Post Class

In Thursday’s class we discussed Zizek and the quote, “It is surprising how little of the actual camera we see… in clear contrast to reporting on third world catastrophes… The real horror happens there, not here” (232). I think what is most relevant is the last line of that quote. The way media portrays catastrophe in our country is minimalistic approach. We do not always see the real story or images when something bad occurs, like 9/11. Zizek says, “And the same ‘derealization’ of the horror went on after the WTC collapse: while the number of victims—3,000—is repeated all the time, it is surprising how little of the actual carnage we see—no dismembered bodies, no blood, no desperate faces of dying people” (232). For something as horrific as 9/11 that impacted our country greatly, it is shocking how manipulated the media coverage was. People wanted to know what was going on, people were scared, and if they were not located in NYC at the time, the media is what they relied on to get information. If that is the only way to find out what is going on and the media isn’t covering every aspect, how is it possible to get the full and real story? Which leads into Tuesday’s class discussion of Baudrillard…

Something that changed thought process was the fact that the real is not something we can grasp onto with trust and certainty anymore. I think that what is real and what is not real all around us is so hard to differentiate. I think the most important example of this is the news. Our perception of 9/11 is shaped by the news regardless of what was left out or emphasized, that’s how our ideas knowledge of that event is constructed.