A short list of postmodern movies

I'm sure there are many more movies I could add to this list, but these are the ones that I've seen recently that made me think of postmodernism.

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500 Days of Summer

This startling introduction to a rather weird chick flick sets the tone for the entire movie. It adds humor to the plot, but is also a intrusion on the writer's part. This makes us watch the movie in an entirely different way because we contemplate just how much the writer's own experiences played into the making of this film. It also makes this film fit into the grey area of history and fiction. I remember at the beginning of the semester we mentioned movies that start out with the "Based on a true story" subtitle as being postmodern historical fiction. 500 Days of Summer is similar to that because the intro makes it sound as if the film could be based on a true story. 



"Author's Note: The following is a work of fiction. And resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. 
Especially you Jenny Beckman.
Bitch."

Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump reminded me of Doctorow's style of creating a fictional character that comes in contact with many actual historical characters, because who's to say they didn't meet? In this movie, Forrest is the guy who gives Elvis his dance moves, uncovers the Watergate scandal, speaks to a bunch of hippies at the Lincoln memorial, and who helps fund the Apple technology company. The writers of this film make it realistically seem like Forrest was the secret behind all of these real historical events, and this is what makes this particular film postmodern. 




The Lego Movie

This movie was weird enough as a Lego movie, but add in human characters and it gets even weirder. We learn at the end of the movie that the whole story was being narrated by the small boy who didn't like his father's perfectionist attitude with the Lego city. I personally did not see this twist coming, but I think that's what makes it postmodern. The Lego Movie's ending forces you to think about who is telling the story, and does so in a jarring way almost similar to the short story we read in class.