Intertextuality in Contemporary Media
What is intertextuality? How does it show up in the media we consume?
Intertextuality is a term which describes the connection between two different texts.[1] Films as an art form for example, borrow heavily from already established customs, social and literary traditions[2]. To put it simply, intertextuality in films is shaped by another film or piece of literature which came about previously. Hollywood has utilised intertextuality as an emotive intent or emotional currency, which in the new generation of film, manifests itself as objects, people, or situations explicitly meant to trigger an emotional response in the viewer.[3] Intertextuality is presented in films in the postmodern era in many different forms and storytelling techniques. There is a conscious mix of artistic style, genre and elements in film texts that are established from other texts that are already written or produced [4] which is heavily displayed in Disney’s remake of Beauty and the Beast and Marvel Universes, Spiderman: No Way Home. Not only this, but intertextuality is also a technique that plays a large part in films that are derived from the original works of Shakespeare, such as Taming of the Shew, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night.
Intertextuality throughout Disney
We may look at the culture industry playing a big role in Disney animations and their consistent live action remakes, as they are popular, successful, nostalgic are very profitable, however a tool that is used continuously throughout these films and storylines, is Intertextuality. Knowing that using intertextuality as a storytelling technique can trigger an emotional response in the audience, Disney has latched onto the successful method and weaponised it to their advantage. And why not? It works, right? This method has been adopted in films such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens with the silent reveal of the Millennium Awaken, as well as the live action remake of Beauty and the Beast trailer with the red rose symbol and ‘be our guest’, a reference to the popular song in the story, written across the screen and inviting the audience to watch the film itself [5].
Disney utilises intertextuality dramatically in almost every animation.
An example of this is when a Buzz Lightyear toy is found by a toy box in the dentist room in Finding Nemo…
…and the character Boo, from Monsters Inc, has a treasured toy Nemo, herself [6].
Some may say that filmmakers these days are using intertextuality as a dramatic substitute as it appears in almost all films we consume, especially Disney.
Intertextuality within the Marvel Universe
When Spiderman: No Way Home hit screens in 2021, everybody was talking about it. The word going around was that to get the most out of the experience watching the film, was that you would have needed to watch every single other Spiderman film that came before it. Marvel fans have been generously gifted with Marvel’s expertise on intertwining the Marvel Universe stories and characters throughout their films, with the most obvious being the Avengers films, however the Spiderman universe has a uniquely different approach, with the superhero film interwoven and intertextual within itself.[7] Spoiler Alert. Aside from the obvious intertextuality with the inclusion of all three Spiderman actors, Toby Maguire, Andrew Garfield and the young Tom Holland…
… a very prominent scene within the film stood out tremendously and had fans grabbing at their hearts and sobbing tears… MJ falling. In the Andrew Garfield Spidermen universe, his beloved Gwen is lost from the fall, and to take advantage of the audience’s grief, Marvel used intertextuality in a weaponised way when MJ in Tom Holland’s Spiderman universe fell, to which they had Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman save her.
The Marvel Universe brand is reliant on the intertextual methods for its storytelling as their fans expect it and thrive from it.
Intertextuality from Shakespeare.
Intertextuality surfaces, not only in the form of remakes, or film adaptions within the same realm or story universe, but also in the form of the themes of the stories being told themselves. A great example of this is the reimagining of Shakespeare’s stories and themes in contemporary media and films. Shakespeare is the most written about and filmed about writer who ever lived; he is everywhere in the Western culture.[8] Shakespeare is an intertextual phenomenon as his shadow falls on many artworks, literature, films, TV shows, musicals- the list goes on.[9] Some examples of plays that have been adapted into films in contemporary media include, Taming of the Shrew which story is recognised in the modern day retelling ’10 Things I hate About You’ (1999), Twelfth Night with ‘She’s the Man’ (2006), and back to Disney with the famous ‘The Lion King’ (1994), a timeless reimagining of Hamlet.
It is extremely evident that intertextuality is a large part of the media we consume today, with filmmakers and large scale production companies utilising the method specifically to trigger an emotional response in the audience. If the audience is connected to a film emotionally, the film will succeed. Intertextuality provides film practitioners and storytellers with endless possibilities in the world of filmmaking and is a technique which allows films to leave the audience always wanting more.
References:
[1] Voller, P., & Winddows, S. Feature Films as a Text. 1993
[2] lbid
[3] Nerdwriter1. Intertextuality: Hollywood’s New Currency. 2016. [video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeAKX_0wZWY&t=1s
[4] See not 1 above
[5] Will Ashton. The Modern Art of Intertextuality in Recent Films. (2016)
[6] Emily Bowers. Disney Intertextuality. (2013)
[7] Abby Kirby. Spider-Man: The Intertextual Superhero. (2022).
[8] Johannes Molz. A close and Distant Reading of Shakespearean Intertextuality. (2020)
[9] lbid