Blog 7 What would Fredric Jameson say about this Mona Lisa?

Jameson would look at this piece and say that it is an example of the end of Modernism because it destroys the notion of the traditional Mona Lisa and puts her painting in to the context of today’s world because of the popularity of the televeision show, The Simpsons. This painting signals the coming of the future, the coming of the end, as stated in Jameson’s essay, what may be constituted as the definition of Post Modernism. He states that it is this idea of premonitions of the future that will be either catastrophic or redemptive. In this case, it is catastrophic because the photo destroys the aura behind the traditional Mona Lisa and everything that she represented. It is postmodern.

Jameson also goes on to describe Postmodernism as a sort of revolt, social or political defiance against what was once considered even the highest of modernism from before the 1950s and 60s. The picture of the Simpsonized Mona Lisa goes on to defy all of the social paradigms associated with the piece from the age of its conception. Jameson would label this as a defiance of the social structure adhering to the idea of Mona Lisa, placing it into the realm of what he considers Postmodernism.

Jameson’s view spoken about in the first half of his essay focuses more on the historical side of Postmodern whereas his second half of the essay brings up the idea of Postmodernism being directly related to Capitalism. In the photo, there is a picture of a Simpsonized Mona Lisa. The Simpsons is a television show meant to entertain viewers and make money for its producers and the writers involved. The television industry itself thrives on the idea of profit and capitalism.

Postmodernism is therefore based on Capitalism, at least in our society, because this photograph is meant to attract more people to watching the show. It was created for an audience to attract attention for the sole reason that it breaks the socially accepted standard of the traditional Mona Lisa piece. It causes controversy, much like capitalism, and therefore spurs a profit, while at the same time defying social conventions supporting the idea that the work is postmodern in Jameson's eyes.