The Metamodern Cinema of Taika Waititi

By Kevin Corbett

In this book, Kevin Corbett argues that as we reconsider postmodern cinema bridging the 20th and 21st centuries, this time period marks the transition and overlap from the cultural logic of postmodernism to the still-emerging cultural logic of metamodernism. From this premise, Corbett tracks the emergence of these elements over the course of Taika Waititi's career in film and television.

At first glance, Taika Waititi's film and television work seems quite scattered. But on closer examination the variation that characterizes the writer-director's output reflects a 21st-century cultural shift that has arguably replaced (or is replacing) postmodernism as the dominant paradigm. This new paradigm has been called metamodernism. At the core of this post-postmodern worldview is the idea of oscillation: how creative and cultural products move back-and-forth between ironic distance and affective connection.

In this book, Corbett examines how Waititi's films and TV shows often bounce between humor and other devices that generate insincerity and disengagement and other elements that invite audiences to sincerely affectively connect with the characters and story. Waititi has made touching, sometimes heart wrenching stories with children and young adults as central characters (Boy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Jojo Rabbit, Reservation Dogs), quirky character sketches and whacky parodies (Eagle vs. Shark, What We Do in the Shadows, Our Flag Means Death), and two Marvel movies (Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder). Ultimately, the variations among Waititi's work as a whole - and especially the variations in tone within the individual films and programs - reveals their metamodern nature.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1666955752
• ISBN13: 9781666955750
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 1.1" x 1.1"