Scott Pilgrim Essay

Postmodernism, as a concept and a movement, is difficult to define. However what it does possess is a number of criteria which signify whether a text is an example of Postmodernism. These were laid down by George Ritzer. By applying these criteria to the film Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World we can determine whether it is Postmodern, which in my view there can be no doubt about.
The first criterion Ritzer suggests is that a typical Postmodern text is likely to break down the distinction between high culture and mass culture. Certainly, Scott Pilgrim does this, with its continuous references to elements of video gaming (an activity which only has a selective proportion of participants ie, a high culture) being included in a film which is intended to be watched by the masses. Examples of such references to video games are the names of the bands in the film; Scott’s band is named ‘Sex Bob-omb’ which is an homage to a common enemy in the Super Mario franchise, and Envy’s band is named ‘The Clash at Demonhead’ which is also an homage to a old NES game of the same name. With references so finely tuned as these, it is no surprise that the film received bad critical reviews – as non-members of the high culture that Scott Pilgrim pays frequent homage to, the intertextual references went unnoticed and unappreciated, thus decreasing the film’s entertainment value to a mass audience which follow the same suit as these critics.

Another criteria Ritzer specifies is that postmodern media tend to break down the barriers of distinction between genres. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World does this in that in possesses elements of various genres, including action (typified by numerous fight scenes), romance (Scott’s attempts to woo Ramona) and comedy (though as previously mentioned, the degree of funniness is determined by the audience’s awareness of the films references).  This blending of genres makes Scott Pilgrim, at least in this context, a very postmodern text.
Ritzer also said that a postmodern piece of media would involve the mixing of time, space, and reality; this is another element that is apparent in Scott Pilgrim. In the film, Scott has visions of Ramona in the desert, before instantly jumping back to reality via snappy editing – reality is mixed between the ‘real’ world and Scott’s dream, and even Scott seems to be unable to distinguish between the two (Ramona in the dream tells him he is having ‘some idiotic dream’). Another example is when Scott, seemingly without realising due to daydreaming, jumps from the library with Knives, to band practice and shortly after that to a street heading to a party. This mixing of time and space emphasises Scott’s  – and therefore the audience’s-  inability to look at the chronology of the film as completely linear. There are small fragments of reality that we see, that due to the editing are put together in a spasmodic fashion.  This is a clear example of the postmodern aspect of mixing time and space. An example of the mixing of reality occurs later in the film, where Scott appears to be killed, only to find out he has an extra ‘life’ (another video game reference) and he respawns in order to defeat Gideon. He makes simple work of parts of the encounter he had struggled through  in his previous attempt, and does things differently this time. Of course, in real life this wouldn’t occur – hence reality (a fight between two men over a girl) has been mixed with ‘unreality’ (getting a second chance after being killed).  This certainly makes the film unrealistic and unbelievable, but a postmodernist would ask ‘does it actually hamper the effectiveness of the film?’ This is because, as Ritzer said, postmodernists emphasise the importance of style over content ie, the film’s plot may not be the best but its little details and the way they are conveyed to the audience take precedence over this.
Rizter also claimed postmodernism can be identified by the way a postmodern text blurs the distinction between representation and reality, as is apparent in Scott Pilgrim. Examples of this occur when unrealistic details are added to a scene to represent real things, such as Scott’s ‘Pee Bar’ when going to the toilet; the Pee Bar represents the level in his bladder but in the film it is displayed as part of a real scene (reinforced by its appearance in the reflection of the mirror in the scene).  Another example is when Scott is confronted by the first of Ramona’s evil exes and a ‘VS’ appears in between the two characters. A clear reference to such combat games as Mortal Kombat and Tekken, this would never happen in real life, however it connotes the fact that Scott and Matthew Patel are going to fight. The best example I have found of Scott Pilgrim blurring representation and reality is the scene referring to Seinfeld (an old American sitcom) in which Scott enters his house to the sound of cued applause and laughter. This is a classic convention of sitcoms, and undoubtedly breaks the divide between the ‘audience’ and the events of the film – reality and its representation in the film are connected and therefore blurred.

In conclusion, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is undoubtedly postmodern when examined against the criteria identified by George Ritzer; it breaks down distinctions between high culture and low culture, different genres and representation and reality. It also emphasises style over content due to its attention to detail and lesser concern over a meaningful plot, as well as mixing time, space and reality to make an unrealistic, unbelievable film which to the masses is ineffective, but to a priviledged section of the audience is an entirely relatable and thus effective piece of media.