Kick ass ppt so2

22
To what extent is a postmodern film?

Transcript of Kick ass ppt so2

Page 1: Kick ass ppt so2

To what extent is

a postmodern film?

Page 2: Kick ass ppt so2

Lesson Objectives • To know: Why Kick Ass has been widely

labelled as a particularly postmodern film.

• To consider whether Kick Ass is a particularly postmodern film.

• To begin to think about how much of contemporary cinema might justifiably be called postmodern.

Page 3: Kick ass ppt so2
Page 4: Kick ass ppt so2
Page 5: Kick ass ppt so2
Page 6: Kick ass ppt so2

• Kick-Ass is the story of Dave Lizewski, a comic book fanboy who decides to become a real superhero.

• As Kick-Ass, Dave starts out less than successful, but eventually, he gets famous from social networking sites and the Internet, and his presence raises awareness of superheroes around New York City.

• However, as crime fighting becomes a more serious profession, Kick-Ass gains the attention of a local kingpin, and becomes a target for the criminal underworld. Only his association with other members of the vigilante community he's inspired can save him from their vengeance.

Page 7: Kick ass ppt so2

• What themes are consistent in super hero comic book genre?

• One main protogonist - hero

• He has super powers

• The love interest

• Ordinary

• Some are geeky, others are millionaires

• revenge themes plus fighting crime, good evil

• Villain, sidekick

• Costume - to disguise self

Page 8: Kick ass ppt so2

• What lends itself to being po-mo is that it looks at what would happen if regular people tried to become superheroes in a world where superheroes don’t physically exist, they are only a myth

• Kick-Ass functions as a deliberate, overt subversion of the genre by incorporating signs familiar to it (the caped costume, the origin story, the iconic villain) and tweaking our expectations (giving the protagonists guns instead of superpowers, making the superheroes hardly super or heroic)

• The superhero is a cooler, more youthful hero, who is on TV, and therefore as he is partially realistic he is a very different character to the myth of a superhero.

Page 9: Kick ass ppt so2

• Kick-Ass, it can be said, deconstructs the comic book hero genre.

• Except it doesn’t. By trying to deconstruct it, it shows the incomplete and superficial aspects of the superhero myth that it is attempting to deconstruct.

• It draws attention to the way you suspend disbelief about comic book heros, and exposes how they can be unbelieveable.

• Three quarters the way through, it basically mirrors the classic superhero tale.

Page 10: Kick ass ppt so2

• The end of Kick-Ass features all that one would expect from the finale of the conventional superhero film:

• closure, a climactic end battle, the triumph of the protagonists, and the ruling out of the enemy.

• True genre deconstruction, as Kick-Ass proves, can not really exist, as that would require straying far enough from the genre to reject those generic features that make it recognisable in the first place.

• To parade as a subversion of genre, a film like Kick-Ass must, at some point, sincerely embrace the ideas behind it or it loses connection with the genre and proves how tenuous the grounds that define its genre truly are.

Page 11: Kick ass ppt so2

• Why is Kick Ass a post modern film?

• It deconstructs the comic book genre

• Parody (ironic mickey taking humour) when superheroes try to fly from buildings and crash

• Young girl involved in bad language, adult humour and her being violent and involved with violence

• Its not po-mo as it still has these features: costume, good and evil story, geek to athlete. BUT the post modern hero has no super powers nor any motive

• Its plays around with the core aspect that says that all superheroes have special powers. In this film he doesn’t and it shows how that heroes aren’t invincible. In this respect its post modern and playful and more enjoyable.

• Metatextual - based on a real comic and intertextual refs - my space, youtube, spiderman, batman and the comic book style typography

Page 12: Kick ass ppt so2

Kick Ass has been widely labelled as a

really postmodern film.

WHY?• It deconstructs the normal conventions of the super hero genre

• Its plays around with the core aspect that says that all superheroes have special powers. In this film he doesn’t and it shows how he isn’t invincible.

• Metatextuality - film about comic books in general and Inter textuality - references to Spiderman, Superman, Batman

• Self referential - scenes set in a comic book shop, dialogue about comic books with the girl, and the drawings of comic books

• Self referential when he refers to himself as a child after his mum dies and says “by the way thats not me”.

Page 13: Kick ass ppt so2

• What elements are not post modern?

• Clearly definable hybrid genre of action / comedy

• Doesn’t change or swop around time periods massively like in A Cock and Bull - a fairly chronological narrative

• No real breaking the fourth walls - no actors address the audience

Page 14: Kick ass ppt so2

ISreally all that postmodern?

•A lot of people believe that the terms like postmodern and postmodernism are really just fashionable nonsense – that they don’t really mean anything. (There are postmodern essay generators online that will create nonsense essays full of ludicrous terms – www.elsewhere.org/pomo. )•In the same way, lots of people label certain films, tv programmes and so on as postmodern when they’re probably not particularly postmodern. Or, when they only really have a couple of postmodern characteristics.•In short – the adjective postmodern is over-used.•There are certainly elements of Kick Ass that are postmodern but it’s worth us asking the question of whether it really is all that postmodern.

Page 15: Kick ass ppt so2

ISreally all that postmodern?What are the counter arguments?

Page 16: Kick ass ppt so2

• Why is kick ass po-mo?

• Borrows genres - comedy, action adventure, romance.

• It is a satire and a deconstruction of the comic book genre. Picks apart another genre to take a focussed look at it, in order to play around with the mixture of reality and myth.

• By doing this you understand the limitations of super heros.

• Inter textual references to Batman, Spiderman, Superman etc

Page 17: Kick ass ppt so2

• Why is it not post modern?

• It does follow the normal super hero genre and doesn’t totally deconstruct

• It follows a classic linear narrative

Page 18: Kick ass ppt so2

18

Page 19: Kick ass ppt so2

Kick Ass as Postmodern text - Conclusions

Page 20: Kick ass ppt so2

Contemporary Cinema – Postmodern?

Page 21: Kick ass ppt so2

• A critic writes:

• The kills are satisfying, and there’s drama to be enjoyed. However, the execution is all in the choreography and the gimmicks – animated footage, slow motion, dismemberments and splashes of blood, and a scene designed to look like a video game. Considered on the surface, the vision of a murderous 11-year old is pretty unnecessary, another trick to shock and engage the audience.

• However, it doesn’t break ground, or contribute anything very important to the action genre.

21

Page 22: Kick ass ppt so2

The same critic....• Kick-Ass makes the mistake of reducing its real-

world deconstructions to the clichés that they're lampooning.

• The story toys with themes of interesting themes concerning society, and the real consequences of violence, but it never addresses the true dimensions of true superhero comic book themes, which are more moral, and more about good and evil.

• Because what does Kick-Ass ultimately become, except the classic comic book fantasy cliché, with superhuman feats of strength and righteousness.

22