Although the term “postmodernism” was first used by Frederico de Onis in the 1930s and later popularized by New York artists and critics in the 1960s (Featherstone, 1991 Featherstone , M. ( 1991 ). Consumer culture and postmodernism . Newbury Park : Sage .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), the specific historical period known as “postmodernity” or the “postmodern condition” did not fully announce its presence until the early 1980s, when Jean-François Lyotard (1984 Lyotard , J. ( 1984 ). The Postmodern condition: A report on knowledge . ( G. Bennington and B. Massumi, Trans. ). Minneapolis , MN : University of Minnesota Press . ( Original work published 1979 )[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) employed the phrase to describe the language games that function to authorize scientific knowledge in highly developed societies.

We are concerned that ideological criticism—particularly the strand that is purely evaluative (i.e., it aims at showing how media texts reproduce structures of domination)—has achieved a sort of “intellectual hegemony” in the field (Ott, 2007a Ott , B. L. ( 2007a ). Television as lover, part I: Writing dirty theory . Cultural Studies ⟨ = ⟩ Critical Methodologies , 7 (1), 26 – 47 .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). The shortcoming of criticism in this mode is that it employs a “frame of rejection” (Burke, 1984 Burke , K. ( 1984 ). Attitudes toward history () , 3rd ed. . Berkeley , CA : University of California Press . [Google Scholar], pp. 21–25), and as polemical, absolutist, and debunking frames, frames of rejection are ill suited to bring about social change. “Frames stressing the ingredient of rejection tend to lack the well-rounded quality of a complete here-and-now philosophy. They make for fanaticism, the singling-out of one factor above others in the charting of human relationships” (Burke, pp. 28–29). Our approach, like Burke's, favors a frame of acceptance, which stresses learning about and adapting to one's rhetorical environment, rather than merely rejecting it.

The videocassette scene is commonly cited by both popular critics (including Hinson [1987 Hinson , H. ( 1987 , June 24 ). Lost in ‘Spaceballs’ Laughs missing from Mel Brooks' genre spoof . The Washington Post , p. D8 . [Google Scholar]], Maslin [1987 Maslin , J. ( 1987 , June 24 ). Film: ‘Spaceballs,’ a Mel Brooks comedy . New York Times , p. C23 . [Google Scholar]], and Wilmington [1987 Wilmington , M. ( 1987 , June 25 ). ‘Spaceballs’ stuck in its shtick . Los Angeles Times , pp. 1 , 4 . [Google Scholar]]) and academic critics (including Dunne [1992 Dunne , M. ( 1992 ). Metapop: Self-referentiality in contemporary American popular culture . Jackson , MS : University Press of Mississippi . [Google Scholar]], Friedberg [2000 Friedberg , A. ( 2000 ). The end of cinema: Multi-media and technological change . In C. Gledhill & L. Williams (Eds.), Reinventing film studies (pp. 438 – 452 ). London : Arnold . [Google Scholar]], and Marchitello [2001 Marchitello , H. ( 2001 ). Heterology and post-historicist ethics . In H. Marchitello (Ed.), What happens to history: The renewal of ethics in contemporary thought (pp. 123 – 148 ). New York : Routledge . [Google Scholar]]) as a particularly clear example of film's self-referentiality. “The final effect of this scene,” concluded Dunne, “can only be a heightened awareness on the viewers' part that they are seeing something made, not something with an independent reality” (p. 71). While we certainly agree with this analysis, we would add that the scene also functions to remind viewers that they create their own cultural reality.

Spaceballs reflexively comments on film merchandising, for instance. When the Druids arrive at Yogurt's cavern, he shows them “what he does” for a living: merchandise Spaceballs, which he says is “where the real money from the movie is made.” He then shows the Druids a mini-store filled with Spaceballs merchandise. From that point forward, Spaceballs merchandise appears throughout the film in the form of bed sheets, toilet paper, dolls, and shaving cream.