When I first hear the term postmodernism I immediately think of art. Postmodern art can be considered art that was created during the 50's or after World War II. As we discussed in class, the term wasn't really used until the 1980's. That is true within the art world as well. In an article I once read about post-modern art, the author talks about how art from the postmodern era is just referencing other works of art. Therefore using the postmodern style of taking from the past, "recycling earlier genres and styles in new contexts" as said in The Approaches to Po-Mo article. The film Repo Man also can be considered postmodern as it takes many popular genres of films, particularly from the fifties, and uses them in one film. It uses these genres but in a very satirical way.
According to the article Analysis Of Repo Man, the film's writer and director Alex Cox was heavily influenced by fifties sci-fi movies. More specifically ones that were made to reflect the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Cox also stated that films like Them! and This Island Earth were the only the only films addressing the issues of nuclear testing. Another way that the time was post modern was reigniting the fears of nuclear war by President Reagan, who wanted the world to go back to "the good times" of the 1950's. Thus bringing back the fear of a nuclear attack. Repo Man uses many of the same ideas of those types of sci-fi films. Although more parodying them, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers for instance. The use of aliens is clear, and the use of a female lead or love interest is also used. The difference being that Otto ultimately rejects Lila in the end of the film, while Miles stays with Becky until she is turned into a duplicate. The idea satirizes the usual love story plot line that comes with films like these.
The film also refers back to youth rebellion films that were popular during the fifties. Instead of the motorcycle gang being the rebellion group or other, as seen in The Wild One, it's the punk culture. Otto's friends in the film are particularly stereotyped and parodied. The gang that Otto was once a part of is frequently seen throughout the film. Two being Archie and Duke, who are both portrayed as dim and unaware of what the punk culture stands for or what to do with themselves. A repeated line "let's go do some crimes" was always said in a sort of confusion. When Duke is killed, his last words refer to how society ultimately was the cause of his death. Otto hears his last words and states "You're a white suburban punk just like me". The idea the punks in the film wouldn't know what they stood for or why they do the things they do could be a comment by the writer on the entire punk culture. Another big part of the story line is the relationship between Otto and his mentor Bud. The relationship reminded me of the relationship between Mr. Dadier and Miller in Blackboard Jungle. Although one again satirized as Bud isn't exactly the ideal role model. Mr. Dadier took Miller under his wing to keep him from trouble and from being influenced by the other male students. With helping Miller, Dadier only grows and becomes a better instructor. In the case of Otto and Bud, Bud seems to decline throughout the film. In both cases the relationships become strained and in different ways, by the end, go back to a better place. Bud's death could also be viewed as a parody on the usual hero/mentor theme that is present in many films.
Though much of the references to specific films is a stretch, it's clear that Repo Man is a post modern film. The use of consumerism with the food and drink that are sold in the film, the satirical representation of themes and even the setting and architecture of Los Angeles can all be considered post modern by the article Approaches to Po-Mo. What do you guys think?
The part about your blog that I like the most is the connection that you drew between Otto and Bud's relationship with that of Dadier and Miller's. I would have never made that connection, but I agree with it totally. It's like the reasons that connect Bud to Otto and Miller to Dadier are polar opposites. Where Dadier is the scholastic knight in shining armor, Bud blows a couple lines of coke on the the job. Where Miller works on cars for a couple bucks, Otto tells his first manager to f*ck off. This is a really interesting and funny connection to make and it totally ties in with the whole idea of reusing story lines, like the previous sci-fi movies. This connection I think in itself is a good way to show that this film is Post-Modern because it show a relationship between to characters that is similar in form to that of Dadier and Miller's, but flipped, morally backwards in a sense. I say morally backwards because Dadier becomes a better professor as you menitoned, Bud gets shot over a car, and as Miller gives implications to a socially positive future, Otto makes off in a flying car, which though i can't see as a bad thing, is it really all that good? But yeah, all in all, I agree with you.
ReplyDeleteIt's very unexpected that Blackboard Jungle and Repo Man could have so many similarities. Well like you said almost opposite but the same idea. I'd like to think that Otto flying away in the car could be a good thing. But I like that the ending leaves it open for us to decide.
ReplyDeleteEllen you really seem to be picking up on the shifting genres of films in Repo Man. Its an alien, car chase action, teen angst/rebellion, and a buddy film (amongst many others). We've seen these genres emerge out of the 1950s as a result of the Cold War, progressing onto different subjects yet all maintaining a similar paranoid core. With Reagan in office, the 1980s saw a resurgence of 1950s nostalgia as well as nuclear fear. His presidency, as said by the reading, called upon "patriotism, conservative family values, and conspicuous consumption," a looking back at "the good times," the 1950s. This backwards reflection must have caused artists, filmmakers included, to call upon past forms and bring them into new context as you said.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right, Repo Man definitely is a parody of past films and 1950s ideals. Filled with fleeting references, the film doesn't offer a cure to nuclear fear but instead groups it together with all the other consumerist referencing, solidifying paranoia as just a facet of American culture.
I also really liked the connection you made between Otto and Bud of Repo Man to Dadier and Miller in Blackboard Jungle. This movie was indeed a buddy film although Bud was a destructive influence on the already troubled Otto and Dadier was ultimately a positive influence on Miller, a character who exuded potential from the beginning of that film. I felt that this film was a great movie to watch at the end of the semester as it incorporated elements from most of the movies we watched before it. As ellen points out Otto and his friends are strikingly similar to the biker gang in Wild Ones. I would also like to point out that the youth rebellion in Repo Man is in no way like that of Zabrieski Point. The youth counter culture in the 60's was well organized and rebelled against society for a cause, that being reshaping social ideologies in america. The kids in Repo man were destructive, immoral, and did not fear reprocussions for their actions. Repo Man reflects postmodernity by highlighting the decline of society by overactive consumerism and by the characters pulling away from the family values of the war generations.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you guys got the point of Repo Man, which I think is one of the most hilarious and satirical movies ever. And you're all doing a really good job of seeing why this movie is postmodern, and the specific and particular ways that it recycles past film genres, and which ones: 50s nuclear paranoia films, buddy movies, teen delinquent movies, etc. And those parallels aren't really that much of a stretch at all. Repo Man doesn't even bother to try and remake any of them, it just more or less references them, in the same hilarious and generic way it treats its own, 1980s concerns.
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