Postmodernism & Pop Culture

Although the works of Warhol are considered modern art (his most famous pieces being created in the first three quarters of the twentieth century), the themes and Zeitgeist captured of the time presents us with a postmodern theme: the illusion of society.
The first piece I looked at was Warhol’s pop art piece “Campbell’s tomato soup” in which the image of the can has been repeated numerous times. The idea of repetition (and in his later versions the manipulation of bold colours) attacks the concept of mass culture and the power of advertising and image. This ties in with the Baudrillard postmodern concept that everything is a copy of a copy. Reality in advertising is an illusion, and everything we are shown in advertising stems from simulacra. Warhol’s choice of a humble ordinary product, and then manipulating it and over repeating the brand image shows a manufactured culture, and the image we just accept to be the reality. This style has been repeated in Warhol’s work depicting images of famous icons such as the Queen, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. These images also reflect the same cultural meanings as the Campbell’s soup cans as and the image of icons such as Marilyn Monroe show the infatuation with icons and the illusion of fame.

Representation in video games.

-The sims.

The sims, created in year 2000, is a hybrid of a simulation and MMORPG game, as the game in itself features simulated actions part of the 'win element' present in typical simulation games, and also features the use of sandbox mode (where your avatar can roam freely) present in MMORPG games.
There are no specific character representations in the game, as you create your own avatar. However the game itself is a simulation of a specific set of values linked with a capitalist culture and therefore isn't considered as a social simulator, but as a simulator of an ideology of modern capitalist societies.



- GTA .
GTA (1997) is a MMORPG sandbox game.In every GTA game, the male gaze is present predominantly. Stereotypical cultures and ethnics are explored in the different games (e.g. san Andreas is mostly american american or mexican). Women are portrayed as either sex symbols or accessories (e.g. wife, girlfriend) and not as a proper dominant character. this in turn changes what men think the ideal woman is and alters expectations and ideaologies of men and women onto the young players.

- Tomb Raider.
The main character presented in tomb raider, Lara croft, subverts the stereotype of women in video games. That said, masculine traits are featured (e.g. muscles, guns, fighting) so the point of the game is mostly male orientated. Although the woman is represented as a strong fiesty character,the visual aesthetics of her alter ego is seen as a sex symbol and role model to both male and female characters which therefore appeals to both genders in the market.