In the world of today, postmodern theorist’s views can be seen in media. Whether it be paintings, photographs, or movies, the postmodern ideas are portrayed in the media outlets showed to the masses. An example of one of the many theorist’s of the postmodern thought would be Baudrillard and his views of Simulacra and Simulations. His thought of simulacra means the thought of something like a representation of materials or having a similarity, such as a painting of a photograph, or a statue of a figure. These representations have qualities of the original, but are just copies.
A good example of simulacra and simulations in today’s media is the movie, The Truman Show. It is a movie in which the star, Truman, is trapped inside a world in which he perceives to be real, even though it is being filmed and being transmitted to an audience outside of the closed set. All of the people he knows are just actors and all the places he’s ever been are not real. Baudrillard argued that there are four stages of simulacra and simulation, which can be seen through out the movie. The first part is Truman to be living in the basic reality that he knows. The world he knows is a copy of the outside world that everyone else knows, but only he doesn’t know that what he perceives to be real actually is everyone else’s reality tv show.
The second part of Baudrillard’s argument is a masking or perversion of reality. This is happening in the Truman show when things start to go wrong and Truman starts to think that something is not right with the world that he lives in. Things like when he is waiting for the elevator and when it comes it is not the elevator, but the doors open to men eating in a backstage environment. He also gets a glimpse of this when he starts to realize that when he stops and looks at society, he can see a pattern of people’s actions. He sees this pattern of people doing their “everyday” activities, like when he notices a car, then person on a bike, then lady with a stroller all repeating around the same street over and over. These things start to make him question what is actually happening in his life, and if it is “real” or not.
Over Truman’s life there were instances in which people from the outside world have tried to get in contact with Truman and tell him that the world that the lives in is false. There have been such things as skydivers getting onto the set, which were quickly whisked away by the people of the city, or even a girl he was close to. She wanted to tell Truman that the world he was living in was false, but before she could the creators had her removed so as not to tell Truman. Another woman quickly replaced her so that they could try to get Truman not to realize. This represents Baudrillard’s third part of his argument in that there is a masking of basic reality. There is a hiding of the second stage to show that there is no more question of what is real and not real.
After Truman finally starts to believe that what is real to him is not real at all, he is in the fourth part of Baudrillard’s argument, in that he was living in pure simulacrum. He tries to escape the world that he knows by trying to get to the outside parts by car, and then by sea. When he reaches the edge of his world he sees that all he has been living in was a simulation, simulating life, as we know it. There doesn’t even need to be a masking of his life, because he knows that all he believes is just a simulation.
This movie is a good representation of Baudrillard’s thought, portraying what he believes happens in real life, in movie form. It shows the different stages of simulacra and simulation, and how the real life that we know could actually be not what we think it is. Instead it could be just a fake simulation of something else. This is the trailer of The Truman Show, showing the gist of what the movie is about. It shows how the show is made and how Truman’s life is all just a hoax, as Baudrillard is suggesting.
A good example of simulacra and simulations in today’s media is the movie, The Truman Show. It is a movie in which the star, Truman, is trapped inside a world in which he perceives to be real, even though it is being filmed and being transmitted to an audience outside of the closed set. All of the people he knows are just actors and all the places he’s ever been are not real. Baudrillard argued that there are four stages of simulacra and simulation, which can be seen through out the movie. The first part is Truman to be living in the basic reality that he knows. The world he knows is a copy of the outside world that everyone else knows, but only he doesn’t know that what he perceives to be real actually is everyone else’s reality tv show.
The second part of Baudrillard’s argument is a masking or perversion of reality. This is happening in the Truman show when things start to go wrong and Truman starts to think that something is not right with the world that he lives in. Things like when he is waiting for the elevator and when it comes it is not the elevator, but the doors open to men eating in a backstage environment. He also gets a glimpse of this when he starts to realize that when he stops and looks at society, he can see a pattern of people’s actions. He sees this pattern of people doing their “everyday” activities, like when he notices a car, then person on a bike, then lady with a stroller all repeating around the same street over and over. These things start to make him question what is actually happening in his life, and if it is “real” or not.
Over Truman’s life there were instances in which people from the outside world have tried to get in contact with Truman and tell him that the world that the lives in is false. There have been such things as skydivers getting onto the set, which were quickly whisked away by the people of the city, or even a girl he was close to. She wanted to tell Truman that the world he was living in was false, but before she could the creators had her removed so as not to tell Truman. Another woman quickly replaced her so that they could try to get Truman not to realize. This represents Baudrillard’s third part of his argument in that there is a masking of basic reality. There is a hiding of the second stage to show that there is no more question of what is real and not real.
After Truman finally starts to believe that what is real to him is not real at all, he is in the fourth part of Baudrillard’s argument, in that he was living in pure simulacrum. He tries to escape the world that he knows by trying to get to the outside parts by car, and then by sea. When he reaches the edge of his world he sees that all he has been living in was a simulation, simulating life, as we know it. There doesn’t even need to be a masking of his life, because he knows that all he believes is just a simulation.
This movie is a good representation of Baudrillard’s thought, portraying what he believes happens in real life, in movie form. It shows the different stages of simulacra and simulation, and how the real life that we know could actually be not what we think it is. Instead it could be just a fake simulation of something else. This is the trailer of The Truman Show, showing the gist of what the movie is about. It shows how the show is made and how Truman’s life is all just a hoax, as Baudrillard is suggesting.