Essay - How can postmodern theory be applied to Life on Mars? Why is life on mars considered to be a postmodern show?

ESSAY: 

How can postmodern theory be applied to Life on Mars? Why is life on mars considered to be a postmodern show?  600-1000w)

- The Postmodernism seen in Life on Mars can be seen as a reflection of modernism on Crime Dramas and especially TV. Life on Mars follows a narrative which has no link to religion, center and somehow history. Life on Mars only touches the historical elements of a stereotypical Crime Drama set in the 1970s. This ‘convention’ may for the more extreme postmodernists already judge Life on Mars as a not-postmodern show because of its elements is not linked to Postmodernism at all.

 On the other hand, we might consider that Life on Mars is applied to human sciences. We experience towards the first episode the scientific idea of time travel to a different era. This is considered as a postmodern feature simply because of its idea of living the dream of travelling to another era, which in my opinion may be considered the greatest dream of humankind since the advancements of technology and the Postmodern influence towards the bright “outside of the box” thought developed by both theorists and postmodern believers. Another feature of Postmodernism seen in Life on Mars is the anti-foundational belief. The anti-foundational belief is the belief that there is a reason os base of truth/evidence in the action of knowledge. In other words, there is no “I believe, I can”, everything has a logical explanation for happening. Life on Mars approaches this belief during most part of the Pilot episode. The first time we see this happen is when Sam is trying to have a reason of how he just woke up in the 1970s after being hit by a car. During the episode we see his confusion towards the fantastic “Time Travel” as Professor Hulk would say. 

To be a Postmodern show, Life on Mars must consider his basic concepts. Postmodernism tends to reject all “grand narratives”. Grand Narratives are defined as “a narrative about narratives of historical meaning, experience, or knowledge, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (as yet unrealized) master idea.” Life on Mars is literally a grand narrative which is a downpoint for the Post Modern theory. However, Life on Mars has the differential of following the second conception, “all ‘truths’ are contingent cultural constructs”. This can be seen in Life on Mars where back to the 1970s there are all the cultural beliefs and a construct of the era that when portrait shows a genuine representation of the 1970s so immersive that makes the audience believe that they are in the 1970s with the main character. 

Those TV shows such as Life on Mars tends to be considered as Postmodern shows because of their final proposal to their audience. Their narrative (Set in the recent past), bring back to their audience the feeling of nostalgia. This means that anyone that lived during that era, anyone that has a small affection for the era, or just experienced something related to that era would somehow feel nostalgia and experience the show better than someone that has not lived or experience would. Pastiches of the era such as famous bands, artists or just a brand would be also used to reinforce the era affection, for example, during the Pilot episode we see that Sam goes to a bar and enjoys a whiskey which would be likely to not exist in real life. The merging of genres is also a key factor to determine that Life on Mars is a postmodern show. This is because of the mixture of a typical Crime Drama with an intense romance which is seen during the whole episode. This reinforces the postmodernism because it creates a version of reality that is socially constructed as there is the hope in everyone to dream with their perfect partner and their life love.