I found last week's lecture on Intertextuality really interesting. Sitting through many films in the past I have often found myself thinking a particular scene looks quite familiar, certain I had seen it somewhere before and then it annoying me for ages after, not being able to figure out where from and why. Now knowing what it is and why film makers do it, I find myself intentionally looking out for these signs when watching not only films but also T.V programmes and adverts.
During the lecture, one scene that instantly came to mind was from The Hangover. Zach Galifianakis, aka Alan, riding escalator into the casino with Bradley Cooper, mimicking the scene from Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise:
The Hangover (2009)
Rain Man (1988)
I instantly recognised it and said as such to my friend. And yes, I did feel a little smug. heehee :)
A T.V series that encorporates intertextuality on a big scale is Spaced. Anyone who has seen this programme will know that sci-fi in particular is referenced A LOT! - Star Wars mainly (as can be seen on the cover of the DVD.) Its very cleverly done and anyone who hasn't seen it then please do!! Its so very good.
Episode 1:Beginnings (just to get you started):
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Simon Pegg has then stepped it up and proceeded to take certain jokes from this series on to future projects of his, such as Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz. So in some way all of his work links together. Watching one of his films for the first time and hearing a one of the jokes you wouldn't think anything of it, but having watched his previous work you feel that you know and understand him and the characters he potrays on a more personal level.
Logos
Whilst browsing through some magazines I have also seen images and logos that are intertextual. For example the Gucci and Chanel logo:
Although not exactly the same, the idea of the initial letter linking together is clearly very similar.
Photographs
Demi Moore's iconic naked photo whilst pregnant on the cover of Vanity Fair in the early '90s sparked a lot of controversy when first published but has now been recreated many times over by other stars over the past 20 years for various magazines:
What with all of this intertextuality it does make you wonder when it will end but the fact is (as correctly stated in the lecture) it can't. People will always be influenced by other people's work whether consciously or subconsciously.
In a way I think this is a really good thing as you can take that first idea and improve on it in a big way until its 10/50/100% better. The natural process is that this will keep happening as time goes on, which makes you think of all the possibilities that we have yet to encounter in the future.
And whats not to love about that?!
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