RIco72, 2/22

In class this week we talked about some really interesting ideas. On Tuesday we were asked whether reality outstripped fiction. On Thursday we discussed Zizek's comparison of 9/11 to disaster movies. I found it interesting how both of these discussions can be related to each other.

Zizek is right on with his statement. Disaster movies are usually have a high budget for filming and special effects and bring in a good amount of money at the box office. According to boxofficemojo.com, the film Independence day cost $75 million to make. It made just over $306 million at the box office. Another great example is the film The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight cost $185 million to make and it has made over $1 billion worldwide just from ticket sales. Also, the villain in the film, The Joker, has been the center of attention since before the film was released. Heath Ledger did such a great job that he has been nominated for an Academy Award. People thought he played an excellent, clever, and interesting villain.

So what does this say about the question of reality outstripping fiction? First, I consider outstripping as outdoing or over passing. I would say that reality does in fact outstrip fiction. As much as people love seeing fiction and feeling like they are a part of it, reality will always feel stronger and more powerful to us. The idea of these catastrophe movies is the perfect example. We love to see destruction and mayhem on the big screen, and after we will talk about it for a while, maybe recommend it to a friend, and then move onto the next movie we see. However, incidents like 9/11 will always be remembered by those who lived through it and were part of it. I think people are so drawn to movies because we know it's fake. Our subconscious knows its fake. That is why we enjoy it so much. We also like to see stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. This gives everyone the hope that if the time came, they would be able to rise up to the occasion and do the same. But do we ever truly believe we can? I personally don't think so and this is why I believe reality does outstrip fiction.