Society and Fashion in the Age of Postmodernism Essay

Society and Fashion in the Age of Postmodernism - Essay Example The essay "Society and Fashion in the Age of Postmodernism" concerns the postmodernism society. Language lost its ‘meaning’, culture lost its ‘centre’ and history found itself struggling for being, let alone authenticity. Because of the work of thinkers like Derrida, Foucault and Lyotard ‘mental structures’ began to wobble; foundational assumptions came under a cloud. What is man’s role in a society? Is not he the subject of several forces including language and discourse? Can he lay claim to any ‘Truth’ when even the hyponyms of it were being questioned? Perhaps the answer to this whirlpool of uncertainty lay in his summoning up his infinite potential of creativity for a plausible answer. The one that bagged consensus was ‘celebration’. A celebration of the joke called life. Of the absurdity called existence. Everything, including architecture and fashion, responded to this interpretation. (Postmodernism may say that there are not any facts but only interpretations, but the human mind considers this as a fact). The greatest manifestation of this new-found enterprise was in the salad that combined ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture. Music strove to mix 14th century church chant with the latest in euphony. Buildings displayed gothic arches with a bunch of steel tubes to add to its effect. And in vogue were straitjackets with a naughty hint of one’s backside. Joanne Finkelstein recollects anthropologist Jonathan Friedman’s observation that in African Congo during the 70s and 80s.... The currency of the young subculture was to wear the latest in European fashion circles. Although the social and economic differences between Congo and Paris were too vast to be mentioned, the young sapeurs chose to bridge dream and reality through clothes. So much so that wearing haute couture was like realizing a dream. And this imbalance between dream and its realization, between valuing a particular object and having the capacity to possess and maintain it was a fundamental dynamic of fashion, according to Finkelstein1. However, in the 'subcultures' of Britain which included teds, punks, skinheads and hippies the dynamic of fashion was something totally different. Dick Hebdige points out that the main aim of the subcultures was to cobble out of the available forms, a new set of genres that will free them form the manacles of tradition2. However, Hebdige admits that the commercial culture itself had the wherewithal to counter the hegemonic culture by producing for the subcultures. By marrying the high with the low, the radical with the conservative, it produced a range of clothes for the punk that is still looked upon as an act of positive aggression. These two divergent theses coalesce to the synthesis that in fashion there cannot be a common protocol. At a time when 'consilience' is the order of the day and terms like 'society', 'identity' and 'nation' are themselves undergoing significant semantic changes, 'fashion' which is the signature of these terms in flux cannot remain steady and static. In postmodern zeitgeist is not only that fashion influences society but also that society influences fashion. Fashion becomes an

A Critical Analysis of Own Video Work. Hush (2013) Essay

A Critical Analysis of Own Video Work. Hush (2013) - Essay Example The movie focuses on the illustration of the psychological disintegration of the lead character, Alice, who bereaves the death of her son, Jason. She appears obsessed with her son and while doing the chores in the course of her daily life, her attention goes back to her son. Her son’s memories haunt her through his possessions such as his guitar and mask, the room he had used, his pictures and even the â€Å"Spiderman Song† from his favourite cartoon. She also seems to be haunted by her own childhood, which reflects on the fragmented manner in which the thoughts about her son come to her. She lives alone and the movie makes no reference to her husband or any other relatives. Thus, it transpires that her son was the only person she loved and cared for and this explains her obsession for him. This obsession with her dead child destabilizes her present life and finally erodes her sanity and she ends up in a mental hospital. The movie eloquently portrays the disintegration of the young mother by relying purely on the actions of the protagonist within 4 consecutive days inside her house and using distorted images of her daily routines. In doing this, the movie seems to have drawn inspiration from many acclaimed directors of the horror and psychological thriller movies, especially from David Lynch and Sharon Maguire. The movie has several elements that conform to the concepts of horror and psychological thriller movies, including its theme, the sequences of action, setting, sound and music. Rather than revealing characterization through dialogue or plot development, the movie focuses on simple and routine actions of the protagonist to reveal her psychological condition, trauma and obsession with her son. It, however, follows a systematic approach albeit through the depiction of the changes in the character’s routine to illustrate how her behavioural pattern keeps changing within a matter of a few days, due to her disintegrating mental state. Thus , the movie, through illustrating the changes in the behavioural pattern of the protagonist portrays her mental state and shows how the obsessions can devastate the lives of human beings. The creative minds of people can sometimes follow a similar line of thinking and, as a result, one artist may perceive the same method for illustrating a particular in the same way that another has done. David Lynch is a highly popular and critically acclaimed director who has created many a masterpieces that have been celebrated as epoch making events in movie history. He is also known for his style of depicting the psychological traumas in individuals by showing distorted images from their daily lives to allude to their deteriorating mental states. The movie Hush also displays several traits that are typical attributes of Lynch’s style of representing the psychological problems in his characters. This can be evidenced from how the character in this movie displays the disintegration of her mind through the variations in her actions. The audience initially sees Alice in the movie when she does her make up in a leisurely manner, paying sharp attention to the details. She works on her eyelashes and cheeks in an unhurried manner and the cosmetics and other items are kept neat and tidy. Thus, the movie creates in the audience the understanding that things are normal for Alice and she is in a relaxed mood. In the next scene she is again shown tidying up the house, slowly dusting the surfaces and then she wipes the framed photograph of Jason, pauses to take a look at him, touches the picture and then moves off. But the memory lingers in her mind, as suggested by the tune of the lullaby with its ending note. Alice prepares tea and sits down and stirs it when the camera zooms to the door of Jason’