In what ways can Scott Pilgrim be considered as Postmodern?

Scott Pilgrim can be considered a Postmodern film because it rejects typical modern film structure by mixing genres and its heavy use of intertextual references. Modernists believe that everything should be original, ignoring past work, which in terms of films mean the audience should not question the reliability and supposed “reality” that is represented in the narrative. This often does not leave much room for audience interpretation and has a set structure following conventions of genre, making the overview of the plot predictable to the audience who enjoy watching something where they know what is going to happen because human nature likes comfort and familiarity. However, in terms of films this can become dull which is why Postmodern directors, like Quentin Tarantino, have become so popular as their work is unpredictable and challenges typical Hollywood filmmaking. In Scott Pilgrim, Edgar Wright has make clear references to other genres not only of film but other media, TV programs, comic books and largely video games. The use of intertextual references makes it Postmodern because it encourages active audience participation with the audience looking for the references. 


Scott Pilgrim can be considered Postmodern because it is a bricolage of different genres taking intertextual references from what can be considered popular and elitist “geek” culture. Reference from recent and old action computers like the original Super Mario Bros, Pokemon and Zelda mixed with pop culture films with references to Kill Bill in the end fighting scene and a reference to Seinfeld, an American TV sitcom in Scott and Wallace’s flat, creates the potential to appeal to an audience from both the mass and niche audience groups. References to popular geek culture like the parody of Superman, Brandon Routh who played Superman in the recent remake playing a character with Super Vegan powers who then gets killed by green lazers which is a reference to kryptonite which is fatal to Superman. This is aimed to appeal to a mass audience because it is well known, this is mixed with more niche “geek” culture like the reference to the rare early 90’s NES game “Clash at Demonhead” is aimed to appeal to a niche audience. This links to the theory of normative pluralism as the film makers are showing that all “geek” culture is equal, popular mass culture like Superman is not considered lower because everybody knows about it and equally unknown niche “geek” culture is not elitist just because very few people have heard of it. The rejection of boundaries between genre, and popular and elitist culture can be seen as a good tactic to draw in a wide audience because references to Superman and Tarantino’s Kill Bill attracts more attention and brings something different to the film, making it stand out from other recent comic book adaptations, like Thor and Captain America for example. However it is not always successful because it relies on the audience to know the original source to get the joke and large part of the audience might not recognise the more niche references. For example, not being an avid gamer I did not recognise some of the references to Zelda and older NES games, however missing the references did not matter too much as a lot of the gaming references where universal to most games, the level bars and power ups for example. The good thing about Postmodern films is that they do not require the audience to recognise every reference and detail which is something only a niche group will be able to do. This is why some criticise postmodernism for being exclusive to those people who get the in-jokes. This leads some critics like Frederic Jameson to believe that postmodern society, films in particular, can not progress any further than they already are because they are made up of “nothing more than continuous self-referential jokes which have no deeper meaning or purpose” which if used constantly in media will eventually wear out. In terms of intertextual references working in Scott Pilgrim, it could be successful if the narrative of the film had a wider appeal as well. The film failed at the box office for several reasons; the movie was marketed in accurate representation of the film - the trailer included gaming references and text signifying the sound in action scenes which would have put off solely mainstream audiences off as it seems “hipster”. In some ways this film is hipster because it goes out of its way to depict the characters, especially Scott and the Sex Bob-ombs, as geeks with the niche gaming references however to a niche “geek” audience they do not classify as geeks because they are in a band making “cool” indie music. It also missed out the older group of the 4 quadrant because it is essentially about a group of early twenties slackers which is not likely to appeal to a large audience of over 30’s. This becomes a problem when the references involved are more likely to be recognised by this group because they might remember the original NES game and Seinfeld references and could easily identify the 8-bit Universal introduction at the beginning of the film which the average teenage audience would not. Josh Tyler, a film critic, stated that “it is a broad movie built on a lot of different niche elements and as much as we’d like to believe moviegoers are open-minded enough to step outside their comfort zone, most of the time they won’t.” I think this shows how aspects of Postmodernism can be seen as a negative in film making especially if it is deterring an audience.


The large emphasis on intertextual references to geek culture in the film, which fits with the genre as the story is taken from a comic book series called “Scott Pilgrim” suggests that style is more important than content in the film which applies to George Ritzer’s theory. The intertextual references is the most dominant aspect of the film and is considered more important than the plot in attracting the audiences’ attention because without the intertextual references the narrative is fairly typical of action films - the hero of the story fighting evil for a girl. The narrative structure follows a modernist structure in terms of containing typical narrative aspects like Claude Levi-Strauss’ binary opposites with Good vs. Evil, Good triumphing over Evil, the hero getting the girl which is quite predictable to the audience who are used to seeing these themes in narratives throughout media backed up by typical Hollywood movies. There is also a self-referencing aspect with the graphic novel scenes that explains Ramona’s past which is drawn in the same style as the original comic books and the use of words to explain and enhance the action is self-referencing to the comic books. This can also be seen as an example of hyper-reality. Most modern films will go to great length to make action scenes look as real as possible with the use of “realistic” visual and sound effects. Dominic Strinati’s theory of Fetishised Hyper reality can be applied to Scott Pilgrim and the use of text within the action. By including comic book text the action no longer looks “real” creating a hyper-real situation within the narrative. For example, the first fight with Matthew Patel almost stops the “reality” in the film and blocks out the crowd at the concert in the style of comic book fighting with the words appearing on the screen to explain the sound. In addition to this the mixture of very different genres creates a hyper real situation, for example the Bollywood dance performed by Matthew Patel cutting in between the comic book fight scene. This is done for comic effect, and could be seen as a Bollywood parody, which is totally unpredicted by the audience who laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. However within the parody the director references this ridiculousness by having a shot of Scott’s sister looking confused at the situation. This is considered postmodern because within the film it is being self-referential and self-critical this is to cue to the audience that the film-makers do not take it seriously so the audience should not either. The purpose of the film is for fun rather than to hide a deeper meaning. Furthermore this blurring of the boundaries between representation and reality is postmodern because it is not trying to hide the origin of the story, being self-referencing to show the audience that Edgar Wright knows that it is a film not reflecting reality. Another example of self-referencing is the fight scene with Ramona’s ex-girlfriend in the alley, in the scene Edgar Wright references the postmodernism within his own film by having Scott question the originality of  Roxie’s words; “I’d love to postpone darling but I just cashed my last rain check” to which Scott says “Where is that from?” This shows that the film makers know that the audience will be participating in the film in this way, questioning the references and sources throughout the film. Although some may see this as clever comic effect by acknowledging the audience in this way, some critics, like Roseau, dislike how postmodernist contradict themselves by relinquishing the truth of their own work and see self-referencing as meaningless. However as well as acknowledging the postmodernism of his own work, Edgar Wright acknowledges modernist Hollywood films with the character of Lucas Lee who is a big film star making a non-existent film within the narrative, which is another example of hyper reality. This is an example of how modernism and post-modernism can overlap because this is a postmodern film that reference pop culture, including mainstream culture that has modernist values. Frederic Jameson would argue that this mix however “encourages superficiality rather than substance” and will lead to the media becoming meaningless.


In conclusion, Scott Pilgrim can be considered Postmodern in many aspects as it is a bricolage of genres and different media with a large amount of intertextual references from popular and what could be argued elitist culture. I think the use of intertextual references are clever and make the plot, which is quite typical, more interesting. However I can see why it was not very successful in the box office because some of the references where too niche and aimed at an older audience who did not find it appealing because of the narrative. Postmodernism can work very successfully in a film if it is not seen as being too niche or referencing elitist media however to some extent the fact it does not have mass mainstream appeal does appeal to some people. In Scott Pilgrim’s case it was labelled as a hipster film because of the niche references to the “uncool” gaming culture which is why many did not go to watch it. Since then it could be argued that it has become a “hipster” film because  it is branded uncool by the mainstream it has gained following from people who find the uncool cool.