�ݺ�ߣ

Postmodern media rejects the idea that any media product or text is of any greater value than another. All judgements of value are merely taste. Anything can be art, anything can deserve to reach an audience, and culture ‘eats itself’ as there is no longer anything new to produce or distribute.

The distinction between media and reality has collapsed, and we now live in a ‘reality’ defined by images and representations

All ideas of ‘the truth’ are just competing claims – or discourses and what we believe to be the truth at any point is merely the ‘winning’ discourse.

The power of the system over the human. Here we can think of The Matrix as a series of films that deal with similar themes but in a less ‘real’ context.

Thematically, it's about the very simple idea that, in this postmodern world of ours, human beings—all of us—are worth less. We're worth less every day, despite the fact that some of us are achieving more and more. It's the triumph of capitalism. It's the triumph of capitalism over human value. (quoted in O’Rourke, 2006: 1)

Grand Theft Auto 4 is probably the most discussed videogame of all time. This is a media product that made roughly $500 million in its first week. This game has polarised the public – there are not many people who are ‘inbetween’ the two conflicting opinions - the game is a masterpiece versus the game should be banned. But what both sides agree on, is that GTA4 is postmodern. It immerses the player in a convincing, intricate and believable world.

The emotive debate is about the extent to which intense experiences of violence, sex, crime and ‘vice’ in the hyper-real situation translate into ‘effects’ in our real society.

Much of the discussion of Grand Theft Auto 4 as a media product with the potential for harmful ‘effects’ focuses on the content, which is undoubtedly ‘seedy’ in many ways.

The player in GTA4 has so many options. Not just options within the single player game but also the chance to play in multiplayer mode, within which there are several ‘mini-games’ such as ‘Cops and Crooks’, ‘Hangman’s Noose’ and ‘Mafiya Workout’.

It was in the gameplay itself where Grand Theft Auto managed to break the mould in many ways. Grand Theft Auto contained free-form ‘go anywhere you please’ gameplay that saw you tied to an over-arching plot that contained various missions to complete but also left you free to explore the huge world in your own time, finding hidden packages and Rampage icons, exploring the world and doing what you wanted. (Play: 2007:9)

Images refer to each other and represent each other as reality rather than some ‘pure’ reality that exists before the image represents it – this is the state of hyper-reality.

�ݺ�ߣ

Postmodern media

More Related Content

Postmodern media