tlloyd 09/02

In class we discussed the issue of reality and what reality really means in our world today. Defining reality is something that postmodern thinkers have struggled with.

We see television programs that attempt to depict ‘real life’ but what we sometimes fail to recognize is that these shows are overly scripted, tweaked and preformed. Shows like That 70’s Show, or Gossip Girl attempt to demonstrate a certain lifestyle. What they represent is an idealistic, choreographed interpretation of a particular life. Gossip Girl present is the hegemonic narrative. The hegemonic narrative strives to maintain dominant ideologies within our culture (i.e., Caucasian, affluent, etc…). In That 70’s Show we see the producers attempting to show viewers what life was really like in the 70’s. This deals with the topic of originality. Although this show appears to be set in the 70’s, it is filmed in modern day. So the show really isn’t ‘original’. If it is something that is crafted to represent the past, can we really call it original or accurate?

Another concept that stuck out me was the idea that truth does not mean reality. The idea had never really crossed my mind but in thinking about it the past few days it is really very accurate. The example that Dr. Cummings used, staying that a fiction novel may communicate a truth but the story used to communicate that truth may not necessarily be real. We see this thinking all the time in television and movies. They almost create a metaphor to explain the truth.

We also see issues of reality on a smaller scale in our day-to-day lives. For example, the Rollins website depicts Rollins in a particular way, promoting academics, athletics, and character and presenting the beautiful campus and a somewhat hegemonic narrative – white, affluent, etc… Although many of the ideas presented on the Rollins website are accurate, there are many people at the school who do not fit the profile that the school sells. Rollins is not the only institution that could be used as an example. Companies, schools, restaurants, etc… all use marketing to create an image of what something is ‘really’ like when in reality you cannot depict what something is ‘really’ like for each individual.