Trapnest, Baudrillard & Zizek

(I wasn’t sure if I should post on the reading that was scheduled for tomorrow or the old reading since we hadn’t really yet covered it. I decided to post on the older reading because I felt that’s what we’d be covering in class; I hope this isn’t too incorrect.)

“And was not the attack on the World Trade Center with regard to Hollywood catastrophe movies..." – Slavoj Zizek

One of the first things that crossed my mind upon reading this particular quote was the September 11th movies that followed the horrible events within a year or so after. Not just one movie, but at least two that I personally know of were produced, outside of documentaries. “World Trade Center” (2006) directed by Oliver Stone, and “United 93” (2006) directed by Paul Greengrass. Following the actual events by only five years while the War that followed as a result is still occurring most watching these films lived through the actual events and watched the endless news reels that ran those weeks. These movies are claimed to some extent to be based off of fact. But even if they were not I challenge the thought that people would treat them as fact none-the-less. With the incident so fresh in people’s minds, many people believe that with such a serious event you cannot show something that isn’t real or factual.

This analogy I formulated made me think of Baudrillard:

“How do things stand with the real event, then if reality is everywhere infiltrated by images, virtuality and fiction?”

In this example how can people rightly compare these movies to the actual events that took place, the “real” facts of the matter? If people assume everything is a little bit false, at least a tiny amount, then people would rightly be inclined to put stock in these movies as truth. The movie produces create their own reality over such a fresh and emotionally charged event that people naturally put a small amount of stock in what is being said. Even Zizek goes on to discuss how people almost want things to be sensationalized by the media, it is out “Paranoiac fantasy” and such we are presented with it at every turn producers can.