Post-modernism is a term that is hard to define but is usually used when referring to late 20th-century style and concept in arts and media. It is sometimes described as a genre however this is not correct; rather than referring to a media text as post-modernism, you would say it has post-modern features. Some of these features include Intertextuality, Homage, Parody, Pastiche and satire. Many music videos have a variety of these features, one of which being ‘Dani California’ by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in the early 1980s. Their song 'Dani California' is featured on their 9th album, 'Stadium Arcadium', which was released in 2005 along with the video for 'Dani California'. The video shows The Red Hot Chili Peppers paying homage to the bands and styles that have come before them by dressing up and performing as they did.
Intertextuality is when a relationship is created between texts by referring to one of them in another. Intertextuality is shown through the use of the mis-en-scene in this video as it features the band members wearing clothing associated with different musical eras from the 60's to present day that reference specific icons. The specific icons referenced are: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Cream, Parliament Funkadelic, David Bowie, Sex pistols, The misfits, Poison and Nirvana. The set of the performance also changes to resemble each era such as a British flag when performing as the sex pistols.
The video starts with an impersonation of Elvis Presley and references to the general style of popular music in the 50s and 60s are made. The lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, demonstrates dancing in the style of Elvis Presley, dressed in similar clothing as Elvis used to wear: a white 50s styled suit. Furthermore, the other band members are dressed in a 50s style fashion too. This has been done to pay homage to Elvis Presley and similar artists of the 50s and 60s as they are regarded very highly.
Directly after their Elvis reference, they link the Beatles in to their video. The backdrop to this section of the music video is a very similar setting to somewhere where the Beatles would have played. Moreover, the instruments used in this section are very reminiscent to the style of instrument that would have been played at the time. A black and white filter is also used here to pay homage to the Beatles.
The ‘Dani California’ music video also pays homage to one of the biggest bands of the 90s – Nirvana. Anthony Kiedis clothes are very similar to what would have been wore by Kurt Cobain along with a wig that closely resembles the hair of Cobain. The slower editing used here could be seen to mirror the editing used in many Nirvana music videos. Furthermore, the darker mise-en-scene used in this section of the video also closely resembles the grunge-style mise-en-scene used in Nirvana’s videos. Once again, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are paying homage to Nirvana as they are very popular and it would please many of the Nirvana fans if they viewed this video.
Everyone who that are dressing up as are being represented as being powerful and leaders of the rock music genre. The music video end with the RHCP's themselves and the music artists that they have been dressing up as could represent what inspired them to become what type of artist they are to this day.
I think that this is a very interesting video including a lot of references to previous musical eras. I think that it does a good job of impersonating famous music artists whilst still being an effective promotional tool for the band itself.
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