Gwatter06, Baudrillard/Zizek

And now the confusion starts! All along I’ve been priding myself on how well I’ve been able to absorb the authors and theorists that we have covered and take in at least some bit of comprehension from the works. However, I feel as though I have met my match with Baudrillard. I don’t believe it is what he is speaking about that I can’t piece together, but rather the density of his narration and the jumping around of points he attempts to create and sustain. From what I hope I was able to understand that I found quite interesting from Baudrillard was his narrated excursion of reality and simulation. Baudrillard describes simulation as, “It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal” (453). What I think Baudrillard is trying to explain here is that simulation is not reality, but nor is it fake because in order for something to simulate it must exist and be real. This notion, in turn, creates this hyperreality in which characterizes the inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from fantasy as we briefly discussed in class. Another interesting point that Baudrillard covered was his explanation of the role of images. Baudrillard stated, “the role of images is highly ambiguous” (228). By this I believe he means that images cant have any stern or definitive intent, that they are used for multiple different reasons and situations. He also explains that images are used to consume a moment or event and exude an impact. Zizek was a much more easier to read, and I believe his choice of topic made it more compelling as well. His narration on virtual reality and reality TV was very easy to relate to and something that we experience everyday. He takes an approach to look at the psychoanalysis on the effects of reality TV and what it means and how it affects people. He uses a great example in referring to the 9/11 attacks and how he builds on Stockhausen’s notion that the events were “a work of art.” He explains that the event and images of the event exhaulted the spectacular that we find in virtual reality and that we found the falsity behind it when we were able to experience the WTC towers collapsing. It was interesting to see how closely Baulliard’s points related to Zizek’s and vice versa, and I am looking for to going over both authors and works and also attending Zizek’s public lectures.