Sunset Aglow created using MS Paint. Photo: Tran Nhat Lam Thuy
"What were two points from this week's readings that stood out to you as particularly important and/or interesting?"
"Why so?"
The history of freedom of speech in Australia is one of two things I consider important. Australia has no absolute right to free speech (Bainbridge, Goc & Tynan 2013). However, the High Court has ruled that there is an implicit right to political speech as a necessary component of the Constitution's system of representative and accountable government (Australian Human Rights Commission n.d.). Yet before the printing press was developed in the 15th century, Bainbridge, Goc, and Tynan (2013) claimed that spreading gossip could be considered a death sentence for individuals with power.
Another point that seemed important to me is the fine line between free speech and defamation. While people have the right to express their opinions on social media platforms and interpretation is up to those perceiving the texts, one's reputation can be vandalised and the creator of the media texts can be sued. "People will have to appear in court as witnesses under oath" (Bainbridge, Goc & Tynan 2013).
(Bainbridge, Goc & Tynan 2013)
Word count: 161
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Mountain Summit created in Microsoft Paint Photo: Tran Nhat Lam Thuy
"Choose one of your favourite postmodern media texts and explain the ways in which it is postmodern."
One of my favourite postmodern media texts is episode four of the Netflix series "Cunk on Britain" called "Twentieth Century Shocks" which is also available on YouTube (Tomasi 2018). It is considered postmodern because the mockumentary has postmodern characteristics such as intertextual referentiality, pastiche, parody, and irony (Stadler & McWilliam, cited in Lynch 2022): how Philomena Cunk - "played by an astonishingly straight-faced Diane Morgan" (Nicholson 2022) - threw ridiculous questions at the leading academics or the way she claimed Franz Ferdinand's death was "a bigger craze than fidget spinners" (Tomasi 2018), entertaining the audience with the comparison of an archduke's death to the short-lived popularity of a children's toy (Divakaran c. 2022).
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"What are the reasons you like this text? Do these reasons include its postmodern characteristics? Why/Why not/how so?"
I like the episode because of its educational values, despite the show being a mockumentary. The Cunk inquisition is intimidating, especially when she starts asking questions like: “It was so long ago. Why should I care?” (Nicholson 2022). Not only was the audience entertained by her hilarious commentary, but they were also briefly educated on Britain in the twentieth century. While its learning potential has little to nothing to do with postmodernity, the ironic attitude and sarcasm evident in the narrator's voice are. The episode was a pastiche based on a serious documentary. Meanwhile, providing viewers with knowledge of the past is not considered a postmodern characteristic.
(BBC 2018)
Word count: 220
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Reference list:
Australian Human Rights Commission n.d., Freedom of information, opinion and expression, Australian Human Rights Commission, viewed 27 November 2022, <https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/freedom-information-opinion-and-expression>.
Bainbridge, J, Goc, N & Tynan, L 2013, Media and journalism: new approaches to theory and practice, 3rd edn, Oxford University Press, Ebook Central (ProQuest).
BBC 2018, 'Twentieth Century Shocks' [image], in Twentieth century shocks, TV Maze, viewed 4 January 2023, <https://static.tvmaze.com/uploads/images/large_landscape/240/602252.jpg>.
Divakaran, S c. 2022, Fidget spinner: from a trend to a fad, Digital Uncovered, viewed 27 November 2022, <https://digitaluncovered.com/fidget-spinner-trend-fad/>.
Lynch, A 2022, ‘Lecture 11: Superficiality and pop culture’, MDA10001 Introduction to media studies, Learning materials via Canvas, Swinburne University of Technology, 17 May, viewed 27 November 2022.
'Media and journalism: new approaches to theory and practice' [book cover], in Bainbridge, J, Goc, N & Tynan, L 2013, Media and journalism: new approaches to theory and practice, 3rd edn, Oxford University Press, Ebook Central (ProQuest), viewed 4 January 2023, <https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51d-r9mCduL._AC_SY780_.jpg>.
Nicholson, R 2022, Cunk on Earth review – Diane Morgan’s character is so well-written it’s easy to forget she’s not real, The Guardian, viewed 27 November 2022, <https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/sep/20/cunk-on-earth-review-diane-morgans-character-is-so-well-written-its-easy-to-forget-shes-not-real>.
Tomasi, R 2018, Cunk On Britain episode 4 - twentieth century shocks, 25 April, viewed 27 November 2022, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZizNksnnRA>.
