In class we talked about Baudrillard's idea that there is no longer a "real", and as examples of "Successive Phases of the Image". Oddly enough, when we touched upon "Masks and Denatures Reality" and then shortly after the idea of a picture of a family that could try to reflect reality but actually mask the dysfunctional family, I thought about Britney Spears' video for her song If You Seek Amy. The video's avant garde in its fashion, but the idea behind it makes up for the obscenity hidden in the title. Britney is in a house that is used basically as a love shack. Near the end of the video she changes from the black skimpy attire to a curly blonde wig and a preppy light pink sweater and white skirt. She walks outside to be met by the paparazzi with the perfect husband and the two perfect children, taking pictures and smiling with an apple pie in her hand. If we get past the fact that it's a Britney Spears video and think about it, it's exactly what Baudrillard is talking about. The paparazzi will report on this perfect, all-American apple pie family and that's what we, the spectators, are going to see. But we wouldn't even think that maybe behind that door to the perfect house on Mayberry St. has darkness behind the door.
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