Session Three Metamodernism Department of Film & Audiovisual Culture, Masaryk University Dr. Richard Nowell ¨ ¨ ¨To develop a sound understanding of: ¨ ¨1. The roots of Metamodernism ¨ ¨2. The dynamics of Metamodern media ¨ ¨3. Metamodernism as industry strategy ¨Consideration of the Comfort Viewing Mode (connection, nostalgia, uplift, sincerity, familiarity) allows us to revise understandings of media ¨ ¨As well as providing a different perspective on industry history (like 1980s Hollywood), it permits a richer understanding of cultural history ¨ ¨It enables us to develop new insights into the most important macro force shaping western popular culture this century: Metamodernism ¨ ¨Metamodernism is considered to be a Structure of Feeling; a widely shared set of values giving a cultural formation its character (for a time) ¨ ¨Theorists argue that Metamodernism represents a successor to both Modernism and Postmodernism; and that it combines elements of both ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨This essay is one of several in recent years analyzing the different ways metamodern media balances postmodern elements with other content ¨ ¨While focused on US sitcoms of the 2010s, its findings echo much of the other scholarship on metamodern media, suggesting their transferability ¨ ¨1. What sets apart metamodern sitcoms like Community from earlier ones like Seinfeld? ¨ ¨2. How do metamodern sitcoms handle emotional material? ¨ ¨Rustad & Schwind suggest a spate of Metamodern sitcoms has largely supplanted postmodern sitcoms of the ‘90s like Seinfeld ¨ ¨They argue Metamodern sitcoms invite viewers not just to laugh at characters, but also with them, forging emotional connections ¨ ¨This approach involves combining material that invites viewers to adopt a detached, cold perspective and an engaged warm one ¨ ¨They suggest that the inclusion of serious material presented in a sincere fashion distinguishes these sitcoms from earlier ones ¨ ¨In so doing, these sitcoms are able to thematize painful issues amid the “safety” of their more traditional humorous content ¨Metamodernism represents a compromise “I know, but still” view that sincerity and hope can still enrich a fucked up world ¨ ¨It borrows early-to-mid-20th century modernism’s optimism that secular rationality will lead to improved, enlightened societies ¨ ¨But it also incorporates the detached cynicism that characterized postmodernism’s skepticism of modernism’s utopian impulses ¨ ¨Metamodernism oscillates between these two poles, swinging between extremes of sincerity and extremes of ironic detachment ¨ ¨Metamodernism therefore pairs the emotional detachment and flat affect of postmodernism with the Comfort Viewing Mode ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨Acknowledging the Comfort Viewing Mode enables us to revise this strict linear historical trajectory assigned to Metamodernism ¨ ¨While its rise to prominence may be a fairly recent development, Metamodernism has existed as a “competing” mode for decades ¨ ¨Metamodernism is often traced to the uplifting New Sincerity of the late-1980s and early-1990s; films like Field of Dreams (1989) ¨ ¨However, oscillating between irony and sincerity characterizes a wider range of earlier media using the Comfort Viewing Mode ¨ ¨As we have seen, the 1980s feelgood of Amblin and others used depictions of ironic detachment to showcase emotional growth ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨1. To what extent does this show thematize cynicism? ¨ ¨2. To what extent does it remind you you are watching a television show? ¨ ¨3. How does this show use sincerity to position itself as Comfort Viewing? ¨ ¨This series shrouds sincere material in an ironic cloak, using extremes of “postmodern” pastiche, inter-textuality, self-reflexivity ¨ ¨It centralizes the psychosocial roles media plays for a man on the autism spectrum who uses comfort viewing for various reasons ¨ ¨He uses this media sincerely, whether as a short-term retreat from stress, a means of coping with trauma, or as a source of uplift ¨ ¨His comfort viewing enables him to form connections with fellow students, including those whose retreat into irony starts to crack ¨ ¨This content offsets formulaic aspects, showing viewers how media helps connects them to others on the screen and in-front of it ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨1. To what extent does this film thematize cynicism? ¨ ¨2. To what extent does it remind you you are watching a film? ¨ ¨3. How does this film use sincerity to position itself as Comfort Viewing? ¨ ¨This film mediates the industrial, creative, and emotional nature of Metamodernism as a new(ish) form of Comfort Viewing ¨ ¨It offers a detached, ironic critique of the corporate greed and textual recycling associated with recent Hollywood franchising ¨ ¨It is hyper-ironic as this partial remake of The Muppets (1979) was promoted as Disney debuting a newly licensed property ¨ ¨But it adds sincere content wherein characters use the Muppets property nostalgically to foster uplift, growth, and connection ¨ ¨This subplot uses the Comfort Viewing Mode to counter outrage at the film’s shameless, mercenary, hypocritical self-promotional ¨ ¨Analysis of metamodern media is at present limited to its social and textual aspects, but we may also consider its industrial value ¨ ¨The challenges of creative exhaustion and cynical consumers can be countered with Metamodernism’s we know, but still approach ¨ ¨Metamodernism provides an inbuilt defense of industrial-creative conduct industry feared Gen-Xers would reject as crass and lazy ¨ ¨Gen-X identity was seen to derive from superiority over formula, conservativeness, and sentimentality of sincere modernist media ¨ ¨Shifting focus to the emotional rewards of sincere media, enables industry confidently to reuse such hitherto “outdated” strategies ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨Metamodernism therefore not only amounts to a format or a template, but also a medium-term public relations strategy ¨ ¨Its defense of audience rewards over commercial exploitation and recycling builds acceptance for corporate media conduct ¨ ¨It preempts criticism of the sequels, remakes, and spinoffs now very widely used to manage risk and maximize returns ¨ ¨It protects an industry rejecting textual innovation in favor of rapid cycles of similar slates aimed at new viewing cohorts ¨ ¨In a n era of “we know, but still”, potential viewer cynicism is silenced by acquiescing to the Comfort Viewing Mode ¨Just as it enables us to revise industry history, so can an understanding of Comfort Viewing enrich our understandings of macro cultural forces ¨ ¨Metamodernism is a cultural movement that responds to an age of existential angst by oscillating between seemingly incompatible ideas ¨ ¨In relation to filmed media, Metamodernism is usually understood as switching between cynical ironic distance and warm sincere engagement ¨ ¨It famously characterizes US sitcoms that were differentiated from earlier ones by fostering of a sense of community between shows and viewers ¨ ¨It is also used for Hollywood films, which too aim to strike a balance between commercial formula and media’s capacity to lift audience spirits ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨The Comfort Viewing Mode also enriches understandings of character-types, such as a much-maligned misunderstood Comfort Viewing staple ¨ ¨Topic: The Nerd (In Us All) ¨ ¨Readings: Quail, Nerds. ¨ ¨Home Screenings: Paul (2011), ¨ The Big Bang Theory, S01 E01-03 (2007) ¨ ¨[Preparatory Questions on MS TEAMS and in the Syllabus] ¨ ¨Meeting: Thursday 9 November