Nemo, Baudrillard -Make Up

In this reading Baudrillard discusses the effect that images have on our society. I do not know if I was the only person but I found this reading to be somewhat difficult. I especially had difficulty with his theory of Simulacra. Baudrillard discusses his theory of Simulacra, which I interpreted as replacing reality with signs or symbols that simulate reality. Baudrillard believes that our society has become dependent on simulacra and can no longer relate to the real world. “To dissimulate is to pretend not to have what one has. To simulate is to feign to have what one doesn’t have. One implies a presence, the other an absence.” I think that here Baudrillard is saying that in our society we live in a world of pretending, or a fantasy world. He believes that the media (TV, movies, internet, etc.) is responsible for blurring the line between reality and fiction. I agree with this argument because when people watch specific reality TV shows they think that what they are seeing is ‘real’ and they can associate with the situations the people are in. However what the masses do not know is that reality TV shows can often be scripted or edited in certain ways to make things seem more important or dramatic than they actually are. I had great difficulty understanding this article but I feel as though I was able to get somewhat of a grasp on his theory of Simulacra.