Jane Denson, 10/8

“As a result, the distance grows between the culture of the experts and that of the larger public” (Habermas, 1981, p. 103).

        This quote discussed in class helped me better understand the sense of class division that comes with art and how it is consumed. Essentially, what Habermas is insinuating is that there is high-class culture and low-class culture in society that can be observed through specific cultural practices. For example, going to the opera, viewing paintings in a (prestigious) museum, and eating at expensively affluent restaurants would be considered high-class, while watching romantic comedies or ordering take-out would be considered low-class, according to Habermas. Additionally, it is worth noting how the bourgeois, or working class, factors into Habermas' theoretical analysis of the topic. With this quote, he is simultaneously unpacking the notion of a layperson becoming a competent consumer of art. In other words, Habermas is referencing bourgeois art and how those deemed as laypeople should educate themselves to become an expert, which would entail moving up in class culture. The topic is ultimately one that elucidates the conflicts that arise between the class structures and the differences that are there as well. As cinema, especially surrealist cinema from Luis Buñuel, has shown us, class conflict is a real evolving concern of any society.

“Belief in the stability of the referent (as in photography and film) leads to ‘the fantasies of realism’” (Lyotard, 1986, p. 42).

        After our class dissected Lyotard's words about the stability of the referent, or object reality, it became clear to me that he was expressing how the display of a fixed reality, like that of photography and film, only shows a piece of the entire reality by picking and choosing what will be seen by audiences. This, in turn, creates a fantasy of the reality because a fantasy implies an imaginative depiction. In other words, we only observe what the camera wants us to observe, which may mean that (significant) details are excluded from the narrative and thus the full picture is not truly experienced. Take Instagram for example. People only show their best selves on the platform, leaving out any negative aspects of themselves and details of their day when they post. This usage of social media is massively related to what Lyotard is discussing in his work -- a fantasy of realism, or as others may call it, a distorted reality. It is not limited there, however, since it also reaches reality television, which is heavily altered or edited by the producers to entice audiences into a totally fabricated world. Lyotard's ideas point to a greater notion involving how we are completely capable of editing, even photoshopping our subjects, including ourselves, in order to convey a fantasy of realism.

Meghan Trainor photoshopped in her "Me Too" music video