DoubleBubble - Baudrillard

Jean Baudrillard quotes in The Spirit of Terrorism that “what stays with us, above all else, is the sight of the images”. For once, I instantly knew what the author was going to talk about and I was not confused. Once I read this opening line I understood from my memory exactly what the author meant. Whenever we see something that is important to us, we remember it. This could be anything from the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centers or simply remembering someone by their face.

We are impacted by these images because they captivate us and as a result images become our original scene. When we view images, the image takes over the event that it is representing and instantly offers it to our society and naturally we consume the image in ways we want to consume it. Once we see the image we first see the image and then the “frisson of the real” as Baudrillard explained is added. Best explaining the “frisson of the real” is through the images from September 11th, 2001. Once we see the images of the two towers the “real” is then added onto to the image. Once it is added it creates this sense of terror to the audience. As a result we conclude through our minds that not only is it scary, it is also REAL. What is most terrifying here after reading this exert is the idea that even though we think the image is ‘real’, it in a way is not. Unfortunately the image is symbolic, which makes it worse. Violence as a whole is the not the issue, the problem is symbolic violence is worse than violence overall. We are creating these ideas of violence by our norms. Our media has corrupted us.

Baudrillard quotes, “There is no ‘good’ use of the media; the media are part of the event, they are part of the terror, and they work in both directions”. (229) What has our media turned into? Has our desire for News and Media corrupted the media?