Lyotard

Questions:

How does the film Wreck It Ralph conform a 'Grand Narrative'?

Wreck-It Ralph conforms to a 'Grand Narrative' as it has a beginning, middle and end, a hero protagonist, a happy ending, good beats evil, it follows the heroes journey and the guy gets the girl (Felix and Sergeant Calhoun).

What does he have to do to become the hero?

To become the hero, Ralph has to save the game and Veneloppe.. 

Where in the film does this occur?

At the end of the film.

Is there a Hero's journey?

Yes, we follow Ralph game jumping and finding out being the 'bad guy' doesn't make him bad.

Is there a resolution that ties up all the narrative threads?

Yes, Sugar Rush has its rightful royal, Vaneloppe who finds her true identity and the subjects get their memory back. All the games that lost their games, go into Fix it Felix to create a bricolage. Ralph makes friends and is seen as a 'good guy'. Fix it Felix gets married to the sergeant who lost her previous husband.

Do the characters conform to their narrative roles?

Ralph conforms to being the bad guy, in his game and when he decided to game jump but on the other hand it could be argued that he does not conform as he becomes the hero, and sergeant has to be a 'good guy' as she has to help save her game world. 'King Candy' was the hero and now is the villain. Vaneloppe is the princess. Fix it Felix does -1950s man. Villains of bad anon - showing sympathy for one another.

Do the characters conform to traditional gender roles?

No, due to the lead character of Hero's Duty being a woman and having the role of sergeant which is predominantly a 'man's job'. However, Vaneloppe does conform to traditional gender role as she is the 'damsel in distress' but on the other hand she saves Ralph and is a tomboy wanting to be a racer, which does not conform to the traditional gender role. Glitch could be seen as a disability. Also, the clothing of the women.

Are the boundaries of Genre rigid?

Yes, because by jumping games, it is basically jumping genre also. 

Any morality or ideological meaning?

Good vs Evil

Hero

You can change the role you were born with.

Wreck-It Ralph Homework* To add moodboard

I have created this mood board which has a few pictures of Tron and Wreck-It Ralph

Wreck-It Ralph can be referred to as ‘Post-Modern’ due to its bricolage of intertextual references which create nostalgia, aspects of Jameson’s Post-modern views. For instance, by creating a pastiche to ‘retro’ games such as Sonic, Pacman and Tappers, and placing them into a film, Wreck-It Ralph, this creates a bricolage as the characters from such games have their own world and merge together. And hence by using these intertextual references, this shows that by recycling the gaming culture, something new can be created that will create nostalgia and as a result be marketable not only to the 1980s/90s generation, such as the parents of today but to the newer generation such as the children of today. This means that even though the children may not understand the references, they will still enjoy this ‘cool’ but retro film. And in addition, due to the film being narrated by Ralph, this is an example of self-reflectivity, as he is aware he is a game character, which also applies to the other game characters.

On the other hand, as a film, it could be argued that Wreck-It Ralph is not a post-modern text as it embodies a grand narrative structure, which is a modern aspect and follows the traditional stereotype of an imperfect ‘odd’ hero overcoming their perceived deficiency and who prevails in a fight against evil, which we see in many modern texts such as Aladdin, a thief who becomes the hero.  Post-Modernism views on grand narratives are that the boundaries are collapsed and with reference to Wreck-It Ralph, this is not the case, and in retrospect the film has a typical ‘happy ending’ which likened to a Post-Modern film such as Fightclub is modern. Therefore, it can be argued that Wreck-it Ralph is not a post-modern text after all, but does embody some aspects of post-modernism.

Lady Gaga: Case Study Homework

Here is a mind map I created which includes Lady Gaga's Telephone and Paparazzi Intertextual references.

I made this mood board based on the intertextual references in Lady Gaga's Telephone and Paparazzi Music Videos.

Here is the Nicki Minaj makeover doll which I styled. I decided to go for a more natural toned down look, but incorporated the pink in her hair and on her top in order to still have the Barbie/pink style she is known for. I did this because personally I think this would make her appeal to a wider audience, as many people might prefer the more natural look compared with her eccentric style.

Retro Games

8 bit version of myself