Postmodern Gothic: A Lesson

Chapter 1-

The first exploration of the idea that is "postmodern gothic" was an experiement I called "the nightmare generator". Through this project, I attempted to touch on one aspect of the human psyche that I felt was very much apart of the greater postmodern gothic landscape: the uncanny. Having taken a class on the uncanny two years back, I had maintained a strong interest in the idea since. The short video was designed to work on a subliminal level, so that the audience would receive the uncanny sensation without a very identifiable cause as to why. The flashes of bodies and other disturbing images across the screen were never shown for more than a fraction of a second and were not intended to be fully registered by the mind until afterward.

This experiment went well, but not as well as I would have liked. The images seemed to be a little too over-the-top in their offensiveness and not of the very subtle, hard-to-put-your-finger-on nature that most uncanny images possess. A few seemed to hit nerves around the classroom, but it wasn't the reaction I was looking for.

 

Chapter 2-

Continuing on with the previous theme of the uncanny, there is another aspect ofunheimlichthat I wanted to explore and that was the idea of the double. I attempted to explore the creepiness associated with the distorted self-image white trying also to make a sort of commentary on superficiality.

The main critique of this attempt was that the conclusion lacked the climax necessary to truly drive some of the points home. I agree, however I feel that, as it stands, the project at least touches on that secondary aspect of the uncanny through which people can feel uneasy when approached with a self-image that has somehow been perverted or distorted such as in dreamstates.

 

Chapter 3-

For the final project, I took a different turn into exploring the postmodern gothic. It was definitely a more light-hearted take on pastiche. In the project, I presented a very serious subject which many would normally find disturbing and I tried to approach it from a pop culture angle to sort of stylize it, which our culture has a tendency to do. I chose MTV Cribs as my target simply because the show is so annoying and the flashy edits and jump cuts/shaky camera are really hard to watch but they're used because they're "cool". Anyway, the final project was an attempt to parodize MTV Cribs and the idea of "cool".

 

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