Okay, from what I understand, a simularcrum is an image or symbol created by a simulation, which not only hopes to reproduce reality, but hopes to reproduce (although that is a very tricky word with Baudrillard) the human aspect of it, and when I say that, I mean that part of homo sapiens that makes us different from the animals and plants, whatever that may be.
Reading this article, I can't help but make comparisons and connections between what Baudrillard is saying about God and Walt Disney. Especially here in Central Florida, where the world of Disney is at our doorsteps, we have turned Walt Disney into this simulacra. Disney World, and by extension Walt Disney, have become this extension of what American happiness is. The Disney version of our world is now recognized as the real and so when we step outside to our automobile in the parking lot, it is now the hyperreal, something that is so real that it becomes surreal (which is what I got from the reading) and we don't recognize it as the real anymore.
I promise I have a point, somewhere in here.
So by having Walt "create" this "real" world, we've almost made him God, in the essence that he created our world. Yet we are ignoring the forbidden "simulacra in the temples" (455) because the essence of Walt is so likable and commercial. We want to constantly recreate him, and not just in Disneyland/World. We want him everywhere we go. Urbane urbanism is a good example of this. We want an entire world right at our doorstep. We want to walk through the entry gates and have everything needed for a functional community right at our fingertips. But we don't want a run down, ghetto-like version. We want something where there are trash cans every 10 to 17 feet (yes, that's a fact. I learned that when I was going through the "Traditions" class at Walt Disney World) and a Walgreens on every corner, because that is the world Walt created for us.
So what I'm saying is that Walt Disney has turned into a modern-day God because we can create simulacra out of him and make it marketable and commercial where we couldn't with the original God, and in our world of instant media and images, we need something like that, and Walt gave it to us.
p.s. I really hate Disney.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Baudrillard is a tough nut to crack.
Bumble: Comment
Ahh I love Disney!
Is it really bad though to create this "false sense of reality?" What if people enjoy this? It is like trying to dictate what sort of imagination people have. I have to say that a single event in life can be perceived in all different ways, and I feel as though if people want to view life through the rosy glasses then who is to say that they shouldn't?
Post a Comment