Postmodernism

What is Postmodernism?

This is when a film attempts to subvert the mainstream conventions of narrative structure, characterisation and destroys the audience's suspension of belief. They usually upend typical portrayals of gender, race, class, genre and time with the goal of creating something different from the typical narrative expression. 

Some examples of postmodernism found is Scream include when Casey and the mysterious character on the phone begin to discuss their favourite horror films and the different plots that go with each one. Names of films are even directly mentioned in the movie, a few being Nightmare On Elmstreet, Halloween and Friday the 13^th.

A second example in the Scream movie even goes as far as to have one of the characters recite to his friends the ‘rules’ or surviving a horror film! These rules include: ‘Never have sex, never drink or do drugs and never say ‘I’ll be right back’.

Lastly, postmodernism is also found in Scream when the Head teacher hears noises outside his office and begins to complain. When he opens the door to see who’s there (an elderly janitor) he replies ‘sorry janitor Fred’. This was done deliberately as the janitor was purposely designed to look like Freddy Krueger – the serial killer from Nightmare On Elmstreet.