Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a way of thinking in which there is no one truth. There is no one way of life, there are many. It’s a mixing of styles and beliefs. There can be so many different styles that make sense, they are only different from one another. In relationship to popular culture, postmodernism is seen through many ways. There is a loss of metanarratives and a focus on smaller and local narratives. There is also an importance on the fiction, other than the reality. Fiction is very important because it gives us an easier way of understanding things, other than dealing with the real truth. Style is definitely more important than substance.
Nip/Tuck has an important subject that is closely tied to a postmodern approach. Fiction being more important than reality is completely obvious in Nip/Tuck. Because the entire show is based on plastic surgery, there are many characters that create a way of looking in order to hide the reality. The plastic surgery also shows how style is more important than substance. As Christian was going through a mid-life crisis, he got liposuction in order to hide the fear that he was getting old. Kimber got a lot of plastic surgery in order to have the perfect body. She does this to get the attention of Christian. She tries to live in the fantasy of two perfect people, with a perfect car, and a perfect apartment. Another character of Nip/Tuck, Escobar, who has appeared on the show twice is a criminal who gets plastic surgery to look like a completely different person. He almost takes his entire identity away to get on a plane and out of Miami.
By living in a fiction world, these characters hide from the reality that is too hard to live with. The fiction is more important and creates a perfect world. Even the theme song of the show says the worlds “A perfect life”. Also, the style of their lives, Christian’s car and Kimber’s perfect body, is more important than the substance, which is their own identities. Christian creates his own identity with his style of luxurious things, like his car, apartment, and clothes. Kimber creates her own identity with her perfect body to become important, better than everyone else, and to make her career as a model and a porn star the way for people to remember her.

Clip Analysis

In an episode in the first season of Nip/tuck, Julia is continuing medical school to get her doctorate degree that she’s always wanted to become a plastic surgeon. It was a great time for her to go back to school because her second child was finally old enough to get a nanny for. Sean is still a successful plastic surgeon who is not able to watch the kids. While going to med school, Julia had an unexpected pregnancy and told Sean the news. Sean was very excited but was worried about Julia continuing school. Julia was not as excited as Sean about the pregnancy and continued to go to school everyday. She miscarried because of getting no rest. Sean was really sad about it, while the episode wasn’t clear about how Julia felt.
The person that obviously had power in the relationship is Sean. He continuously told Julia to get some rest, to keep the baby, and to not worry about school so much. As Julia went against his orders, it definitely was displayed as wrong and stupid, not smart and brave. In the end, she was the wrong one because her wrong actions caused a miscarriage.
Obviously there are a few stereotypes that are shown within ideas of gender. First, the man of the house tells the wife what to do. Julia is told to stay home and to rest. More importantly, Julia is told to keep the baby. Julia didn’t really want the baby because she wanted to finish medical school. It was Julia’s own fault for not telling Sean she didn’t want the baby as much as he did. However, because she is a woman, she wasn’t able to speak up to her husband. Another stereotype is that the man has the successful job, not the woman. Sean would come home everyday in his business suit and briefcase. Julia is trying very hard to be successful. However, no matter how hard she tries, she fails. After the miscarriage, she drops out of school. She doesn’t continue her dream of becoming a doctor. Another stereotype that could be seen is how all doctors are men, while women are nurses. Julia can’t become a doctor, and this idea implies how women can’t work as hard to become a doctor as men can.
This clip is definitely an old clip from 2003, the first season of Nip/Tuck. This is important because around that time there were many married mothers that were trying to go back to school to get their degree. The terrible thing is that Nip/Tuck made this impossible for women to accomplish in their show. It could have been intentional. If it was, I don’t think it was intentional to make it seem as though women can’t accomplish their goals. I think it was intentional for Sean and Julia’s relationship because of the episodes that followed.
This example is helpful to understand how gender roles are argued with binary opposites, which are seen as natural. Whatever Sean is, Julia is not. Julia can’t even become what Sean is, even with hard work. However, at the same time, it’s seen as natural. Julia’s natural pregnancy was key in seeing how natural the entire episode is. Julia miscarried and dropped out of school. It was a natural way of dropping out of school. Because it was so natural and biological, we don’t see the difference in gender roles.

Upcoming Events!

Nip/Tuck airs September 4th, 2007. There aren't any comments of new episodes to come in the new season to avoid spoiling the show. However, the creator of Nip/Tuck, Ryan Murphy, is continuing to run the show with its upcoming fifth season. The season is going to be the longest one yet, a total of 22 episodes. No other season before this has gone over 16 episodes. What is going to be even more interesting is the new practice that Sean and Christian, the two doctors, have opened.
Previously, on Nip/Tuck... Sean and Christian moved from Miami, and opened up their new practice in L.A. Julia moved to New York with their little daughter.
It will be interesting to see how the show changed within it's new location, L.A. I wonder how the morals and values that are expressed through the scenes in Miami are going to change now that it will be located in L.A. It's going to be interesting to see the new ideas brought up because of Los Angeles. Another thing that is quite sad is if Julia is ever going to be on the show again. What does this mean for Sean? Is he going to find someone else? Or have the roles changed now that Christian has a serious girlfriend and a son? Is Sean going to be the new womanizer now that her wife has left her?
I'm really excited for the new season to come. After all of this analysis I've been doing on the television serious, I think it's going to be even more interesting to watch the new show.
Now that the show is going to be making an income of eight figures over the next three years, I wonder if the show itself is going to change at all. Is it going to become more or less provocative. All I've seen is each season becoming more and more scandalous. What's next!!

Marxism and Hegemony

The article on Marxism explains the idea that the ruling class has ideals and values that are shown and displayed to the subordinate groups in order to win their consent. The idea of hegemony is played on because the ruling class owns the mean of production. They use their advantages to convince the subordinate groups of their beliefs.
This definitely relates to the television series Nip/Tuck. The owners and producers of Nip/Tuck display the important value of science to their audience. This value is seen through the beauty and perfection of not only women, but also men, that are on the show. The theme song alone says, “Make me beautiful...” This tune is something that can stick in someone’s mind just like any other rhythmic pattern. In the contemporary world of popular culture physical appearance is very important. Women are expected to be thinner than they ever have been, and men as well. Kimber, the beautiful, sexy, and perfect porn star, gets liposuction, breast implants, as well as many other different surgical procedures. Also, Christian, the dreamy doctor, gets liposuction because he couldn’t get his body the way he wanted to with working out. This idea that science is the modern way of thinking is shown through cosmetic procedures. The ruling class, the producers of the show, is winning the consent over all other groups. They are convincing their audience that science and plastic surgery is the modern way of living. They are also convincing them that physical appearance is a very important part of life.