Mongoose 10/4

The early focus of our lecture with Slavoj Zizak was the topic of “what is truth”, how do we know what is true? Is there actually ‘truth’ or do we construct truth out of what happens around us? This is a topic that ties right into Baudrillard’s writing on reality; he presents to us the question “does reality actually outstrip fiction?” (228) By this question he is wondering if reality has actually become more fictional than fiction. At first this idea sounds absolutely preposterous, and I was one of the few who argued that fiction is more fictional than reality, but upon further review I can definitely understand where he is coming from and what he means by this. A lot of this depends on what one is actually referring to as “reality”; if we are talking about day to day interactions and lived experiences, then reality is definitely not fictional, however if we are talking about “reality” TV there can absolutely be an argument for it being more fictional. In these programs (Big Brother, The Hills etc.) there is a definite argument that the notion of reality has disappeared altogether with these characters, there are obvious scripted moments, plotlines etc, all things which we associate with fictional programming. Very few people watch these shows and think, ‘wow this is just like my life’. On the other hand, there are many fictional shows which people watch and get a definite sense of reality and a feeling that the issues, characters presented are very much like what their lives are. So if presented again with the question ‘which is more real, reality or fiction?’ I would have to clarify what the individual asking the question was referring to as ‘reality’ before being able to provide the correct answer to this question. Going back to Zizak, how can one really know what reality is unless you have experienced this reality for yourself?