Lesson

Voyeurism - the idea of looking at someone without them realising, looking at them in a sexual way, gives the person watching power 

Panopticon - a prison designed so that all prisoners could be seen at any time by guards and other prisoners 

Simulacra - a simulation/made up design of someone or something, artificial   

Hyper reality - an idea of a world that is not the regular reality and is somewhat distorted, exaggerated 

Society of the spectacle - representation has replaced social life, idea of style over substance, relationships via media, consumerism - everything has a price tag and becomes a product 

Ellie's paragraph

Black Mirror 3 VS Wreck It Ralph 1.5

Looking at both Wreck It Raplh and Black Mirror at a stylistic point of view, black mirror contains Simularca, hyper reality and also dystopia and intertextuality with in the series. Wreck It Ralph also contains other styles with in the film such as, hyper reality and intertextuality.

Looking at it from a theoretical black mirror contains, Simularca and artificial, voyeursm and dystopia this is also a channel 4 telly series where as wreck it Ralph contains grand narrative WIR is a Disney film 

From a historical view black mirror no morality or grand , all about the individual, no belonging in morality or beliefs. Wreck it Ralph does not weaken the grand narrative 

Notes from lesson

Black mirror 

+terminology 

-Simularca and artificial 

-voyersim 

-dystopia 

-commodification - something become value- £ charity and Valentine's Day 

- white bear - justice 

Theoretical approach - deeper meaning with in the text - this is a text that deliberity done 

Script write - Charlie Brooker - post modernism theory 

Stylistic - hyper reality and Simularca - reality vs artificiality

Intertextuality - Jameson - the purge 

The trupman show - big brother - Jurassic park - Britians for talent and also Xfactor - Facebook 

Distopia - looked horrible 

History - modisum - post modisum -- very one is individual - segregated in rooms 

Morality - no right no wrong 

Wreck it Ralph 

Stylistic - strong 

Theorehical - not atrong 

Lyotard - still has grand narratives 

Historically - both yea and no 

1982 tron ----> wreck it Ralph 

Style:

Both are recognise as post modisum strongly 

Wreck it Ralph - jntertextaulity 

White bear - Simularca and hyper reality 

Both similar but slightly different 

To what extent

 Black mirror 

Theoretical:

Wreck it Ralph Disney film - has grand narrative 

White bear - channel 4 series - very post modisum - simularcra  and artificial - voyersim and dystopia 

More theory to apply then wreck it Ralph 

Both 

Historical

Wreck it Ralph does not weaker the grand narrative or post modisum 

Barrier between real and artificial - weakened maybe completely collapsed 

Black mirror no morality - no grand narratives - bleak and empty so therefore very Pomo 

 

Black Mirror better 

Black mirror 3 

Wreck it Ralph 1.5 

Lesson notes

Commodification - something becomes valued by money - white bear it's justice 

- how does wreck it Ralph and black mirror compare? 

Wreck it Ralph - style (very strong) 

                           Theoretical (not strong but still has grand narratives)

                          Historically (yes and no) 

Theoretical approach: - deliberate

- Charlie broker knows Pomo theory 

Black mirror: 

Stylistic: 

- simulation - reality v/s artificial 

- hyper reality 

- dystopia 

- intertextuality - the purge, saw, the Truman show, big brother, britains got talent, sims & wii characters, Facebook 

Historical: 

- individualism - separated in rooms

- morality - no right or wrong

- no grand narratives 

- bleak and empty 

- very Pomo 

Both texts are strongly stylistically post modern: 

Wreck it Ralph strongest stylistic approach is intertextuality 

Black mirror strongest stylistic approach is simulacra & hyper reality 

Theoretical - black mirror is very post modern, wreck it Ralph is not post modern (Disney) 

Wreck it Ralph does not weaken the grand narratives of modernism 

It does strengthen the barrier between real and artificial has collapsed - lost 

When comparing black mirror and wreck it Ralph, black mirror is more post modernism than wreck it Ralph. Black mirror shows strengths of post modernism through style, theories and history. Black mirror has simulacra, hyper reality, dystopia and intertextuality. It strongly has simulacra and hyper reality as reality and artificial are strongly shown as people live in a technological world. In wreck it Ralph, style is also very strong. Intertextuality is the strongest post modern style in this film, as well as including simulacra and hyper reality. Black mirror also has a post modern theoretical approach as there is lack of morality and grand narrative and belief. Wreck it Ralph is not post modern in the theoretical approach as it does have grand narrative and morality, keeping to the modern approach. This is most likely because it's a Disney film. Black mirror is also post modern in the historical approach as everyone is separated and they only love themselves and there is no morality. Wreck it Ralph shows post modern historical theories however is shows modernism as well. It still has grand narratives, however it breaks the barrier between real and artificial. Therefore black mirror is more post modern than wreck it Ralph.  

Celebrates the artificial - they are living a virtual life - doubord

No grand narratives or morality 

Voyerism - Foucault - naked woman, kissing 

Collapses audience - the people have become the game 

Baudrillard - hyper real and simulacra, the more artificial the better, society of the sceptical 

Foucault - voyerism 

Debord - real vs artificial, famous for being famous, popular 

Bens paragraph

In comparison Black mirror in contrast to Wreck it Ralph strongly portrays a higher level of post modernism. Black mirror exercises simularcra, hyper-reality and distopia. This gives a sense of illusion and no belief in progress, the characters in the TV series are left feeling empty and are indivualised rejecting the grand narrative. Black Mirror is also Commodernised by the use of buying justice. Wreck it Ralph in contrast strongly demonstrates intertextuality as there are no new ideas. Looking at both, Black mirror purposely uses Post modernity whereas Wreck it ralph doesn't as it is a Disney film. Wreck it Ralph has modern elements for example Grand narratives like Marriage and religious beliefs.

Foucault Notes & lesson notes

- Voyeurism - watching someone without them knowing 
- Panopitcalisation was an innovate prison design in which all inmates could be watched or be under threat of being watched - no privacy
- There is no privacy, anyone can see where you are and what you are doing. 
- Watching (voyeurism) is an act of power and control from the viewer. We are never ourselves in social situations until we are away from others controlling sight. 
- People act differently and the act if watching becomes an act of control.
- Our culture has become a prison - we are part of the prison because we are constantly watching each other etc. 
- Media can be argued to 'manufacture consent' of CCTV
- Big Brother has its name because it comes from the term big brother state which describes how society is constantly trying to monitor everything we do.
- Social networking and the internet gives us great control over voyeurism. 
- growing popularity of social networking has reflected how dependant 

Jameson - style 

Lyotard - theoretical, historical (time) 

Baudrilliard - people are getting 'lost' between what's real and what isn't, hyper sexuality, false sense of reality, lack of emotion, belief (also links to debord), disappointed when you come to reality 

Foucault - 

Debord - no such thing as morality, 

Post-modernism is a theory, not truth! - paradox/hypocritical 

Become about the individual 

Power

Black mirror:

15 million merits 

White bear 

Nostalgia from playing games

From the games listed these are the only ones I felt any nostalgia for:

Fix it Felix

 I feel as though I only felt nostalgia for this game because I have watched the movie. It almost feels as though the characters are real and alive because that's what they were like in the movie.

Mario Bros

 This is almost the exact replica of a mario bros game that used to be on Nintendo DS. I used to play this game and it is exactly the same as that used to be.

Mario Kart 

This game is a replica of the game Mario Kart from Nintendo Wii. 

Pac Man

 This game has been around for years and was available on arcade games, computers etc.

Sonic

This game is very old and I used to play this on Sega and PS2. This looks almost identical to the old SEGA game 

Lesson notes

Tron

Real vs Artificial

Earlier version of post modernism

Baudrillard ideas

1982 - 2012

- more hyper-real, technology improved 

Simulation

Wreck it Ralph - doesn't feature real people, cartoonised

Human qualities - human feelings, relatable

Grand narrative - modernist

- nuclear family

- happy ending

Wreck it Ralph & tron - augmented reality

Messianic character

Ralph will sacrifice himself

Religion - Jesus born into world to help

Religion (grand narrartive)

Morality (grand narrative)

Freedom (grand barrative)

Science and technology - human progress (grand narrative)

Augmented reality

Real vs artificial

Simulations

Nostalgia

Collapsing of boundaries

To what extent is Wreck It Ralph a 'Post'-Modern text?

James's theory is that new ideas cannot be created and we recycle old ideas to make newer ideas. This is shown throughout Wreck it Ralph through the use of intertextuality, an example of this is the game sugar rush shows a resemblance to the game Mario Kart. Characters included in the film are Sonic, pacman and mario. The film also has the game Hero's Duty which again is very similar to Halo. This gives the idea that there are no new ideas and that Disney have used bricolage to upcycle old ideas. The film also has older games in the film like pac man which gives viewers a feeling of nostalgia. 

Hyperreality is shown as it blurs between what is real and hyper-real. The real world in the film is cartoon which is hyper-real as well. The characters in the film are hyper-real and can be controlled by humans however the game characters can take over and control of their own lives. Throughout the film the characters travel through into different games through the wires, showing the separation between real and hyper-real. The real world in the games is high up as if the outside world is a god figure. 

The film also shows hybridity, this is through the use of different games which are different genres. This shows that the genres are not the same throughout the film. When the genres are mixed something goes wrong meaning genres don't mix well. In the film Hero's Duty main character is a woman, who has a sad back story about her husband being killed. This isn't what is expected of a typical shooting game like Call of Duty. Sugar rush is also a feminine game but has women drivers, these games blur the genres. 

To what extent is Wreck it Ralph a POST-modern text?

To what extent is Wreck it Ralph a POST-modern text?

As Jasons theory is that there can not be any new ideas which can be created, we have to look back to old media texts in order to create new or similar ideas. As this can be effected and an example of this is when media texts use intertextuality when creating a new media text. Wreck it Ralph is a prime example if this as it has a number of intertextuality such as, Mario Cart in the game Sugar Rush. This creates a feeling called nostalgia this is where the audience are watching can recreate the feeling of then they use to play these video games such as, Pac Man and Sonic. Having video games that date back to the 90's can bring back the audience childhood as this would be the time where they played these video game.

Post - modern can be found through another way due to Wreck it Ralph not having a set genre, the different genres are show through the use of the different video games shown through out the film. The different video games Sugar Rush is very colourful filled with very feminine features for the film to appal to women, but the other side of this is that it shows Hero Duty which is associated as being a very masculine shooting game.


Hyper reality is shown through out the film as this where the difference between reality and hyper-real is not clear. The film Wreck it Ralph shows the human characters as animated characters and we as the audience can tell the different between the human characters and the game characters. Through out this we can't tell who has control due to the game characters having control when the arcade is closed to be able to travel through to different games and adapt themself to that game, yet if they fail to return then the owner (human character) has control to whether or not the can has to be closed down due to the game being 'broken', this is shown when Ralph exits his game in order to get a gold medal and the owner of the arcade places the owner on the screen.

To what extent is Wreck It Ralph a 'Post'-Modern text? - mini essay

To what extent is Wreck It Ralph a 'Post'-Modern text?

Jameson believes that post-modernism is the idea that new ideas cannot be made and we have to refer back to old media texts to create new ones. An example of how this is done is through intertextuality. Wreck it Ralph has multiple of example of intertextuality. Characters such as Sonic, Mario and PacMan are included in the film. The game ‘Sugar Rush’ in the film is a rip off of Mario Kart, as is ‘Hero’s Duty’ is a rip off of HALO. This is an example of where nothing new can be thought of so old games have to be recreated. The intertextuality of PacMan and Sonic are more likely to have been included to give the audience a feeling of nostalgia.

 Another way in which post-modernism can be seen in through hybridity and bricolage. There are many different genres of games shown through the film and not one genre is kept throughout the whole film. For example, Hero’s Duty is a masculine shooting game, Sugar Rush is a feminine racing game and Fix it Felix is a retro game. All 3 of these games are strongly involved in the film and Ralph blurs all of these games and genres.

Hyper-reality is also a strong feature in post-modernism. The blurring between what is real and hyper real. The hyper-real characters (game characters) are controlled by the humans, however, the game characters can overrule the humans and can take control of their own lives. You can also see them travelling through the wires in the real world, making their world look separate from the real world and also hyper real. The real world also looks as though it is the hyper real world’s God as they control them and also look onto them. This can be seen when the arcade owner places the notice on the screen of Fix it Felix. 

Why is Wreck it Ralph post-modern because of it's style?

The film includes a lot of intertextuality:
- Sonic
- Mario
- PacMan
- Oreo
- Space Invaders

Bricolage/Hybridity:
- Masculine genre in the game Hero's duty -  A rip off of HALO and Call Of Duty
- Fix it Felix Jr. is a retro old fashioned game
- Sugar Rush is a feminine racing game
Ralph goes between each of these games and ends up mixing them together by taking characters from different games into games that aren't theirs.

Hyper-reality:
The game characters are in the hyper real world and are controlled by the humans in the real world - e.g. the poster is placed on the game screen and is almost God like to the game characters, can see them travelling through the wires of the game.

Nostalgia:
Similarly to intertextuality, lots of old games are seen in the film and may make the audience have that feeling of nostalgia.

Simulacra:
The game is a simulation. This can be seen as the characters are animated, you can see the characters travelling through the wires of real life. However, reality and hyperreal are blurred as the human characters are also animated. 

Irony:
- The female character from Hero's Duty is very masculine and calls the male soldiers "ladies" - it is a post modern game and therefore follows a post modern structure of the characters
- Felix is very polite and a typical modern man - the game in which he is in is a modernistic game so he is following modernistic structures.
- Ralph is a post modern character as he is an evil character but wants to be good in the film - he challenges modernistic views and also a modern view of games as he leaves his game

Lesson Notes

Post modernism:

- central idea is breaking or collapsing structures

- rejects traditional ideas

- emptiness, lack of beliefs 

- End of WW2 - mucilage bomb

- after modernism 

- technology & consumerism (image) - simulacra 

- post modernism is a theory 

- relationship in modernism 

1960s:

Civil rights, hippies, change - traditional ideas broken 

Weakening 

Strengthening from 1960s - this is what we need to examine in media texts 

Now:

Media - radio, newspapers, TV etc.

'new media' - YouTube, social media, PROSUMERS 

1. central idea is breaking or collapsing structures

2. rejects traditional ideas

3. emptiness, lack of beliefs 

Video 1:

Nuclear bomb but character survives the bomb - it's meant to destroy everything - hyper real

Video 2:

Breaking of boundaries - what's real and what's hyper real - technology is taking over 

Video 3: 

The future of technology has changed his image, therefore changing him as a person - lack of belief that he could survive as a regular human and a lack of belief in the emergency services because he does it better than them although he is a robot l

Time:

Still lived in modernism until 1960s, belief in structures started weakening, rejecting traditional ideas 

Video 1: nucular bomb, there is no hope for people, people wondered why to follow rules when you are going to die anyway 

Video 2: computer games are simulation and hyper real (post modern), games need to be controlled, Tron is an example of the fears culture has of the virtual world confusing with the real world 

Video 3: film about the virtual world coming into the real world 

Use of technology has strengthened in 30 years 

Lack of belief:

Video 1: given up seeing the hatred and sees the enemy as just someone in help

Video 2: lack of belief in human intelligence, 

Video 3: lost belief in police and government to protect us, lack of belief in human intelligence, keep the hand, heart and face, they keep him alive through technology

1980 is significant because there is the mix of reality and hyper reality, computers 

1. Need to understand modernism to be able to understand post-modernism 

2. It's breaking the structures of modernism 

3. Post modernism is a binary opposite of modernism - binary opposite is a modernism theory but they exist in post-modernism - paradox

4. Post modern is a paradox, hypocritical 

Essay plan sheet: 

Grand narrative - modernism idea

Blurs the good vs evil (wreck it Ralph) - conforms to grand narrative but it's complicated 

3 states of POMO

Period of history - rejects modernism - lyotard 

Stylistic - strongers since 1980s - looks like - Jameson 

Theoretical - thinks like - baudrillard 

Find examples of wreck it Ralph on words on the blog 

1945 -weakening of belief, modernity, weakening belief in progress, religion etc. 

Post modernism - teenager 

Adolescence - want to be an adult but still act in a teenage way 

1980s to 2014 technology strengthened 

Film is about video games 

Para 1 - collapsing structures - lyotard 

Para 2 - style - Jameson 

Para 3 - theoretical - Baudrillard - what it thinks like 

But it is a Disney film - educated audience 

Examples of 

Morality:

Video 1 - he believes he should risk his life for hers, but she saves him anyway 

Video 3 - Ralph gives a cherry to a character with no game (homeless), 

Felix invites Ralph in the party even though nobody wants him there 

Dystopia; 

Video 1 - bugs take over sugar rush and make it turn bad - however it gets better 

Video 3 -

Positive resolution:

Video 1 - Ralph is about to die and gets saved my vanelopie 

Sugar rush gets fixed and saved 

Video 3 -

Democracy

Video 1 - the leader of the world dies because he was bad - everyone is now equal 

Video 3 - Ralph isn't equal to the other people in his game - they leave him out of the party 

Intertextuality references 

Video 1 - shows other video games in the scared 

Video 2 - shows sonic's game and all other games, lots of references - no belief in progress so no new games - have to look bad 

Video 3 - pac man game and other characters from other games 

Sonic & pac man 

Tapper game 

Ralph - modern narrative 

Good wins at the end - complicated because Ralph is the 'bad guy'

Venelope chooses to be president instead of princess - independence - modernism 

Bricolage - other games go into wreck it Ralph's game 

Simulacra - animated human, normal 

Girl is part of the game - controlling felix 

Ralph - post modern

Felix - modern 

Why is wreck it Ralph post modern because of its style?

notes

Destroyed the barrier of the audience – the audience is controlling what fix it Felix is doing

Barrier removed from a human and a computer character as the computer character has developed emotions

Ralph brakes things – breaking structures – felix fixes things – opposites – Post Modernism – modernism – Post modernism Ralph wants a gold medal – individual – felix wants to help people (modernisum)

Mario cart – sugar rush intertextual  – Post modernism – earl 1990s – game film – cant contain new ideas as there’s no belief in new progress.

Table for Revision - Wreck it Ralph

Wreck it Ralph - Exam

 Human and technology - futuristic car

 Morality:

He believes he should risk his life for hers, but she saves him anyway -

Ralph is about to die and gets saved my vanelopie (Positive resolution)

 Male vs Female - Venelope saves Ralph, woman stronger

 Good vs Evil - Technology taking over

Dystopia; 

Bugs take over sugar rush and make it turn bad - however it gets better 

 Democracy

The leader of the world dies because he was bad - everyone is now equal 

 Male vs Female - Modernist, male has stronger role

 Intertextuality references 

Shows other video games in the arcade 

 Grand Narrative - Typical Marriage of man and woman

Intertextual References: Shows sonic's game and all other games, lots of references - no belief in progress so no new games - have to look bad 

 Intertextual reference: Pac man game and other characters from other games

 Intertextual references: Sonic

 Human vs Technology - Technology taking over humanity

 Intertextual Reference: Pac Man

 Ralph isn't equal to the other people in his game - they leave him out of the party

tapz and els screenshots and a little notes

Good Vs Bad

 king - rejecting to democracy - born in to the family

human and technology - shows emotion due to her having a past