Haven’t watched the video, but I prefer the term “New Sincerity” to metamodern just because it gets the point across better

This video essay makes the mistake liberals constantly make about trying to analyze development in art as something completely self-contained and not influenced by outside forces, especially economic forces. What I got from this video is that postmodernism postdates the collapse of the Soviet Union and metamodernism postdates the Great Recession. From this perspective, perhaps postmodernism is not just a reaction against modernism but also a reaction towards/against neoliberal triumphalism. Metamodernism could then be seen as a reaction against modernism and postmodernism as well as a reaction towards the Great Recession. There might also be industrial trends within Hollywood that mold films to be a certain way, which the video also doesn’t go over.

With that out of the way, I can’t say I’m a fan of metamodernism as he defines it. I completely rolled my eyes when he started talking to himself. “Oh great, he’s pulling a Contra” I said to myself. As we can see with Contrapoints, the oscillation between irony and sincerity can be completely employed towards completely cynical and self-serving ends. The characters she plays are what Contrapoints truly believes until she receives backlash, in which case they become fictional characters who don’t represent the views of Natalie Wynn. Contrapoints is Natalie when it’s convenient to be like that and Contrapoints is a Youtube channel when it’s convenient to be like that.

In a way, postmodernism is more honest because at least it doesn’t give itself wiggle room to flip-flop between two contradictory worldviews. Modernism is consistently sincere and postmodernism is consistently insincere. Meanwhile, metamodernism flip-flops between both, making it the least sincere of them all. It almost feels focus grouped in that regard. Some people get turned off by modernism’s corniness and some people get turned off by postmodernism with its head up its ass, so why don’t we smash both of them together to get as many people to blown their money on our garbage as possible?

With dedollarization and the sunset of US hegemony, a new artistic trend within Hollywood is inevitable. Maybe it’ll be called “hypermodernism” or “necromodernism” or “quasimodernism.”

I want to find his glasses frames so I can buy them.

Idk, I feel like some of the commentary on “postmodern film” falls into the trap of just making statements without really trying to demonstrate with actual examples, it kinda feels like just repeating a narrative of “Oh yeah everyone got tired of that dang ol postmodernism deconstructing everything and just being an ironic asshole about it all.” A narrative that exists in people with opinions on basically any kind of art form.

Just didnt click for me, felt like a guy saying subjective stuff at me as if they were facts.

I liked this video. I’ve never heard the term “metamodernism” until now but the way he explained it makes sense. It’s like people want to return to the escapism of older films but they can’t quite let go and be totally sincere about it, which is why you get soy banter and shit. I’ve always preferred what this essay terms “modernist” films and I suspect a lot of other Marxists do too, as Marxism itself is a very modernist philosophy, even if we are also aware of the terrible lessons taught by many films of that type.