FloRida, Althusser/Marx

Ideology has been a main concept studied throughout all Critical Media and Cultural studies classes. It has been mainly focused on the dominance of Big Media over other media corporations but it was interesting to learn throughout these readings, how connected ideology is to politics and other aspects of our culture. What really struck me was the notion of “reality” to ideology. Baudrillard talks about what society views as “real” and how reality has become more fictional than real because it is scripted or plotted. Altuhusser states that, “Ideology represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence.” Comparing these two theorists’ ideas creates many similarities and connections of their teachings. In reference to Althusser’s thesis about ideology he makes it clear that, “It is not their real conditions of existence, their real world, that ‘men’ ‘represent to themselves’ in ideology, but above all it is their relation to those conditions of existence which is represented to them there. It is the relation which is at the centre of every ideological, i.e. imaginary, representation of the real world.” We believe what we hear and see because it is what we are told to believe by the “higher powers” of our society. This does not even depend on if the information we are presented is true or not. What is crazy is that we are dealing with an Ideological State Apparatus throughout every part of our lives and might not even realize it. There are religious ideologies, ethical ideologies, legal ideologies, and political ideologies ruling over our mentalities of thought and course of action. Going back to Baudrillard’s ideas, we never really know what to believe because reality has become such a falsity. These Ideological States Apparatus’ are created a false reality for us as well by created an illusion of the truth.