FloRida, 9/13

What is Realism? What is truth? What is reality? Thursday’s class really provided us with the ability to possibly answer these questions. Dr. Rog quoted Lyotard by saying that, realism “stands somewhere between academicism and kitsch” it provides “correct” images, narratives, and forms designed as “the appropriate remedy for the anxiety and depression for the public experiences” (41). We as a society use ALL of our media outlets to escape our own “reality.” This could be through television, magazines, or the internet. We watch reality shows that are not even real and sitcoms that we think we can relate to, just to take our mind off all of the things we currently have to deal with. Realism is dominating our culture. A statement that really related to this concept of what is truth or what is reality and connected with me was, “so-called realistic representations can no longer evoke reality except as nostalgia or mockery” (40). The Saturday Night Live skit we watched in class really reinforces this statement. Society is constantly making a mockery of important topics either to get people interested or to stir up some conflict. Either way it causes a reaction, which is exactly what Big Media wants to happen. This definitely goes back to Benjamin’s article describing the notion of reproduction. Once something is replicated or said SOOO many times, we identify with it in a specific way. When certain iconic people either celebrities or politicians are represented a certain way within media, society starts to believe everything about them and identifies them in a way that might not be actual reality. Basically, what we are seeing is not actual reality or truth within media but we are experiencing realism, which is causing us to have certain beliefs, ideas, and representations in our mind of specific people, places, and things.