Is Community is a postmodern masterpiece?
This post was written for CIM402 — Critical Theory
Postmodernism can be described as a plurality of analytical frameworks rebelling against Modernism, more than a single overarching philosophy. Within the creative industries postmodern work is often described as a plurality of lenses, an attempt to reject the single unifying grand narratives of modernism, with strong emphasis on subjective nature and contextual information surrounding the any work.
In the video below: Mark Rugnetta has suggested that the TV Show Community (2009) by Dan Harmon is a Postmodern Masterpiece:
(Rugnetta, 2013)
If that is the case, can we use the show to greater understand Postmodernism?
Characters, Identities, and Lenses
In Community, each of the characters is often a stand in for a philosophical strand of these analytical frameworks and identities. They collectively form a plurality of diverse views, some ironic and cynical, some deliberately hopeful, often at odds with the standard trope. Identities such as religion, activism, ethnicities, sexualities and social classes/professions inform the ethical perspectives of the characters, whether through adhering to these ethos or through defying them. The characters are also constantly questioning their own identity, and are questioned about both their adherence to, and defiance of, these identities, being accused of hypocrisy, incompetence, or posturing. This questioning helps shift the characters from mere tropes of identity, and starts to focus on the deeper relationships at play — the relationships that form within a community.
Local narratives rather than grand narratives
According to Lyotard (1988), postmodernism is often concerned with the deconstruction of grand narratives in favour of smaller, localised narratives.
Community’s stories are almost always focussed on these small, personal stories, as do many postmodern shows, however it tries to focus on the sincerity and redemptive potential of the characters, avoiding the irony and satire that David Forster Wallace described as entrapping postmodern television (Schoder, 2019).
In line with this, the narratives which emerge in Community are those of personal identity and humanity, of connection, viewed through a multiplicity of viewpoints.
Signs and Signifiers
The group also has organically emerging localized roles and archetypes — many connotative and unspoken, the Leader or the Auteur Director, but some are denotive, such as the Judge, the Dean and the Liar. The character of Abed, for example, is often treated as the Fool, but he also functions as a Prophet. Such representations are in line with both Barthe’s and de Sausseur’s work on signifiers, demonstrating yet another postmodern lens.
Cultural Significance
Several repeating cultural motifs emerge as narrative touchstones as Community progresses, particularly those of community celebrations. These are not always celebrated in the standard fashion. End of year celebrations become paintball tournaments, Christmases get celebrated denominationally, and even the college mascot is faceless and monstrous. These play with and question the validity of the grander celebrations, while emphasising the importance of teamwork and community, and localized and individual celebrations.
Literary devices
Community also uses quite a lot of postmodern literary techniques in its composition, including:
· Parody and Pastiche — combining the community environment and college dramas, mixing various genres including Wild Western, horror and mafia;
· Bricolage — changing the medium through claymation and puppet episodes;
· Metafiction — making films and employing literary analysis as dialogue;
· Intertextuality — referencing other works like the classic western A Few Dollars More (Leone, 1965) in the episode S2E23 A Fist Full of Paintballs (Russo, 2011);
However, what is interesting is that it often avoids nihilism as a technique, and confines cynicism and irony to specific characters at specific times. Rather than seeking to completely dismantle its subject, as many postmodern works seek to, Community seeks to use these techniques to emphasise the relationships that they characters have.
Diversity of representation
As previously mentioned, Community’s attempts to portray postmodern philosophy allow for a diverse representation of religion, activism, ethnicities, sexualities and social classes/professions in order to inform the ethical perspectives of the characters. This diversity, if portrayed inauthentically, runs the risk of criticisms of “forced diversity” which Busse (2013) mentions undermined the similarly-themed postmodern Glee TV show.
“Glee…is in turn praised for its attempts at and critiqued for its execution of representations of race, sexuality, and ability. The show clearly sees itself as showcasing diversity with its quite purposefully chosen cast…Yet the show has been criticized at the same time for its problematic engagement with diversity ranging from the lack of storylines for characters of color and their constant dismissal…to the transphobic sentiments and slurs…and the problematic depiction of the wheelchair-using Artie, both in using an able-bodied actor and in the often ableist storylines.”
Community avoids this through portraying the diverse philosophies authentically, and then embodying them in characters. Glee, conversely, hired (admittedly talented) musicians, and then tried to write diverse stories and roles for them, losing authenticity over time as the characters became less representative. This embodied representation means that the portrayal comes across as more authentic and representative, which means that the audience feels valued (Why Identity Matters, 2013).
Conclusion
Community uses its postmodern techniques to emphasise the building of communities and relationships, rather than the dissecting and cataloguing existing communities. It writes from a position of postmodern philosophical depth, rather than simply writing characters as singular, simple tropes, which often end up clumsy and potentially offensive. Building such nuanced characters allows for greater audience engagement, which is why this series has been so successful or the creation of, as Rugnetta calls it, a “masterpiece”.
References
Busse, K. (2013). The return of the author: Ethos and identity politics. In J. Gray & D. Johnson (Eds.), A companion to media authorship. Wiley Blackwell.
Community. (2009, September 17). [Comedy]. Krasnoff Foster Productions, Harmonius Claptrap, AGBO.
Leone, S. (1965, December 20). Translated title: For a Few Dollars More [Western]. Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA), Arturo González Producciones Cinematográficas, Constantin Film.
Lyotard, J.-F. (1988). The Differend: Phrases in Dispute. University of Minnesota Press.
Mambrol, N. (2016, March 18). Connotation and Denotation. Literary Theory and Criticism. https://literariness.org/2016/03/18/connotation-and-denotation/
Rugnetta, M. (2013, April 3). Is Community A Postmodern Masterpiece? PBS Digital Studios. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YanhEVEgkYI
Russo, J. (2011, May 5). A Fistful of Paintballs [Comedy]. Krasnoff Foster Productions, Harmonius Claptrap, AGBO.
Schoder, W. (2019, October 27). David Foster Wallace — The Problem with Irony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=2doZROwdte4
Why Identity Matters. (2013). Critical Media Project. https://criticalmediaproject.org/why-identity-matters/
