History Main / Postmodernism

* Creator/GrantMorrison's run on ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'' featured the central character slowly becoming aware of his own fictional nature. He eventually confronted Morrison themself in the pages of the comic.
** In John Ostrander's ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' run in the late '80s, [[ShoutOut Morrison reappears as The Writer]], who reveals that when he wrote themself into ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'', they inadvertently became part of Creator/DCComics continuity. No matter, though; the Writer is soon killed off.

* ''Comicbook/TheSandman''. [[MetaFiction It's essentially a story about stories]] [[AnthropomorphicPersonification whose protagonist is the embodiment of storytelling.]] A more persistent theme is the difference between ancient and modern writing, stories which are male and stories which are female, the latter tends to be more common in the 20th Century.
* ''Comicbook/HowardTheDuck'' had plenty of it during a 2016 issue: [[Characters/XMenRoguesGalleryJToR Mojo]] revealed he was behind the 2015-16 run of stories, so he could [[TrumanShowPlot sell Howard's exploits as a reality show]]. In-between, as resembling Howard's OrphanedSeries he'd spend years without doing anything ("Your life was the equivalent of [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy a post-credits cameo!]]"), Mojo would film scripted scenes between Creator/LeaThompson and [[Film/HowardTheDuck someone in a duck costume]].

This led to all kinds of TakeAThirdOption in storytelling, efforts that echoed conventional pre-war genres but with a more contemporary, darker twist, the HappyEnding was often shown with StylisticSuck or a parody, and while DownerEnding never went out of style, we now had the GainaxEnding where the story goes beyond the fate of the characters and the confines of the story, sometimes directly addressing the viewer, other times leaving them with a sense of irresolution and uncertainty, sometimes yes veering to TrueArtIsIncomprehensible levels but with the intention that audiences should think and engage with the work, however difficult it may be, as per their own experience without the story telling them what to think and how to feel. {{Deconstruction}} was developed as an independent strain in this time and post-modernism generally features a strong deconstructive aspect. In general, postmodern writing involves a blurring of boundaries. An example of this is blurring the boundary between the reader or viewer and the fiction -- for example, a TV show that acknowledges that it is not real (contrast ThisIsReality). However, Postmodernism can also be applied to fiction that mixes different genres into something new, such as the way that ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' [[GenreBusting combines]] western tropes with science fiction and various movie [[SatireParodyPastiche pastiches]]. Here, Postmodernism describes a self-referential fiction, a fiction which references other fiction, or a fiction which displays some [[MediumAwareness awareness]] that it is a fiction. The SubvertedTrope, DiscreditedTrope, [[GenreSavvy lack]] of GenreBlindness, {{Deconstruction}} of conventional boundaries, and PlayingWith the FourthWall ([[NoFourthWall or lack thereof]]) are all hallmarks of Postmodernism. Expect MindScrew.

[[caption-width-right:330:This is not a pipe.[[note]][[RecursiveReality It's a central nervous system's perception of a retina's interpretation in electrical impulses of a photonic projection of a digital recording of a scan of a photograph of a painted representation of Magritte's perception of a pipe.]] Or if that’s too much of a mouthful, no it’s not a pipe, just a picture of one.[[/note]]]]

Oh, and by the way, Actual Postmodernism is SoLastSeason these days. We're up to [[HypocriticalHumor Nuvo-Retro-Ex-Post-Modernism now.]]

* Creator/GrantMorrison's run on ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'' featured the central character slowly becoming aware of his own fictional nature. He eventually confronted Morrison himself in the pages of the comic.
** In John Ostrander's ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' run in the late '80s, [[ShoutOut Morrison reappears as The Writer]], who reveals that when he wrote himself into ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'', he inadvertently became part of Creator/DCComics continuity. No matter, though; the Writer is soon killed off.

** [[http://www.salient.org.nz/features/tv-tropes-will-ruin-your-life This article]] blames Postmodernism as one of the reasons why TVTropesWillRuinYourLife, since the style of this wiki references fictions one after the other, and dissolves the boundaries between fiction and RealLife. Besides the [[Administrivia/ThereIsNoSuchThingAsNotability lack of notability]], the relentless [[ThisTropeNameReferencesItself self-referencing]] of [[WikiWalk massively]] [[Administrivia/AllBlueEntry interlinked]] [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife trope definitions]] with {{pothole}}s {{parody}}ing the purpose of every article and [[MemeticMutation turning trope names]] into FanSpeak (along with the [[TheInternet medium of hypertext]] and the concept of a wiki itself) is also a [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible very postmodern concept]].

* Late comedian Trevor Moore of [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/TheWhitestKidsUKnow The Whitest Kids U' Know]] fame is known for flaunting references to {{Real Life}} historical events, controversial celebrities and conspiracy theories, seasoned with a hefty dose of social criticism. This is especially apparent in his musical works, the culmination being the has-too-be-seen-to-be-believed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPzJjNQaYEA "My Computer Just Became Self Aware"]].

* Late comedian Trevor Moore of {{https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/TheWhitestKidsUKnow The Whitest Kids U' Know}} fame is known for flaunting references to {{Real Life}} historical events, controversial celebrities and conspiracy theories, seasoned with a hefty dose of social criticism. This is especially apparent in his musical works, the culmination being the has-too-be-seen-to-be-believed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPzJjNQaYEA "My Computer Just Became Self Aware"]].

* Late comedian Trevor Moore is known for flaunting references to {{Real Life}} historical events, controversial celebrities and conspiracy theories, seasoned with a hefty dose of social criticism. This is especially apparent in his musical works, the culmination being the has-too-be-seen-to-be-believed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPzJjNQaYEA "My Computer Just Became SelfAware"]].

* Late comedian Trevor Moore is known for flaunting references to {{Real Life}} historical events, controversial celebrities and conspiracy theories, seasoned with a hefty dose of social criticism. This is especially apparent in his musical works, the culmination being the has-too-be-seen-to-be-believed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPzJjNQaYEA"My Computer Just Became SelfAware"]].

* ''Literature/TristramShandy'' has been described as early Postmodernism. Its StreamOfConsciousness style and digressions within digressions within digressions are the most noticeable aspects of this, but perhaps more important are instances of PaintingTheMedium (like following the death of a character with a completely black page.)

* ''VideoGame/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' is essentially an entire postmodern commentary/deconstruction of [[the dating sim genre, its fanbase, and medium awareness. The character of Monika becomes sentient, but instead of playing this for laughs or such a realization being brushed off, Monika has a devastating but completely realistic mental breakdown upon realizing that herself and her entire world is fake and a computer simulation. She eventually realizes that the player (not the main protagonist, but the **player themselves**) is the only “real” thing that she knows and becomes desperate to connect with them as a result. This quickly escalates when she messes with the game’s code and “[[DeadlyEuphemism deletes]]” the other characters in the game so that the player will have their full attention on her. She argues that since they are lines of code but are unlike her non-sentient they aren't really alive so she isn't doing anything wrong. She even comments at points on how generic and unrealistic the other characters personalities are, a jab at stock visual-novel love interests.]]

* ''Literature/HarshGeneration'' by Damien Blake contains odd punctuation, stream-of-consciousness narration, and a nameless protagonist who writes a memoir within the story, that goes by the same title as the book itself. He abruptly stops the narration to comment on previous events as if they were fictional, adding to this UnreliableNarrator status.

* ''Literature/Harsh Generation'' by Damien Blake contains odd punctuation, StreamOfConsciousness narration, and a nameless protagonist who writes a memoir within the story, that goes by the same title as the book itself. He abruptly stops the narration to comment on previous events as if they were fictional, adding to this UnreliableNarrator status.

* ''Series/TheOC'', while not always the most overt, it serves as one of the more mainstream examples out there.

* ''VideoGame/{{Harvester}}'', is a ''very'' disturbing and uncomfortable game with [[DaylightHorror jarring]] [[{{Gorn}} violence]] an [[StepfordSuburbia even-more]] [[WorldOfJerkass jarring tone]] that would make just about anyone playing it squirm in disgust... [[IntendedAudienceReaction which is the point]]. Similar to ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' (as seen below), the game is a commentary on the perception that [[MurderSimulators video games make people violent and/or desensitize them to violence]], [[spoiler:with the game's world turning out to be a VR simulation designed in-universe to turn people into serial killers (which you must reject to achieve the [[MultipleEndings good ending]])]]. Based on ''Harvester'''s reputation ''not'' as being an impetus for mass murders, but being one of the most disgusting games ever made, it makes a strong case for itself.

* ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' starts off as an action brawler/shoot 'em up, before devolving into philosophical explorations on the nature of existence, mortality, and purpose. Throughout the game, besides getting killed by enemies, you can get a Game Over by going anywhere except where the quest marker tells you, removing a computer chip in your own menu screen that will instantly terminate your character (they're robots, you see), or eating a mackerel. These Game Overs have their own snarky commentary on how stupid you, the player, were for achieving them. For the GoldenEnding, you have to [[spoiler:shoot and destroy the ''credits'', which becomes increasingly difficult as your 'craft' keeps getting overwhelmed by enemy fire, until you gain reinforcements from other players around the world who have completed the game to come in and shield you. You then have the option to delete your entire save progress in order to transform yourself into one of those reinforcements, reinforcing the message of the game that acts of love and kindness, no matter how small or insignificant, no matter if you don't know who it will benefit, is the most important thing that matters in a world that will eventually fade into nothingness.]]

** The title being a reference to a very postmodern ''Series/SesameStreet'' (!) book.

* ''Film/SynecdocheNewYork''. Just the fact that its Creator/CharlieKaufman is not enough for him.

* ''Film/SynecdocheNewYork''. Just the fact that it's Creator/CharlieKaufman is not enough for him.

* ''Film/JayAndSilentBobReboot'', the sequel to ''Film/JayAndSilentBobStrikeBack'' directed by Creator/KevinSmith and distributed by Creator/SabanEntertainment, is about Jay and Silent Bob losing the rights to use their names to Creator/SabanEntertainment because Saban wants to reboot the "Bluntman & Chronic" movie made in ''Strikes Back'', which Jay and Silent Bob are the basis for. Jay and Silent Bob decide to travel to Hollywood again and stop their movie from getting made and get revenge against it's director: [[spoiler: Creator/KevinSmith]].

* ''Anime/StudentCouncilsDiscretion'' also loves making references to other shows (specially LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya) and breaking the FourthWall. The first two minutes of the series is a NoFourthWall discussion on how they should make the anime.

* ''Anime/SeitokaiNoIchizon'' also loves making references to other shows (specially LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya) and breaking the FourthWall. The first two minutes of the series is a NoFourthWall discussion on how they should make the anime.