Postmodern Body & Pop Icons

In this chapter, Sturken & Cartwright refer to the "issues of identity and the postmodern body," (p.326). They claim that the body is easily transformed through a number of different ways. With this the postmodern body is "integrated with contemporary concepts," (p.326). Their examples with transformations of identity is easily seen with pop icons such as Madonna and Michael Jackson. Madonna is known for her many personalities and appearances throughout her career. Obviously, Michael Jackson took on a more physical change with his appearance rather than character and style. However, I'm interested in who they are calling the new Madonna, the only and one Ms. Lady Gaga. Clearly Lady Gaga is not afraid to speak her mind nor is she afraid to express herself through costume or performance. She is truly one of a kind. Struken and Cartwright say that "body and identity become infinitely malleable in a culture in which the image is the ultimate register of experience," (p.326-7). Lady Gaga's is the ultimate example of revealing her body and identity in unique and innovative ways. In a recent interview with Ellen Degeneres she says, "the whole point of what i do, the monster ball, the music, the performance art aspect of it, I wanted to create a space for my fans for them to feel free because I didn't fit in in high school," (Lady Gaga on Ellen). Lady Gaga is known for her outrageous costumes and her crazy performances, so what will she think of next? Will she be the next Madonna and create new and different identities with each album? Only time will tell...Lady Gaga and Madonna were on SNL a couple of weeks ago doing a skip playing up the so-called "rivalry" between them. It's funny, check it out

The Post Modern Body

Sturken and Cartwright discuss the postmodern body in Chapter 7, and how it is one that can be easily transformed. The post modern body has definitely become one that can be easily “resculpted into new shapes and forms.” Besides conventional, cosmetic surgery, doctors are now providing facial reconstructive surgery for people who have been in terrible accidents or have severe disfigurements on their face, allowing them to alter their facial structure completely. Furthermore, new discoveries regarding stem cells which develop into various tissue may soon provide amputees with the possibility of getting their limbs back, which is probably the ultimate form of human malleability.

Due to the accessible nature of plastic surgery “the loss of identity” has definitely become a severe side effect as everyone strives to attain the conventional, ideal form of beauty.In Asia, it is increasingly common for girls to get plastic surgery according to the same formula; they all want double eyelids, pointier, higher bridged noses, smaller faces, and sharper chins. In the future everyone will probably have the same features, reducing the authenticity of the appearance of the face.

I don’t know if the ability to change one’s appearance is a positive or negative phenomena; it is positive in the sense that it allows one to raise their self esteem but it is negative in the sense that it places so much more emphasis on the importance of beauty. I found Orlan’s work extremely fascinating as she is actually defying the conventional standards of beauty and disfiguring herself in order to highlight the extreme degree “to which we have taken choice and self fashioning to a limit that has surpassed notions of self unity and the rootedness of the human subject in the natural and biological body.” She even put implants in her forehead to emulate horns. Here is a picture of her:

Thoroughly Modern Cindy

Sturken and Cartwright mention photographer Cindy Sherman as an example of reflexivity--a style in modernism which is the "self-awareness of one's inevitable immersion in everyday and popular culture" that leads modern artists "to produce works which reflexively examine their own relation to the artwork or the artwork's institutional context" (old textbook 254).

I went to the International Center of Photographer during the break and Cindy Sherman was one of the artists that was part of the Triennial show, so I appreciate that it was mentioned in our reading. Though she stars in her photos, Cindy Sherman does not create self-portraits because she is not herself but rather is playing a role to make a statement. Her position as both artist and subject "invites us to think reflexively about subjectivity and gendered processes of identification, cultural memory, and fantasy in postmodern visual culture" (256).

In this photo, Cindy Sherman is playing all 4 women, having fun at a party with red cups at hand. There are only minor details among the women, in their makeup, hairstyle, and outfits, speaking to the "herd mentality that ironically pervades an industry celebrating individuality and personal style." In this photo, Sherman makes a statement on the irony of wanting to be both part of a group and being individual, concluding with an inevitable result of being a replication. This idea of reflexivity in modernism is actually ubiquitous that even/esp street artists such as Banksy use it in their art.

PS

I just remembered this website that has a bunch of 30-second parodies of well known films..re-enacted by bunnies. They are pretty funny.

http://www.angryalien.com/

10 Things I Hate About You Parody

While reading Sturken and Cartwright's discussion of parodies in chapter 8, I immediately thought of Not Another Teen Movie, a 2001 parody on the Teen/High school movie phenomenon that was very popular in the early 90s. The film is a perfect example of postmodernism, as Sturken and Cartwright point out that "postmodernism has been characterized by a kind of fatigue with the new and the sense that everything has been done before." (p. 328)  This pastiche, or the artistic work that imitates, remakes, and parodies films such as Bring It On, American Beauty, She's All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, and countless others. 

The particular scene that I have chosen is a parody of the film 10 Things I Hate About You, starring Heath Ledger and Julia Styles. Heath Leadger's character, Patrick, is trying to win the heart of tough-girl, Kim, by publicly serenading her in the middle of her soccer practice. In this film it comes across as cute because the song is "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You." In Not Another Teen Movie, the scene is remade and the context is somewhat similar, Jake is trying to woo Janey. However, to add a comical element to Jake's act, he sings, "Janie's Got a Gun" which is not so cute because it causes everyone around her to freak out in fear that she has a gun. Unfortunately, she gets tackled by security and tazered. Not so much of a cute serenade after all.

 

Nikki S. Lee

I am a big fan of the artist Nikki S. Lee, who's profiled in Chapter 7 (pp. 324-325). She's an NYU alumn and, by the way, does NOT identify as Korean-American- she's Korean. Here's an excellent article on her work and all its complexities in the NYT.

Here's a (kind of cheesy with cheesy music) YouTube video with more of her work.



And here's another image from the Hispanic Project:



The Lesbian Project:

Zero To Hero

Sturken and Cartwright explain that the goal of Postmodernism is to look at the “values that underlie all systems of thought and thus to question the ideologies within them that are seen as natural” (313). Media forms that embody postmodern ideals, therefore, require audiences that “will not be fooled by techniques of propaganda and illusionism, [people] who will get the reference, who [are] media and image savvy” (316). In most cases, these target audiences are parents.

The Disney movie, Hercules, is a great example of a media form structured by postmodern ideas. In the movie, Hercules emerges as a hero through his acts of bravery and displays of strength. As his acts of bravery spread throughout Greece, Hercules achieves “celebrity” status. Along with being well-known and receiving constant praise, Hercules becomes the face of everything from sandals to water bottles. Turning Hercules into an obtainable commodity is Disney’s attempt to parody the capitalistic and materialistic society that we have become as well as our unhealthy obsession with celebrities. Hercules can therefore be seen as a satire of the Western world wrapped up in a conventional fairy tale.

The non-reunion reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm

The chapter "Postmodernism, Indie Media, and Popular Culture" shows that there is no definition for postmodernism that can be summed up in a few short sentences. But while many people (including myself) may not be able to attach a strict definition to the word, most can point it out when they see it. As popular culture continues to develop, certain texts begin to show recurring themes. Texts that demonstrate postmodern characteristics often play with convention using irony (Sturken & Cartwright 315). They acknowledge themselves as texts and products and are aware of other texts as well as their own production (314-20). In essence, postmodernism is less about creating meaning and more about rearticulating existing meaning (330-331).

In the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David playing Larry David is trying to have a Seinfeld reunion in order to win back his wife. Now in real life, Larry David has always said he won't have a Seinfeld reunion because its stupid, and that this is not in fact a Seinfeld reunion. On the show, tv Larry David goes to all the Seinfeld stars, playing versions of themselves, and tries to convince them to do a Seinfeld reunion when in real life they've already agreed to do a real reunion by appearing on the show, even though real life Larry David says its not a reunion. Confused? Well thats postmodernism for you....well maybe.

Gazes of Lady Gaga vs. Farrah Fawcett

What struck me the most out of Sturken and Cartwright's chapter entitled, Modernity: Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge, was the concept of “gaze.” Gazes are widely used reinforcements dominant ideologies and hegemonies placed within our society. Yet, the chapter discussed how more and more gazes are being challenged by these ever-changing ideals of society.

I would like to present a photo of Farah Fawcet:

This gaze or "world of meaning” adheres to society's once dominant ideology of the ideal woman. This picture is an example of how women used to be "objects of the male gaze" as Farrah Fawcett is photographed here in a red bikini, with long blonde hair, a big white smile, and big breasts hanging out. She is really all that society's typical man would want to be offered because she is timid, happy, and sexualized. Here Farrah is the "object" of desire in the photo, not the subject. This photo revokes sexual desires specifically from other males in society.

However, times are changing as you can see in this contradictory photo of Lady Gaga. I would argue that Lady Gaga represents the changing fields of society because as a woman, she represents much more of a "subject" now than Farrah Fawcett does. Instead of being an object, Lady Gaga exemplifies warfare and hard-core ness (sorry for the lack of a better term) as she is performing in chains but is still lively and somewhat dangerous, much different than Farrah Fawcett's timid smile and calm pose. There is nothing comparable in these photos besides the fact that both of these women are famous and idolized. Yet, Lady Gaga's dark hair, fierce stance, and off the wall attitude do not take away from her fame. This exemplifies how society's "gazes" are constantly changing and something we thought was sexual and desirable in Farrah Fawcett's time is completely different than what society accepts as desirable today.

The Gaze and the Other

Nowadays, the “other” is still highly represented in the media, specifically in advertisements where “ads attach notions of exoticism to their products through images of places that are coded as distant and outside the world of consumption.” Asia and Africa are often construed as “exotic” places and women of biracial/African/Asian decent are highly fetishized.

 In fact, a few weeks ago, America’s Next Top Model had an episode where the contestants had to adopt two different ethnicities for a photo shoot. Tyra said she wanted them to adopt biracial identities because they were in Hawaii, which is home to people of various ethnicities. Thus, the contestants were asked to portray ethnicities including, Mexican and Greek, Tibetan and Egyptian, Moroccan and Russian, Native American and East Indian, Botswanan and Polynesian, and Japanese and Malagasy. Here is a picture of one of the contestants after getting a lot of make up done to blacken her face to make her seem as though she is Batswanan/polynesian:

I personally think that this photo shoot reinforces racial stereotypes by making these various races appear more “exotic” and “foreign”. The fact that this contestant was asked to adopt a different race and was made to look darker and thrust into a setting that looks primitive and tribal reinforces notions of the other. The gaze is “commonly regarded as awarding more power to the person who is looking than to the person who is the object of the look.” Thus, the fact that Tyra is making these models adopt various ethnicities that are going to become objects of the look reinforces the idea of the “other” and the fact that they are subjugated in the media.  

One Hour Photo

After reading about the gaze and voyeurism, I instantly thought of the movie One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams. Williams plays a film developer at a local convenience store. He is obsessive, in particular a family which he has been following since their child was born. Through his multiple cameras, he stalks them and their daily lives. He knows where they live, what they do, what they eat, when they sleep, all because of the snapshot.

Williams' character says, "According to the Oxford English dictionary, the word snapshot was originally a hunting term." And that is precisely what he does to this family, hunt them down.

I remember one distinct scene in which he goes in on the couple having sex, and he makes them act out certain feelings and make them do what he wants them to do.

This is voyeurism and the concept of gaze at its finest. Williams feels he is a part of their lives because he has no life for himself. In a way, he livs through the pictures that he develops. He ruins it all when he crosses the barrier and actually uses his knowledge to invade the family's privacy.

Voyeurism and the Gaze

This was an international ad for contact lenses, with a not so subtle message as the selling point--in order to participate in voyeurism, one must be able to see clearly, and that's difficult with fogged up glasses. Where might one be when their glasses fog up? Well, hot and steamy areas like showers, saunas, and changing rooms, for starts.

"The Steamy Room" was a large campaign, with both print and television advertising. Thus, it came as no surprise that something like this was created:

However, the second part of the ad campaign was shocking to me. I expected it to simply feed into the male gaze. After all, attractive women were featured in the commercial, and one can be seen through a foggy lens in the print ad.

The powers that be in charge of developing this campaign decided to do so evenly, and objectify men just as much as they did women--rather impressive, truth be told:

Would dinosaurs be considered the other?

The Gaze and the Other

In Sturken and Cartwright’s Chapter 3, “Spectatorship, power, and knowledge,” they define that the gaze “helps to establish relationships of power” (111). When I read about Orientalism, which is “the tendencies of westerners who have fetishized, mythologized, and feared the cultures, lands, and peoples of Asia and the Middle East,” I think of the Hollywood movies that Jackie Chan ahs been in (113). Particularly, Shanghai Knights comes to mind.

The Orient, as depicted in the movie, is definitely “a European cultural construction” (113). It is depicted as how the west sees China, especially when depicted alongside the British culture, which partook in Imperialism. China, and its women, are portrayed as exotic in this movie. Roy, played by Owen Wilson, is attracted to Chon Lin, who is Chon’s (Jackie Chan) younger sister. The movie has fetishized the appeal of Asian women. Further, Chinese were also depicted as barbaric and evil in the movie. The whole plot of the movie is centered around the Imperial Seal of China that was stolen from Chon’s father, the seal’s keeper. Wu Chow, the illegitimate brother of the emperor, is plotting against his own country. This whole movie embodies Orientalism, as a cultural construct of European and Western views.

(Mis)use of the Male Gaze

Sturken and Cartwright describe the gaze as an element of photography constructed by the artist that allows the viewer to "make the subject appear to himself or herself as lacking". Ever since mass media took off, the male gaze has been widely present and dominantly in various works of classical art, advertisments, and films, influencing the way that both male and female viewers position themselves against the subject in question, and, more unconsciously, how they evaluate themselves.

Recently, Newsweek featured Sarah Palin on its cover. On it, Palin is posed with her hands on her hips, wearing shorts and a sweater. The magazine drew heat from both feminists and Palin herself because the photograph depicts Palin not as a "serious politician", but as a mere subject of the male gaze, a role she has consistently had to separate herself from ever since she gained publicity.

This photograph is supposedly taken out of context and was supposed to be used for a magazine titled Runner's World.

All political views aside, this photograph serves to reduce Palin's legitimacy as a female politician, and does so by manipulating the gaze of the viewer. Elements of the male gaze and binary opposition are used to connote Palin's inadequacy as a successful, strong female worthy of political power. So, while the authors are correct in noting that the male gaze has been more commonly critiqued and abandoned in current media texts, it is still largely present.

More info on the controversy: http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/11/17/official-statement-on-newsweek-s-sarah-palin-cover.aspx

Subverting, Unpacking and Reverting the Authoritative Gaze

The section in the reading concerning CCTV (video surveillance) paints a dismal picture of surveillance technology. While the use of surveillance in the wake of the patriot act might give footing for Cartwright's pessimism, there have been steps (though few and far between) to try and reverse the effects of authoritative technology. In thinking about the various artistic interventions and activist activities aimed at dismantling our surveillance society I'm reminded of three project which come to mind in regards to the text's Foucauldian notions of regulatory and authoritative systems:


1. The Institute for Applied Autonomy, iSee
For this project, the (h)activist group created an interactive map of all the known (and in many cases unknown) CCTV surveillance systems in place throughout Manhattan. The software included with the map allowed users to chart out "the path of least resistance" (the route containing the fewest number/ or no surveillance footage. This project, understandably generated much controversy both for its potential as a tool for criminal activity and (from the left) for their condemnation rather than re purposing or democratization of surveillance technologies.



2. Jill Magid, System Azure
A more whimsical approach taken by the Amercian artist Jill Magid, who was able to convince Dutch officials to contract her fake company (System Azure) to decorate the the city's surveillance systems with rhinestones. Though this project was more symbolic than utilitarian, it was successful (for better or worse) at defusing the symbolic authority that the image of the surveillance camera holds.


3. David Brin, The Transparent Society
Lastly, the most explicit argument for the repurposing of surveillance technology can be found in Science fiction writer David Brim's novel The Transparent Society. Though more than twenty years old, the novel predicts much of the surveillance society in effect today. The book, set twenty years in the future, imagines a city (much like ours) where surveillance is ubiquitous. But rather than being monitored by an authoritative body "every citizen could access an image of every street corner." Brin goes on to address issues of privacy by proposing "cameras, both individual and state owned would be banned in certain public (and private) places, but not in the police stations where they would be ever pointed inwards." Brin's city is one built on trust rather than control and while its implementation is strictly utopian, it provides insight into the potential usage of certain technologies.

Taylor Lautner Redirects the Gaze

The Sturken and Cartwright chapter titled, Modernity: Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge, focuses on the concept of “gaze.” Gaze is defined as, “a field”, or “a world of meaning” (103). These gazes, Sturken and Cartwright explain, adhere and reinforce dominant ideologies and hegemonies. However, more recently, these gazes have been challenged and have been turned on their head.

The original concept of gaze is built upon the notion of the women as “objects of the male gaze” (123). However, like in the movie, Thelma & Louis, females have become more and more in control of the camera, “belying the dominant view that women are objects, not subjects, of the gaze” (130).

This Thelma & Louis structured gaze is also evident in the newly released movie, New Moon. The movie features Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black) as an extremely buff werewolf with a nasty six-pack. Prior to the opening on the movie, tabloids and entertainment shows hyped up the actor’s body so much, that it became a major reason for viewers (mainly teenage girls) to buy tickets. By doing this, Summit Entertainment effectively challenges the old idea of a male-dominated gaze and reinvents it to attract its female viewers.

Frank Miller's Gaze

I'm sure you're all familiar with the stereotype that girls don't read comics and how totally inaccurate it is. So if girls are reading comics just as much as boys, then why is that the majority of comic book writer and illustrators are still writing/drawing comics according to the male gaze. In Practices of Looking, Sturken and Cartwright speak of the male gaze (first introduced by Laura Mulvey in 1975). The male gaze is described as "the patriarachal unconcious, positioning women represented in films as objects (124). The male gaze is one of power and works to "disempower those before its look" (125). When applied to comic books, the artist makes the assumption, consciously or not, that everyone looking at the image is a heterosexual man,who objectifies women just like him. So, what we see in comics is presented through the man's view.

Frank Miller and Jim Lee's All Star Batman and Robin is the perfect example. Here's the cover of the third issue, showing how Batman is seen and how Black Canary is seen:

In another issue of the comic, we are graced with the lovely presence of Vikki Vale's butt:

Looking at this image and the script Frank Miller sent to co-writer Jim Lee (see below) it's easy to see how the male gaze is employed in comics.

When Frank Miller says, “We can’t take our eyes off her” he is speaking directly of an audience that he presumes to be male, and the following “Especially since she’s got one fine ass” says loud and clear that her sexualized portrayal is for the pleasure of that heterosexual male viewer. Viki Vale is the quintessential example of being watched by male watchers: the writer/director (Frank Miller), his artist, and the presumed male audience that buys the book.

The female Gaze

Sturken and Cartwright describe the Male Gaze as portrayals of women as sexual objects. Women's bodies were "posed so that her body is on display for the viewer's easy appreciation." Furthermore, a majority of the images of women portray them as passive, indirect, and submissive. The message from these depictions of women being sent is that, according to Sturken and Cartwright, "men act, women appear." In other words, women play the gentle damsel (though not necessarily always in distress) while the men play their knight in shining armor. Not until the 70s and 8os did portrayals of men in art and advertisements also objectify their body. Men are depicted with sculpted and chiseled bodies and are deemed "aesthetically pleasing" by women. However, the majority of these depictions also play into the "men act, and women appear" idea. They are often portrayed as the strong and assertive hero. The image posted below is a clear example of this.  

The product is pads for women. The pad is represented as one that will provide confidence and comfort for women due to its comparison to the male model. The ad depicts the man as a strong and secure figure in a woman's life, and is further objectified with his buff body.  It is clearly a "cultural commentary on male sexuality, glamour, and body norms and ideal." (p. 129) Even his stance portrays him as a strong male... you can see that he's closing a safe, further establishing him as a secure figure. Even the message of money as security is sent in this ad. 

On a side note...I found an interesting ad from a magazine in the UK from the 80s that pays homage to Gloria Steinem's "If Men Could Menstruate" 

check the website to see a bigger picture of it and to read its explanation.

http://www.mum.org/drwh85.htm

1984

Foucault's concept of panopticon has always fascinated me. I actually learned about it for the first time in my freshman year of NYU, during my writing class. Foucault's argument in this case relates to the fact "how we participate in practices of self-regulation in response to systems of surveillance, whether they are in place or simply assumed to be in place" (Sturken & Cartwright, 107). In simpler words, Foucault debates the human action in a situation that is controlled by the gaze of the entity in power, versus the human actions in a situation that is not obviously being controlled, but that might be in some way. he wonders whether or not people self-regulate themselves when they know they are being watched and whether or not they do it when they think they are being watched. In the words of the authors of our textbook, :we could easily say that the camera is used here as a form of intrusion and policing of our behavior" (p. 107).
Foucault's concept can be applied to many instances across our society: surveillance cameras are just one of the many examples. It is interesting to see the difference in people's actions when they know they are being watched versus when they think they are not watched.

But the entire debate reminded me of my favorite book from high school that we read one time. I'm talking about George Orwell's "1984" of course. The book is a brilliant dystopian fiction that tells a story of a man named Winston Smith who works for The Party that controls the lives of all the people living in Oceania, through the use of constant surveillance in the form of telescreens that constantly show the face of the ultimate ruler, The Big Brother. I absolutely love the book, and I think that it is a great fictional novel to read for all those of you who still haven't. It tells a crazy story with a crazy and unexpected ending, and it leaves you wanting more. Below, I allowed myself to paste a trailer for the 1984 movie that came out in ... 1984. :) Hope you enjoy.