jl0630 - 2.5.09

The way we see and internalize media is particularly linked to Lyotard’s notion of verisimilitude that we talked about in class on Thursday. Verisimilitude is the idea that we’re recreating an appearance of truth. A great example of is the famous scene in the Russian movie, Battleship Potemkin, called the Odessa steps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J74IKt8rxkQ

This particular scene is considered one of the greatest manipulations in history because although there was unrest in Russia at this time, this particular battle never occurred. When Battleship Potemkin first aired abroad, however, there were many riots at against what its viewers thought had happened at Odessa.
This goes to show how easily influenced we are, especially by the media and film. The concept of what is reality and what is not becomes very confusing and is often internalized when having nothing else to support it. It also makes us start to question who the people behind the media are, and what are their motives? To briefly reiterate what we learned in CMC 100, the power behind advertisements and its depictions have greatly influenced not only our ideas of who we are, what we should be, and how we should look like – but they have influenced the eyes abroad as well.
One last thing to wrap up what we were talking about in class on Thursday is how we have gotten so simple-minded that when we watch a movie it is not, “how was it?”… it is, “did you like it or not?” There is no depth to the latter and it is almost alarming to think that we can get away with such minimalism. As a critic under Critical Media and Cultural Studies, I am making a personal vow to never catch myself asking or responding to such unassuming questions.