Murphy, Baudrillard & Zizek

When referring to the events of 9/11 and the terrorism inflicted upon the World Trade Center, Baudrillard writes, "..the twentieth century's two elements of mass fascination are combined: the white-magic of the cinema and the black magic of terrorism; the white light of the image and the black light of terrorism" (Baudrillard 228). After taking a Intro to Film class I am able to make connections between those lessons and this reading. A cinematographer can trick the viewer into seeing something that isn't really there or really happening. What appears to be real is staged. The same happens in the media, what we are shown is edited, cropped and dupes the audience. The American culture has a fascination with watching morbid images repeatedly. There are still images all around us today reminding us of September 11th, which just reiterates the mass hysteria, and in the end reiterates the point of the terrorism. The buildings falling are more a symbol of a bigger message than an individual attack. The terrorists are more successful in their mission when our media outlets constantly publicize the attacks and create a mass panic. As Baudrillard says, "There is no 'good' use of the media; the media is part of the event, they are part of the terror, and they work in both directions" (Baudrillard 228).
I found Zizek's writing important and at the same time comical, in the way that we never question what is marketed to us. For example the coffee with out caffeine and the beer without alcohol. In a way if the media names something, even if it doesn't embody the characteristics that should define it, we take it for face value. This ties back into our previous reading and class discussion on reinvention. Television networks take one idea and use it over and over, for example: first there was the land of the lost, then there was Gilligan's Island, next came survivor, and finally there is Lost. The same applies to products that we are sold, we are told they are retro and and familiar, and we believe the media and consume at high levels. Reality is distorted, and today what is REALLY real?