Jean Baudrillard suggested that “We live in a
world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.”
Evaluate the extent to which this postmodernist statement applies Humans and
Les Revenants
Jean Baudrillard’s theory of post modernism is a hard theory
to define; in a short summary you could argue that it means the fake is better
than reality which is what I’m arguing can be applied to both Humans and Les
Revenants. Les Revenants is a French supernatural drama television series produced
by Fabrice Goubert and the series debuted on 26th November 2012; and
Humans is a UK based sci-fi television series which debuted on channel 4 on 14th
June 2015. I am arguing that post modernism is linked to both series through
the characters, ideologies and overall production. Les revenants is a cult TV
show which in relation to the idea that post modernism is linked to the show,
could be used to reinforce the idea as a cult TV show is made for a small set
of passionate fans; as a first time watcher you will either love or hate it, which
is the preferred response as everyone will end up confused whether you like it
or not due to there being no actual meaning behind it.
Firstly, in Humans you can look at the relationship between
Laura and Anita both having the job of looking after the children, Sophie in
particular. Sigmund Freud’s theory of the Madonna/whore could be linked into Anita
especially as she was produced in a way where she is stereotypically perfect as
she states in the first episode too, she’s hegemonically more attractive and
can look after Sophie better due to her machine nature; however her ability to
turn into a sex doll at any given moment through the use of a code which is
later on used by the dad, Joe in the scene where he picks out the code to activate
the 18+ mode. This anchors the audience in a position to feel uncomfortable as
we know of Anita’s past as Mia, a fully conscious individual who has feeling and
thoughts and that Joe is going for the fake reality over the real, through the
form of his wife, Laura. Humans acts as an allegory as the hidden meaning behind
the show which is formed in order to deliver a broader message about real world
issues, with the show’s focus being on artificial intelligence you could argue
it is a warning about that, or instead it’s used as an argument against the
hyperreality of media products being used to brainwash the audiences.
A key scene in Humans is of the breakfast scene in which Anita
prepares a huge breakfast for the family which in itself is a hyperreality of
breakfast and shows what breakfast isn’t really like at all, having a breakfast
of that size for the family of that social class is very unlikely; it looks
like a hotel breakfast which is also a hyperreality of what accommodation should
be like. The close up establishing shot of the facial expressions of the family
reinforce the idea that a breakfast like this is atypical for a family of this
social class. Furthermore, Anita’s laugh later on in the scene is seen to be
unnatural and highly uncomfortable from the perspective of the audience. Anita
is a hyperreal construction of what woman, she’s perfect because she cooks breakfast
which is a stereotypical norm for a woman. She’s a stereotypically perfect woman
because she does what she is told to, which could be argued that Joe even
prefers her over Laura down to the fact she isn’t real. Jean Baudrillard stated
in his text – “it is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even
parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real
Also, when looking at Les Revenants you could also pick out
evidence that post modernism can be applied to the French series too. Les Revenant
is a very polysemic media product, to the extent that the audience can’t actually
establish the preferred reading from the producer; the true meaning is so
blurred that you could argue that there is no official meaning encoded by the
producer. Roland Barthes’ theory of semiotics can be applied to Les Revenants.through
the use of codes, especially hermeneutic codes which are used often in the French
show to create mystery for the audience. The scene in which Victor, the young
boy, follows an unsuspecting woman named Julie home uses hermeneutic codes to
add suspense as well as confusion which is typical for the horror genre. The establishing
shot of Julie sitting at the bus stop in the dark with Victor emerging from the
darkness behind her looks exactly like something from out of a horror which
positions the audience in such way that we see him as threatening to begin with.
He continues to follow her home through the suburban area which looks
stereotypically working class which adds to the stereotype of something bad
happening in a rough area as such; the low-key lighting adds to this effect. The
constant use of hermeneutic codes throughout the episode leaves the audience
incredibly confused at times, reinforcing my argument of there being no meaning
behind the media product.
In conclusion, I have argued that post modernism could be applied
to both Humans and Les Revenants quite strongly. This is due to the theme of
confusion throughout Les Revenant which blurs the official meaning behind it
and then the hyperreal reality of Humans reinforced through Anita and the
synths being a better version of the human race. A post-modern media product
aims to deliberately break rules in which Les revenants most certainly does
through semiotic codes and the symbolic nature of each character; it’s atypical
for a television show to have a preferred reading of confusion, especially for
the horror genre. Hyperreality could be seen as a bad thing however as it could
be linked to the idea of propaganda, the idea that the people in higher power construct
a fake reality in order to benefit themselves which in the sad reality we live
in, is remarkably true for most cases as we’re being brainwashed day after day
into believing a fake reality; in which we can see through certain media products
like Humans.
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