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Gyasti Averia
Professor Foster
Communication 001
29 April 2015
Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance):
The Struggle of a Modernist Prodigy to Transcend in The Postmodern Era
The most recent film directed by Alejandro G. Irritu entitled Birdman (The Unexpected
Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) revolves its story around a struggling actor who desires a comeback
through Broadway Theater. The film follows along the actor, Riggan Thomson played
exquisitely by Michael Keaton, whose fame is desperate for rekindling after it fades away post
his role in Hollywoods comic book superhero trilogy, Birdman, while weaving through the
theater on preview and opening nights of his self-written, self-directed play adapted from
Raymond Carvers What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (1981). Other than
Keaton, Birdman also starred Ed Norton as Mike Shiner, Thomsons obnoxious co-star who
often stole the spotlight from Thomson with his erratic antics on stage, Emma Stone as Sam
Thomsons troublesome daughter, and Naomi Watts and Andrea Riseborough as the rest of
Thomsons co-stars. The narrative centers on Thomsons struggle of fitting in the new media age
while he held on to his conservative, old media views. Throughout this movie, Thomson
encountered quite a few of reality checks, from receiving bad reviews on his preview night to a
verbal attack from his daughter telling him he did not matter anymore. Having to go through all
of that, Thomson learned the hard way to accept ways of how the fragmented new media works
now days. As implied by the ambiguous end scene, Riggan Thomson has transcended as a person
and as a role whose narrative constantly unfolds in time as the movie goes.

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Birdman that won an Academy Awards for Best Picture in 2015 tells a story about a
mans mid-life crisis that happened in the era of confusion, the transitioning era from old media
to new media, which makes the story very relatable and understandable to people in the same
situation. Thomson, a modernist prodigy, experienced culture shock as he was introduced to
Twitter, the epitome of new media. Birdmans storyline contents a lot of plot twists that were
greatly executed, I believe this aspect had more than something to do with its successes in
publics eye and also the critics. I also believe that the smart and witty dialogues that each
character has had made the movie felt very realistic insofar that the movie is easy to follow
despite of its characters complicated relationships, and mixed in with the occasional
hyperrealism that transitioned rather seamlessly to its real reality. Furthermore, the appearances
of Thomsons ego dressed as the Birdman character were uncanny and unexpected at some
points; I suppose that many people would easily relate to the ego versus super-ego situation.
Other than the riveting and thought-provoking story, Birdman was also supported by excellent
cinematography, and simple, yet extremely moving, drum-only score. Additionally, the film that
was set in New York greatly captured the spirit of the city, and its appreciation of Broadway
Theater.
Birdman targeted a rather mature audience, and with the proven excellent reviews from
critics and The Academy, the movie was simply spot-on. First of all, the film was rated R for
nudity and language use, which automatically eliminates younger audiences. I also believe that
the plot is rather unusual, it belongs in its own genre, which made the movie even more contrary
to mainstream audiences. Moreover, it would take a certain amount of cognitive and
understanding of society to fully understand the movie plot. I believe that there is a deeper
meaning in this movie beyond the superficial aspects of it. The irony of postmodern era was

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captured rather explicitly in the movie. From the first time that Thomson mentioned that
everything is an imitation of an imitation, thus nothing is real anymore, and how everyone
experience their life through their cellphone screens instead of experiencing the real. Ed Nortons
character, Mark Shiner, who is the epitome of postmodernism, fragmented, living multiple
narratives all at once, always clashes with Riggan Thomson, who is clearly hold his modernist
views and at some point was very reluctant to let go of his views. His tendency to hold on to his
dated views made him focus on the wrong thing, in this case the one particular critics review
Tabitha Dickinson played by Lindsay Duncan, rather than his audiences responses or selling out
tickets. As it could be seen in multiple scenes, a note on Thomsons dressing table a thing is a
thing, not what is said of that thing. I also view Thomsons desire to be loved widely was more
than mere craving of affection, because his corroded ego has made him think of admiration as the
only form of success. Therefore, I believe that Birdman is targeted towards a more matured
market rather than younger audiences.
Birdmans concept was highly original and executed very neatly. Birdman was shot in a
manner that show the entire film in one continuous shot. I believe that this way Alejandro
Irritu has succeeded to capture the true perspective of people in real life. The one continuous
shot concept also mirrors the pace of life, and how time only passes and never runs backwards.
The seamless and swift movements of the cameras did not only make the movie more interesting,
they also brought the audience deeper into how these complex characters see the world, and live
their realities. The audience was brought directly into their struggle as actors fighting their own
ego, their internal battle of figuring their selves. Although some people might point out the flaws
of space shifting and inconsistent continuity in the movie, I believe that they add to the narrative
by mirroring how the characters minds are fragmented, in the same way that Stanley Kubricks

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The Shining (1980) captures the intentional space shifting to complement the story even more.
On a final note, Birdman was a highly entertaining movie. I believe that no one would leave
empty-handed without anything to learn from watching Birdman. All of Birdmans successes
were truly well deserved.