For it is with the same imperialism that present-day simulators try to make the real, all the real, coincide with their simulation models.Jean Baudrillard
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Jumbamatron
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For it is with the same imperialism that present-day simulators try to make the real, all the real, coincide with their simulation models.Jean Baudrillard
Surrounded by fellow devotees who've also traveled such great lengths to be present at this auspicious event, what difference does it make? Hell, if we were to discredit things that we've viewed on screens, I'd have to rule out the existence of every president in my lifetime except Clinton (and even him I saw at a great distance).
ReplyDeleteDoesn't Baudrillard make a point along these lines in Simulation and Simulacra, that if I were to simulate robbing a bank with a fake gun and no intent to actually steal money I'd be dealt with like a real criminal? That the line between simulation and the real has become increasingly blurred?
I was going more for the vague idea that you are going to dc to sit on the mall and watch a completely staged event that you know you won't be able to see on a jumbotron
ReplyDeleteAll this with a porta potty shortage.
I am intending to go next week; but this is why I hate public events
I like Baudrillard, but he works best when confined to stories about watching things on a screen
"Hell, if we were to discredit things that we've viewed on screens, I'd have to rule out the existence of every president in my lifetime except Clinton (and even him I saw at a great distance)."
On that note, aren't you skeptical everytime you see something on TV? Espeically working with editing! You should know how much work goes in making a shot look "right." Stand here Mr. President, look there, hold your hand here; now it looks...presidential... like it should.
Also, have you read "The Remainder" by Tom McCarthy? It's all about repeated simulation and features bank robbery
Actually, I haven't, I'll check it out.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right, I'm increasingly skeptical of visual media on a spectrum of live feed/non-live feed/photography (which thanks to Photoshop is now coming to resemble illustration). And I always, always, always give the benefit of the doubt to the person being recorded. The editor is God of the images (s)he has.
I actually had one of these tv-as-real experiences in Bloomington, IN, when they were dedicating an interfaith temple. The big deal wasn't the temple so much as the fact that the Dalai Lama's brother lives in Bloomington and the Lama was in town for the event, as well as Muhammad Ali for some reason. So many people showed up the back half of the audience ended up having to watch the whole ceremony on a closed-circuit tv.
Anyway, enjoy the inauguration.