Postmodernism in...

By Aidan Cheng

About Psychoville‘Psychoville’ is a BBC dark comedy television serial, written by and starring Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton – the creators behind similar comedy ‘The League of Gentlemen’.

‘Psychoville’ series one focuses on an array of strange and some unnervingly yet comical, psychotic characters – each who have seemingly unlinked lives filled with odd occurrences and obscene situations – who are one day brought together due to their shared association with an unknown and unseen blackmailer. ‘Psychoville’ blends horror, slasher movies and surreal comedy.

As well as this, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, the creators – both play more than one of the main characters in the show, some of which are female characters.

In ‘episode 4’ of series one of Psychoville, we follow the characters ‘David and Maureen’ directly after they strangle their fourth victim in his flat. Hilarity ensues after an inspector pays the pair a visit –mistaking David as the deceased victim. Both David and his mother attempt to hide the truth. The episode is homage to Hitchock’s ‘Rope’ – much of his work is a notable and key influence on the comedy. Man-child ‘David’ (Steve Pemberton)

Controlling mother ‘Maureen’ (Reece Shearsmith)Two of the 6 main characters in ‘Psychoville’

Pastiche and ParodyFrederic Jameson describes pastiche and parody as ‘the mimicry of other styles and particularly of the mannerisms and stylistic twitches of other styles.’

The episode’s opening shot directly mirrors the opening shots of ‘Rope’, which include an establishing shot of the outdoors (it is Hammersmith, London in Psychoville rather than the US). This shot is then followed by a shot of a man being choked blue. The camera pulls out of this shot without cutting away, to reveal a medium shot of three figures – ‘David’ the man-child character in Psychoville, his dominatrix mother ‘Maureen’ who assists the murder with her marigold gloves and their unfortunate victim ‘Mr Pike’ who is being strangled with David’s tie.

The audience are also revealed to the setting – what appears to be the living area of a small but high-class and antique-furnished apartment. This is a pastiche of the apartment setting of ‘Rope’.

Like ‘Rope’, the entire course of the episode is set in the one room – the living room – though action appears ‘off-screen or offstage’ as it were, from the other rooms.

Rope

Psychoville

Pastiche and ParodyLike ‘Rope’ – famous for being shot in entirely one take, ‘Pyschoville Episode 4’ is completely shot in this manner, with the camera on a dolly track in order to provide a variety of movement and shots, without cutting away. Unlike most TV serials, this episode of Psychoville occurs in real-time. It is 30 minutes long, and the events of the episode are also the same length. It is edited therefore, in a realistic timeframe, rather than with the conventional and Modernist Continuity Editing of Hollywood. Another reference to ‘Rope’ is the concealment of

Mr Pike’s body in the wooden chest in the centre of the room.

Rope

Psychoville

‘Psycho’ is also referenced multiple times. Maureen replies ‘don’t talk wet, he wouldn’t hurt a fly...’ – directly a quote from the end of ‘Psycho’.

The episode also directly uses the soundtrack to ‘Psycho’ – made famous from the ‘shower scene’. In Psychoville, however, the music accompanies the strangling of Mr Pike and the audience is fooled into thinking that the music is non-diegetic. However, it is soon revealed in a comedic way that the music is incidentally playing out from a radio in the room, coinciding with the murder.

Genre MixLike other Postmodern texts such as ‘Blade Runner’ by Ridley Scott and the films of Tarantino, episode 4 of Psychoville is very much a hybrid of various genres. Primarily the series is a dark comedy thriller – which is core even in this episode. However, like ‘Blade Runner’, the episode contains many elements of the film noir genre. The inspector character is dressed in the manner of the trilby-hat-wearing and high-collared raincoat-donning police chiefs of the 1950s. He even carries with him a clichéd black briefcase.

The episode also contains horror elements, particularly prominent when David advances on the inspector with a huge kitchen knife from behind him.

The episode is also a Christie-esque ‘whodunnit’ as the inspector is investigating a series of murders – though David and Maureen do not realise they are part of a role-play and think he is genuinely investigating their murders from before.

character of the actor playing the inspector is Mark Gatiss .The big reveal of his cameo appearance when the door is opened to reveal him is a nod to the Shearsmith/Pemberton universe they have created.

Flattening of AffectJean-Francis Lyotard a postmodern critic, describes the loss of moral relativism in postmodern works, and the ‘flattening of affect’ – also discussed by Jameson. Lyotard argues that postmodern texts do not abide my moral laws which have been established from conventions.

The murder of Mr Pike in the episode is not only portrayed as a normal activity, the murders are made comedic by their handling of Maureen and David. After the strangling has been committed, Maureen exclaims ‘Well should I put the kettle on? I’m absolutely gaspin’!’ to which her son David replies; ‘so was he’ – indicating to the corpse in the chest.

Flattening of affect and another postmodern element; ‘the identity-based struggle’ is also brought into the episode.

The creators deceive the audience into thinking the scene is touching by playing non-diegetic, slow and mournful music. The emotional moment is then shattered by flattening of affect when discussing how her husband used to abuse her, Maureen states; ‘he used to beat me inspector... it’s what people did before they had tellies’. From this humorous comment, the tragic natures of her previous words have lost their emotional depth.

Maureen rewarding herself and her son with a cup of tea after the murder

Bricolage: High & Low ArtThe postmodern technique bricolage is incorporated into the episode. The setting seems to be an earthy-coloured apartment belonging to a cultured person, through his antique furnishings. It is almost a Christie-esque who-dunnit setting – despite the fact it is set in present day.

The idea of mixing high and low art to create a classless piece of art is also present. Maureen is played by Reece Shearsmith, as is the style of their comedy. Despite the fact Shearsmith is technically in drag, his performance cannot be deemed ‘trashy’ like the grotesque characters of Matt Lucas and David Walliams. Shearsmith’s performance is convincing, yet retains an element of the grotesque for comedic effect, however the audience could easily forget who is playing her. The use of wigs and make-up for the character can be deemed low art (such as the works of Little Britain creators) however, with the high-art nature of the Hithcockian episode, the episode becomes classless.

Make-up , wigs and ‘drag’ – typically considered low brow comedy.

Elements of CONSUMERISM: “I know what you’re like with your dandruff, ‘shake and vac’”

Shake and Vac – a popular carpet cleaner from the 70s – referenced by Maureen.

Hypereality and ConclusionBaudrillard’s hypereality theory is less prominent in ‘Psychoville’, however there are elements of it. Though set in present day Britian, the series has almost missed the mark on normality. The characters portrayed by Shearsmith and Pemberton are strange and sometimes of opposite gender to their performers – yet this is all accepted in their world.

David and Maureen and other characters in Psychoville live in the same world as ours, albeit with the threat of punishment still relevant, yet seems to have made exceptions out of them.

To conlude, Episode 4 of Psychoville is postmodern due to its blatant pastiche and homage to the works of Alfred Hitchcock, it’s unnerving and obscene subject matter which is flattened in affect through dark comedy. The episode works unconventionally in its narrative format, rejecting the usual continuity editing and the jumping of time. It also blends high and low art, creating a classless piece of television and contains references to Shearsmith and Pemberton’s previous work as well as successfully blending a mix of genres into a hybrid.