TV: Postmodernism and Deutschland 83

 Q1: The Cold War was mostly represented by the film genre spy thriller. Just like Deutschland 83 it predominantly follows a spy creeping and searching for information exactly like in the Cold War many spies infiltrated the West and East Berlin examining their battle plans.

Q2: It mixes real-life elements with exaggerated aspects of the story creating a narrative. The show also heavily references postmodernist art for example the shopping scene with countless products filling the shelves of the same thing no creativity just repetitiveness 

Q3: President Reagan's speech at the exact beginning of the show that set the narrative ahead for the show archive footage used creates a sense of realism that is really hard to replicate and make

Q4: Normal readings of East Berlin were that it was ruthlessly dedicated no one had a say in what they did which was partly true however with the party scene we can see that it wasn't depressing and repressive but vibrant and exciting which juxtaposes reality and fictitious information created by the West.

Q5: The music is super nostalgic perhaps being hyperreality pop and rock mostly made in the West were implemented into society in the West side of Berlin.

Q6:  Examples provided of the breakdown of the distinction between culture and society are the characters of 'Bruno' and 'Borat' as they now have more 'reality' for film audiences than their creator, Sacha Baron Cohen as the characters have been crafted to be seen as real and Cohen is only ever interviewed in character so his creations have a voice but he does not.

Q7: Jamerson argues that as mediaization increases so does the culture, finding itself losing a sense of historical context. History is now reduced to ‘talking heads’ documentaries and historical knowledge is often based on media representations. This could be applied to D83 as it presents a very carefully crafted representation of East and West Germany, one that may not be fully representative, or historically accurate, but because it is being presented realistically in a TV program, most people are likely to accept this specific representation as fact. 

Q8: The theory provided for this is Jameson's theory of cultural depths, as he sees the culture as being one where meaning is lost and all that is left is surface representation. However, he also argues that this is sometimes countered by outrageous claims for extreme moments of intense emotion, for example, the shared cultural grief after the death of a celebrity. Jameson claims that these emotional outbursts are a way of replacing the shallowness of ‘style over substance’. The example provided is reality tv shows, such as 'Big Brother' as they can be seen to have a culture of celebrating style over substance as many celebrities are now famous for being famous rather than for an identifiable talent.

Q9:  Pop music (low culture) often samples classical music (high art) D83 during the supermarket scene, 'Sweet Dreams' by Eurythmics, a widely recognized 80s pop song (low culture) is being played in the shop against the carefully crafted pop art style (high art) supermarket

Q10: Bricolage is using old and new texts and ideas to construct and create new meanings and can be seen in D83 in its title sequence using archive footage and new footage to create an 80s feel, as well as in the opening scene, where Reagan's speech is being played on TV and a fictional character is then watching this very real event.

Q11:  Audiences find the pastiche of the show to be almost an homage to the 80s, allowing the audience pleasure of nostalgia as some would remember this era themselves, as well as the surveillance aspect of the show as it uses archive footage and references to real events to inform audiences, linking to hyperreality as the lines between fiction and reality are so easily crossed in this show.