Just the other day at the movie theater I found myself thinking of Baudrillard and Zizek as I watched a set of about 5 previews before my movie began. Three out of five of these previews were about: the end of the world...I remember when these movies first started coming out- they seemed to be portraying such a crazy idea. Today when I think about the ‘end of the world’ theme it has become more and more scary through perpetuated images in the media . Along with movies, the discovery channel has also made numerous TV shows about what may happen when the end of the world arrives. Are these fictional attempts preparing us for the future? Even Wall-E, an animated Disney movie for children, used this theme. I assume that it is so marketable because people are actually scared of this happening in reality. It is possible that viewers find comfort in watching these films- seeing how others try to survive when they reach the end of the world.
The best example, which we touched on in class on Thursday, of media as part of the terror, is the Casey Anthony case. When this missing child report first started being shown on the news, it was like any other I had seen before. After a few weeks without finding Caylee, news channels began to become more interested in other things. I would turn on the news to see signs such as BREAKING NEWS: Casey Anthony has intimate relationship with her lawyer. I have become so disappointed with the news that I don’t even pay attention to ‘breaking news’ flashes when they come on the TV. In this case, the news clearly began to make up their own stories in order to keep peoples attention on the undeveloped missing child case. In no way do I want to demean the importance of finding Caylee Anthony, but what made this one family so special? Children go missing everyday, people get murdered, kidnapped, and assaulted yet the news decided to focus on the Anthony’s case. This event became the center of the news due to the media exacerbating its importance through repeated coverage everyday.
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Your discussion of our culture's obsession with the end of the world is something I have thought a lot about. You are right. We see these themes in movies everywhere and it does link to Baudrillard and Zizek. Your discussion of the media's treatment of the Casey Anthony case is interesting as well.
-Starfish
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