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| Audiences familiar with Bubble Bobble are likely to have an intense, potentially nostalgic reaction to this particular scene! Semiotic deconstruction can help us to understand exactly how such reactions can be constructed! |
Barthes described the photograph as ‘the living image of a dead thing.’ This was something that it shared in common with the painting, which had originated – as documented by ancient Egyptian funerary objects – in portraits of the dead. But what was unique to the photograph, according to Barthes, was its punctum, which he defined as the sensory, intensely subjective effect of a photograph on the viewer: ‘The punctum of a photograph is that accident which pricks me (but also bruises me, is poignant to me).’
SMOLIK, Frieze.com 2014 - https://www.frieze.com/article/punctum-reflections-photography-2014-review
Barthes' concept of the punctum is revelatory to analysis, because it bypasses the strict structuralist regimen that he himself helped to codify. Simply put, the punctum is the thing that we notice in a film, TV show, photograph, song, videogame or whatever that 'pricks us' . It goes under our skin, and makes us feel an intense emotional response, and we might not even understand why. This approach to analysis is highly personal and frankly cannot be explicated, as it is so subjective.
Semiotic approaches
- Semiotics - The study of meaning
- Connotations - the implied and deeper meaning
- denotations - the straightforward meaning
- Deconstruction - breaking down a media product to find out it’s meaning
- Symbolic codes - something that suggests a much deeper meaning or representation. E.g. a red rose may be symbolic of love, but also death
- Proairetic codes - Something that suggests something is going to happen. For example, suspenseful music, the MES of a gun, Yorkie’s tight fitting dress…
- Hermeneutic codes - a code which connotes mystery. A dead body with a knife sticking out the back, why is Yorkie only able to visit once a week…
- Referential codes - an element that refers to something else. Another way of saying intertextuality
- The function of myths - myths or stories hep us to understand the world in which we live in. San Junipero clearly explores the myth of the afterlife
Structuralist approaches
- How binary oppositions construct narrative - contrast and conflict creates interest! Life and death, Kelly and Yorkie
- How binary oppositions construct ideological perspectives
- All narrative is conflict - our society is both unstable and negative
Deconstructive analysis
Yorkie’s glasses are not only a signifier of a particular character archetype (the stereotypical nerd), but also provides a positive and relatable representation of more withdrawn girls who wear glasses. Additionally, the high key that is positioned above Yorkie’s head as she plays the video game Bubble Bobble not only symbolically infers a sense of importance, but also affirms her choice in playing video games. Yorkie is a nerd, and she is the main character. This provides a complex set of meanings to the target audience
Additionally the costume code of Yorkie’s glasses polysemically encodes the idea that Yorkie is intentionally moving into a new world, and must adjust her vision. Yorkie does not need to wear glasses, yet she symbolically chooses to do so. The glasses therefore proairetically act as a form of protection against the world around her. Additionally Yorkie chooses to play the video game Bubble Bobble. This game features music and graphics that are playful, childish and upbeat, which suggests that Yorkie is trying to make herself comfortable in this new and scary environment.
The lyrics of the songs playing in the club have significant symbolic connotations. ‘Tell me how to feel’ and ‘walk like an Egyptian’ encode Yorkie’s feelings, and charts Yorkie's narrative through discomfort to being told exactly what to do by Kelly. Now far more confident, Yorkie is able to comfortably interact with the world
The MES of the arcade cabinets, with the comforting glow of their CRT screens and naive and low quality graphics creates a symbolic sense of nostalgia to the middle aged target audience. The packed crowds of young people are notably hegemonically attractive, which constructs a perfect, hyperreal representation of life in 1987.
The camerawork constructs a voyeuristic representation of Yorkie, who is established in a voyeuristic long shot across the street. This tracking shot positions the audience in the uncomfortable address of a stalker, following Yorkie into the club. Audiences may have a wary expectation of Black Mirror, and through their referential knowledge will worry about Yorkie’s dafty. However, within the world of the narrative, Yorkie is quite safe. This is highly subversive of Black Mirror, which usually adopts a far more pessimistic view of technology. This sense of voyeurism is continued in the club, and the tracking camera attempts to follow her through the tightly packed club scene. Not only is this highly proairetic , it also positions the audience with Yorkie which means that they are far more likely to identify with her.
As the camera slowly tracks through the crowded club, a binary opposition is constructed between the overentheastic clubbers, and Yorkie’s shy performance. This diametric opposition constructs Yorkie as completely different from the worry-free crowd, and symbolically constructs her social anxiety long before it is explicitly introduced in the narrative
When the nerd describes Bubble Bobble as being a 2 player game, and suggesting that there are different endings that can be unlocked, this proairetically foreshadows the idea that Yorkie is currently determining her outcome. Audiences at this stage in the narrative are positioned to assume that Yorkie will end up romantically involved with the nerd. Both have similar interests, video games, the nerd looks visibly confused when Yorkie leaves, both look stereotypically nerdy.
The nerd character is constructed through a series of explicit intertextual references, that confirm he is an archetypal nerd. Alone in the crowded room, he wears unfashionable classes, his stereotypically feminine drink and his ridiculous quiff all construct him as a stereotype
Heteronormativity
The harsh, artificial lighting of the club is soft, low key and proairetically encodes a sense of threat. However, Yorkie spends her time moving between darker and less well lit areas, which suggests her discomfort. This is further anchored through Yorkie’s performance, as she does not engage with any clubbers, and her eyes are wide and symbolic of her nervousness. Her head is down, which is symbolic of her nervousness. Not only does Yorkie’s performance suggest shyness, it proairetically encodes the trauma that she has lived through
Yorkie is both naive and child-like in her interaction in the club. The MES of her bottle of coke suggests she is inexperienced with drinking , and the roving tracking that follows her through the club sees her enter the childish world of the video games. This symbolically anchors the complex narrative of this episode, which sees Yorkie trapped in a state of permanent childhood and unable to progress in her life.
The title card is plain white on a stark black background, a binary opposition that could encode a sense of optimism and happiness. However, the selection of the bland and straightforward font constructs a powerful hermeneutic code, with no suggestion as to the theme of the episode
Kelly is wearing the MES of a flashy, golden cross. Symbolic of Christianity, the gold infers wealth and value, and connotes that Kelly values her faith and her appearance equally. In fact, due to Kelly’s highly hegemonically attractive appearance and her outgoing, extroverted costume, with the MES of leather suggesting danger, yet the new age hippy blazer in bright purple suggests a warm and outgoing personality. For Kelly, dressing beautifully is much like a religious ritual. This complicated set of conflicting codes and ideological perspective constructs Kelly as a complex and important character. However, additionally, Kelly’s cross presents a controversial and problematic element of the narrative. Situated in a virtual reality ‘heaven’ that is based around casual sex and getting drunk, it symbolises Kelly’s conflicted nature towards monogamy, marriage and religion