NS 10/13 Post Class Post

This week's reading selections from Baudrillard was quite impactful for me. It is truly eye-opening to have a new understanding of media and how information is transmitted and it gets me thinking about the slippery path that information might hold down the road. We are living in a world where information is meticulously selected by whoever can control it. In the U.S. it is very politically-based where everything is connected through back door deals the public is not aware of. The corruption is unfathomable. From Baudrillard, he mentions the massive disparity that goes on in other third world countries that are quite hidden from media in other nations. He poses the ideas of reality and knowing vs. not knowing. The collapse of the World Trade Center was an example he chose to prove the idea that we know the information that is given to us through the media, but we fail to see specific images that are graphic because it is our nation and we are not the one's who control or depict the story. We would not be able to imagine a specific event or recreate it without it happening in reality. This is a very interesting concept that I need to further dive into, understand, and reflect upon. Below I have attached to passages from the Baudrillard reading selections. 

"The image consumes the event, in the sense that it absorbs it an offer is it for consumption. Admittedly, it gives it unprecedented impact, but impact as image-event. How do things stand with the real event, then, if reality is everywhere infiltrated by images, virtuality, and fiction? In the present case, we thought we had seen (perhaps with a certain relief) a resurgence of the real, and of the violence of the real, in an allegedly virtual universe. ‘There’s an end to all your talk about the virtual this is something real!’ Similarly, it was possible to see this as a resurrection of history beyond proclaimed end. But does reality actually outstrip fiction? If it seems to do so, this is because it has absorbed fictions energy, and has itself become fiction" (Baudrillard 2002, p. 228). 

"And the same the ‘derealization’ of the horror of went on after the WTC collapse: while the number of victims - 3000 - is repeated all the time, it is surprising how little of the actual carnage we see - no dismembered bodies, no blood, no desperate faces of dying people... in clear contrast to reporting on Third World catastrophes, where the whole point is to produce a scoop of some gruesome detail: Somali‘s dying of hunger, raped Bosnian women, men with their throat cut. The shots are always accompanied by an advance warning that ‘some of the images you will see are extremely graphic and may upset children’" (Baudrillard, 2002, p. 232). 

Evie, Dorfman & Eco

 “Juvenile literature is a father surrogate” (p. 114)

I found this quote by Ariel Dorfman to be fascinating. Dorfamn explains in his piece Instructions on How to Become a General in the Disneyland Club the troubled fact that children’s literature is produced by adults. While this idea seems like a no-brainer, Dorfman argues otherwise. To clarify, adults project themselves onto children through comics and other forms of media which conditions the real child to behave in the way that the figurative child is portrayed. Rather than having a literature of their own, the child is consumed by what the adult sees fit. Dorfman argues that this is a tactic that adults use to conceal their own guilt. The innocence and perfection of children literature protects the dream-image of youth that adults desire. Additionally, rather than being present and parenting their own children, adults can use media like Disney to brainwash the child into complying by the values that the media projects. In this way,  juvenile literature is a father surrogate. If the literature is already the father’s projection, then he is free to be absent or maybe “the favorite uncle.”

“Disneyland tells us that technology can give us more reality than nature can” (p. 203)

I found these words by Umberto Eco to be troubling. Disney has replicated the wonders of our world and embellished them to the point where they can surpass the awe of the originals. This concept can be incredibly dangerous for children especially. Children need to explore the real world, they need to touch true nature. Disney is so fascinating to children that when they see its artificial lagoons and waterways for example, true nature looks bland. Real life adventures in nature can be thrilling and impactful, however, when they are competing with the technology of Disney, children will always choose the thrill of adventuring with robot dinosaurs. 

10/15 Pre Class Blog- Disney and Childhood

 Eco and Dorfman

“Disney has been exalted as the inviolable common cultural heritage of contemporary man; his characters have been incorporated into every home, they hang on every wall, they decorate objects of every kind; they constitute  a little less than a social environment inviting us all to join the great universal Disney family.... Disney is the great supranational bridge which all human beings may communicate with each other” (Dorfman, 110)

Though Dorfman wrote this quote in a cynical way, this is actually how I’ve thought about Disney in the past. Disney has always been a part of my life; I can’t think of a time in my life where Disney was around or I didn't think about a Disney property. As an avid Disney fan, Dorfman’s thoughts hurt to read a little bit. But as Disney grows bigger and bigger (almost a monopoly on itself), It is scary to think how big Disney has gotten. They own many cultural landmarks that mass audiences love, like star wars, marvel, Pixar, and the muppets. Lyotard talks about “meta-narratives” in his writings. In essence, I think Disney has made itself a meta-narrative

Last year, I asked my grandmother at one point what it was like to grow up without Disney. I’ve thought about it several times and about how Disney saturates many children's lives. I could not separate my own childhood from Disney because Disney (the parks, the films, the merchandise) was and IS an important part of my life. My grandmother said that it was just normal for her, no thoughts of Disney needed. However, my grandmother is now an avid Disney fan. Though she grew up away from Disney’s meta-narrative, she loves it now. I do argue that, as Disney fans, people should be more critical of what they’re buying/ consuming. I think Disney does offer good to people, it’s finding the balance between the mega-corporation and the humanity behind it.

Evie, Baudrillard

 “The fascination with the attack is primarily a fascination with the image” (P. 228-9)

I found this quote about 9/11 to be very interesting. I was too young to remember the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, so my reality of what happened is constructed by images. When I imagine that day, I can feel as if I were there. This connection is solely due to the images and videos I have seen as I grew up. However, I was only one year old when the attacks occurred, therefore, there is no reason I should have this sense of understanding of that day as if it were my reality. This is due to the fasciation we have with the images. Baudrillard explains that images are our primal sense. We are drawn to the images of the attack because they give us a false sense of clarity and understanding. The events that occurred that day shook our nation and the only way to comprehend what happened was through images given to us through the media. This leads me to my next quote:

“There is no ‘good’ use of the media; the media are part of the event, they are part of the terror, and they work in both directions” (p. 229)

I struggle with this quote because I understand the way the media manipulates situations, but I also understand the need for our nation to know what is going on. The media is a source that provides information, but often that can lead to more harm than good. I believe Baudrillard is saying here that the media immediately covered and exploited the events that occurred on 9/11 and pushed them out to the world; this inevitably gives the terrorists exactly what they wanted: global fear and chaos. This idea made me think about how we might be taking steps in the right direction since 9/11. For example, today, when a terrible incident like a mass shooting occurs, the name of the shooter is often left out of media coverage so the shooter is not glorified. We are still fascinated by images, but maybe now there is less focus on the people behind the destruction and more focus on ways to get through and prevent it from happening again.

10/13 Pre-class blog

Hayao Miyazaki, renowned animator and humanist artist, is famous for his dreamy representations of reality, which, of course, can only be obtained from observing reality closely. Each of his films contain minute details of human existence: someone cooking, drawing, getting water from the well, all animated with great care for the simple task that is being done. While these scenes may not necessarily advance the plot, they are there to help build the characters as full human beings with lives outside of the screen. The emphasis is not on big explosions or intricate mechas, but the experience of being alive. Though he found his fame in anime, age has made him more jaded about the state of the industry.

You see, whether you can draw like this or not, being able to think up this kind of design, it depends on whether or not you can say to yourself, “Oh, yeah, girls like this exist in real life.” If you don’t spend time watching real people, you can’t do this, because you’ve never seen it.

Some people spend their lives interested only in themselves. Almost all Japanese animation is produced with hardly any basis taken from observing real people, you know. It’s produced by humans who can’t stand looking at other humans. And that’s why the industry is full of otaku! (translation)

His complaint about the abundance of otaku (someone who is obsessed with anime, manga, and video games to the point of antisocial behavior) in the industry is not unfounded. As anime culture became more and more of a commodified microcosm, the anime produced became cheaper and self-referential. Though anime characters aren’t meant to be photorealistic, its hard to see the character designs in any random anime coming out this season and imagine them as a real person. Rather than the feeling of watching real people, it feels as if I am watching animals in a zoo, imitating human behaviors but never quite acting like people themselves. These idealized characters appeal to the otaku: people who never question them or critique them to improve, who never act abrasive or ugly or any other way that may suggest they have personhood of their own. In other words, these people do not exist.

Ironically, Miyazaki’s quote has been twisted into the popular “anime was a mistake” meme, with many people believing he actually said “anime was a mistake.” Simulacra to help the Western anime fan elitists like me validate themselves, perhaps?

Pre-Class Blog 10/12

 “We might almost say that reality is jealous of fiction, that the real is jealous of the image”

This quote really stood out to me in Baudrillard’s writing because I agree with what he argues. I believe he is saying that real life is not the same as the images that try to represent it. To me, this is the exact definition of social media. Social media can often be a gross misrepresentation of people’s lives. In today’s world, it is socially encouraged to highlight or post only about the positives going on in one’s life. I can apply this social standard to myself. My life is definitely not perfect, but my social media posts only show the positive moments in my life.  My instagram represents a person I want to be, not the person I fully am. My instagram does not represent me as a person, but as an image of a life with no problems. Social Media often is not reality. It does not give the whole picture of who someone is or how an event happened. It only shows what the user wants to share, not the whole truth. This is sad because the purpose of social media is to be able to connect with other people to share experiences and ideas and while this does happen, it is less often. People are so concerned about having the perfect social media image when it is not even a true representation of themselves. They just want to feel acceptance and praise from peers. In saying all of this, I wish the standards of social media would change. I am interested in hearing about the good, the bad, the sad, the etc. about a person’s life. I do not want to see some perfect image that I know there is more too. Social Media should have the purpose of sharing the real, not the altered representations of life.

10/13 Pre Class Blog- Baudrillard and Zizek

  “To dissimulate is to pretend not to have what one has. To simulate is the feign to have what one doesn’t have. One implies a presence the other an absence...pretending or dissimulating, leaves the principle of reality intact: the difference is always clear, it is simply masked, whereas simulation threatens the difference between the “true” and the “false” and the “imaginary.” (389)

This quote partially stood out to me from Baudrillard. In essence, he is saying that to hide that you have something shows that you have a presence. To show something that you don’t have implies an absence of that thing. Baudrillard talks about how in our postmodern world, images will precede reality. He is implying that concept within dissimulation vs. simulation.

This connects me to the fashion industry. Elitists brands like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Supreme will purposely “stain” their clothes. This, in essence, pretends like people are not as wealthy or elitist as they are. The clothes, however, still have the Gucci or Louis Vuitton logo on them, so the people get the grunge look of non-elitest clothes with an elitist status, which is what Baudrillard and Zizek would call dissimulating. The same can be said for amazon dupes of lululemon. Lululemon leggings normally cost about $110 dollars, which makes them inaccessible to certain economic groups. However, brands will take the Lululemon designs and make them into “dupes.” They look like the Lululemon leggings but are normally about $20-40 dollars. The overall quality of these leggings is normally less, However, to have the look of these leggings, which implies wealth and status, is more important than actually owning these things. This is, in effect, simulation.

Post Class from 10/8 Class

 “As for the artists and writers who question the rules of plastic and narrative arts and possibly share their suspicions by circulating their work, they are destined to have little credibility in the eyes of those concerned with ‘reality’ and ‘identity’; they have no guarantee of an audience.”

During class on 10/8, we discussed this quote from Lyotard’s writing. We came to the conclusion that the quote meant that artists who challenge the basic standards of the arts are not guaranteed to have an audience that pays attention to them. I am not sure if I agree with Lyotard’s argument. I believe in today’s world people are always ready for the next best thing or new, out of the ordinary things. In my opinion, today’s culture is more accepting and welcoming to the avant-garde. The avant-garde brings excitement and entertainment to people because it is different and challenges previous art forms. Also, the avant-garde brings new ideas for improvement and efficiency in the world. I believe that I can argue against Lyotard’s point by using an example of an avant-garde idea from the past that challenged the basic standards and had an audience. One example that first comes to mind is air travel. Engineers or “artists of transportation” dreamed up a new, faster way to travel around the world that would only take a number of hours to go across an ocean. This new model of transportation was so different from accepted modes of travel, but people paid attention. People paid attention to this avant-garde mode of transportation because it was different and more exciting than what they were used to. As time went on, this avant-garde mode of transportation became normalized in society. Now it is considered “reality” in terms of transportation. My point in using this example is that new ideas that are different from the normal will have an audience because of the excitement they bring and sometimes the new ideas will eventually become normalized. I believe that Lyotard is not correct in his assumption that artists that challenge classic standards will not have an audience. He underestimates humans’ need for the avant-garde and excitement.

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

Evie 10/8

 “Belief in the stability of the referent (as in photography and film) leads to ‘the fantasies of realism’”

I enjoyed talking about this quote in class on Thursday. French philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard is saying here that we look at media such as photography and film as if they were reality, however they are just a mere fantasy. Forms of media only show a glimpse into reality. There is a “fantasy” that is tied with the media because technology has allowed it to be so realistic. Photos and videos give the audience a lens into someone else's perspective. The issue here is that someone else's perspective can be misleading or screwed. Mary gave a great example of this in class. She explained that social media allows people to show themselves in the light they desire. Through good lighting, perfect timing, and photo editing tools, anyone on social media can portray the perfect life. When we see someone's profile, we feel that we know that person and understand their world. Social media is a very interesting part of today’s culture and I am curious what Lyotard would think about this ability to create these “fan pages” for ourselves. 

After our discussion about social media, my mind went straight to reality TV. Reality TV is a very interesting component in our culture that I believe is worth discussing. Essentially, reality TV does not consist of actors and does not have a plot. This form of entertainment brings the audience into someone’s life and is literally depicted as “reality.” However, reality TV is far from reality. Everything the audience sees is controlled by the producer in order to attract the most views. The unscripted, raw feeling of these shows make the audience feel like they know characters that they have zero connection to. This concept is very twisted when you step away and look at the bigger picture. 

10/6 Post-Class Blog Post

 

“Neoconservative doctrines turn our attention precisely away from such societal processes: they project the causes, which they do not bring to light, onto the plane of subversive culture and its advocates.’ (Habernas, 102)

Though I constantly refer to media (theater in particular) in my blog posts,  I continue to ground the somewhat heady and abstract theory that we are reading for class in the elements that I am comfortable in. I have been constantly thinking about the connection between Brechtian theatre and what Habernas discusses in his paper. Brechtian theatre goes against everything that Neoconservatives do in their doctrine: it places all the emphasis on societal processes and issues, to the point of making the audience uncomfortable (the alienation effect). For example, in the Brecht show The Good Person Of Setzuan, the audience follows the story of Shen-Te, a prostitute who is granted a tobacco shop from the Gods above. In order to protect her shop, Shen-Te dresses up as her male alias Shui-Ta. Shui-Ta uses his masculine prowess to keep control of his shop, but eventually is tried for the murder of Shen-Te herself. The Good Person of Setzuan inherently focuses on class struggle, materialism, and how people in a capitalist society use economics to frame morality.  At the production at Rollins, we updated the play so that we focused on coffee since coffee in our contemporary times is very much like tobacco was when Brecht was writing the play. In our acting, our director wanted us to focus on talking directly to the audience when it was necessary, to alienate them. When the audience laughs at something horrible (like a homeless person fighting to get into a home), the action of the play stops, and the actors comment on it directly. Why are you laughing at that audience? Why laugh at people who are needy and that need can lead to greed? Thus, the audience is alienated from their own reactions to the work and thus has to think about why things are like this. This idea is completely the opposite of what Neoconservatives focus on, which is to turn away from societal processes.

A picture from our production, where the ensemble physically becomes the factory itself, the workers struggling under the capitalist system.

Reagan-Thatcher-conservatism

 Here's one perspective:

https://medium.com/@DIorioNathaniel/the-end-of-conservatism-how-the-ideology-of-reagan-and-thatcher-is-fading-away-c43b799dc46d

Jane Denson, Lyotard (and Habermas)

        After reading both Lyotard and Habermas' in-depth analysis of Modernity and Postmodernism, it is apparent that their perspectives and insights on the overarching matter of the Modernist movement and its impacts are in discordance. It appears, however, that if one wants to be able to fully engage with and comprehend Habermas' material, it is imperative to read through Lyotard's with the same frame of mind. Stepping back, it can be inferred, potentially with the Surrealist and Avant-Garde movements, that Modernity bleeds into divergent eras and is constantly redefining itself on a continual basis, all while social paradigms shift. That is likely why the topic is heavily debated and extremely difficult to completely understand. From a 21st century standpoint, Modernity and Postmodernity both emphasize and explore concepts from two sides of the same coin, and here it can be noted that Lyotard and Habermas are unpacking different ideas under one theoretical umbrella. One quote that came across rather interestingly from Lyotard was this:

"But capitalism inherently possesses the power to derealize familiar objects, social roles, and institutions to such a degree that the so-called realistic representations can no longer evoke reality except as nostalgia or mockery, as an occasion for suffering rather than for satisfaction. Classicism seems to be ruled out in a world in which reality is so destabilized that it offers no occasion for experience but one for ratings and experimentation" (Lyotard, 1986, p. 40).

        Lyotard proceeds to mention how this idea is similar to what Walter Benjamin touched on in his work. With this piece, it seems as though Lyotard is insinuating that with emulation and the realm of mass reproduction brought upon society by capitalism, a person's perception can be greatly cheapened or hindered in terms of the realism of the person, place, or object they are familiar with. A question that came to mind from this is: Would Habermas view Avant-Gardism as capitalism, in a sense, that derealizes Traditionalism? When Lyotard goes on to bring up the notion of classicism being ruled out due to a destabilized reality, it may be possible that he is calling back to the idea that the mechanical and industrial are the causes for this type of "replacement." In other words, he is getting at the notion of photography and cinematography, for example, having the ability to perhaps change or warp human experience, unlike the classics, and then offer room for experimentation that, in turn, seeks to demonstrate reality strategically, as opposed to staying true to its source of origin. For a 21st century audience to grasp the overall density of this, it might be wise to look at (classic) texts of literature being adapted for the world of cinema. Lyotard would probably comment on how films like The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, IT, etc. have destabilized their counterpart's (the novel) individual reality by leaving important details out or altering the flow of the text. As a result, the viewers' sense of experience may feel derealized (if they have read the novel version) and the film may read as a mockery of its source material.