower era” (Jameson, 1991, p.19) by Americans who wish to relive the ‘naive innocence’ found amongst youths and within subcultures at the time (Jameson, 1991).

Jameson goes on to state that the nostalgia film cannot be defined as a representation of history, but it instead represents the past through the use of “stylistic connotations” (Jameson, 1991, p.19), this is done by glossing over images in order to convey the past and the use of fashion to help display the clothing preferences of an era. These glossy images, Jameson claims, have taught society to consume the past in these romanticised forms. Hill (1998) elaborates on this by suggesting that nostalgia films' use of pastiche and intertexuality both contribute towards the loss of “historical depth” (Hill, 1998, p.101), a trait often associated with postmodernism, which involves postmodern films substituting the ability to re-create a ‘real’ past for the creation of a past which relies on simulations based upon styles and representations which already exist.

Another very postmodern feature of Pulp Fiction (1994) is the fact that it doesn’t have a linear narrative structure; there are three different stories and scenes intertwined within the film and the stories unfold outside a chronological order. For instance, the ending is placed into the middle of the film and the parts before it are all shown afterwards, which means that a main character still appears onscreen, even after he has been shot dead. Having no chronological order to the sequences is seen as an extremely postmodern filmmaking technique and one which is guaranteed to capture an audience’s attention.

In the past films often had difficulty in depicting ways in which to signal chronological changes within the movie. Filmmakers began to use camera shots (like a calendar blowing backwards in Written on the Wind (1956)) and narrative voice-overs to signify the linear structure of the film going back in time (Maltby, 1995). Maltby states that in order to represent the past and the future, films must therefore bring them into the present. Very few films featured plots involving time travel before the 1980s (Maltby, 1995), during this period time travel storylines became extremely popular due to the release of films like Blade Runner (1982) and The Terminator (1984), both of which involve the image of a dystopian future.

Blade Runner especially is cited by many theorists for being typically postmodern (Strinatti, 1995; Hill, 1998; Hill, 1998; Bignell, 2000). Bignell claims that it displays the qualities of at least two different film genres, including film noir and science fiction. He feels that the films use of pastiche and parody - through the recycling of film styles, architecture and fashion from different periods of history – are predominately postmodern qualities in film and may result in confusion between accurate and inaccurate portrayals of history.

As stated earlier, another time period which was commonly used in 1980s film was the 1950s era (Maltby, 1995; Bignell, 2000), with the release of films such as the Back to the Future series (1985; 1989; 1990) and Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). Both films involved the main protagonists being transported back to the 1950s. Maltby (1995) is critical of these films as he believes that both are guilty of romanticising the 1950s by portraying a utopian-like small-town America.  

Films which compromise substance, narrative, character and content for special effects, images and spectacle are defined as postmodern by Strinati (1995). Strinati goes on to describe the Back to the Future series as being predominately postmodern for its disorientation of time and space – the films jump back and forth between the past, present (set in 1985) and future due to the creation of an experimental time machine – this also fits in with his other description of postmodern films, he believes that they are created and marketed purely on their image alone and manage to avoid all sense of realism.

Bignell (2000) identifies three specific characteristics which can define a film as postmodern; the second of which describes film as being postmodern when it involves the rearrangement of the codes of narrative, genre and spectatorship. He feels that these features can be seen as either attempts to create an alternative film practice, or as evidence of a new cultural dominant which has derived from postmodernity.

Hill (1998) states that many contemporary films tend to provide examples of postmodern themes and also offer “images of postmodern society” (Harvey, 1989, p.308-23; Denzin, 1991). He claims an example of this began shortly after the introduction of what he refers to as ‘New Hollywood’ in the late 1960s, when Hollywood films started to reference, copy and imitate from other styles of film. Hill cites Jameson (1991) in saying that postmodern culture has resulted in the weakening of historical accuracy and a depthlessness which represents “a new culture of the image or the simulacrum” (Hill, 1998, p.101).

George Custen in Maltby (1995) states that the versions of history portrayed in Hollywood films is based around the construction of “great characters” (Maltby, 1995, p.311), in which they refine and/or add characteristics to famous figures throughout history, which, therefore, significantly influences the public’s opinion and understanding of a particular historic event. Maltby (1995) criticises this as he feels that historical information can be inaccurate and the films can also compress history into a simple, linear process which doesn’t allow for alternative representations. Historians have expressed concern over such portrayals of history in film, mainly due to the number of people who now use films as their main source of knowledge and information about history. Examples of such can include Mel Gibson's portrayal of William Wallace in the 1995 film Braveheart and Russell Crowe playing Maximus Meridius in Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000), as both films were found to be historically inaccurate. 

Overall, the use of pastiche in film is seen by many, who agree with Jameson (1991), as one of the main characteristics of a postmodern film. Theorists criticise pastiche for its surface-only aesthetic image, as they believe it is empty due to it having no purpose other than to represent an image, whereas parody at least has a critical and/or mocking element to it. Jameson’s (1991) notion of the nostalgia film is the perfect example of a symptom of a postmodern society, in which an entire era is recreated through images and representations of the past in order to fulfil a longing for a specific period in time.

Jameson (1991) and Hill (1998) both see the use of pastiche and intertexuality in postmodern films as a bad thing, as they believe it can lead to the erosion of “historical depth”. They both claim that many people are now using film as a main source of gaining historical information, thus the use of pastiche in film and the notion of the nostalgia film can both contribute towards a romanticised and inaccurate view of a specific period in time of history.

The lack of a linear narrative in films like Pulp Fiction can also be described as a postmodern film phenomenon. Strinati (1995) states that films which compromise a narrative for other elements such as special effects and spectacle can be defined as postmodern, this could be due to filmmakers using such effects to attract audiences to their films in order to gain more money. This is a capitalist mindset, therefore confirming that it is a postmodern film, as it was created to generate more income rather than out of love or a passion for filmmaking. 

References

Pulp fiction movie references guide. 2012. [online] The Quentin Tarantino Archives. Available from: http://wiki.tarantino.info/index.php/Pulp_Fiction_Movie_References_Guide [Accessed 05/02 2013]

American graffiti (1973). 2013. [online] IMDb.com, Inc. Available from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069704/ [Accessed 05/01 2013]

Back to the future (1985). 2013. [online] IMDb.com, Inc. Available from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/ [Accessed 05/01 2013]

Blade runner (1982). 2013. [online] IMDb.com, Inc. Available from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083658/ [Accessed 05/01 2013]

Pulp fiction (1994). 2013. [online] IMDb,com, Inc. Available from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110912/ [Accessed 05/01 2013]

BIGNELL, J., 2000. Postmodern Media Culture. Edinburgh, UK.: Edinburgh University Press Ltd.

CONNOR, S., 1997. Postmodern Culture: An Introduction to Theories of the Contemporary. 2nd ed. Oxford, UK.: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

HILL, J., 1998. Film and postmodernism. In: J. HILL and P. CHURCH GIBSON , eds. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies. Oxford, UK.: Oxford University Press. pp. 96-105

JAMESON, F., 1991. Nostalgia for the Present. Postmodernism; or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. London, UK.: Verso. pp. 279-297

MALTBY, R., 1995. Hollywood Cinema. Oxford, UK.: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

STRINATI, D., 1995. An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture. London, UK.: Routledge.