Successive Phases of Imagery - Post Class

Looking back on our class this week, I believe that all of the story telling and personal examples helped me gain clarity on both Zizek and Baudrillard. Reading their text as a whole, I had a very difficult time breaking it down and finding what is truly important. However, in class we were able to talk it out and bring in experiences to really give depth to the sentence or term. Something that sticks out to me the most is Baudrillard’s “successive phases of imagery.”

His first stage, which is a reflection of reality, is always related to some positive, uplifting thought. Images of beloved pets or families (depending on the situation) are some that we discussed in class, but I think of a reflection of reality as a commercial or magazine advertisement on a children’s network or Family Circle. They want you to think everything is perfect, everything is all together, so the company provides you with an image that reflects what they believe will sell you their reflection of reality. I also compare this to my own life as it is easier for me to go around and smile as if everything is perfect than get into the idea of “masking and denaturing reality,” which is Baudrillard’s next phase. Masking reality is often seen as “evil” and it is looking at the advertisement closer, that family closer, of for me looking me in the eyes. Everyone has a story, personal history, or perhaps something happened just before or after that image was captured. Personally, I feel that we see more masks on reality than the real thing this day in age. Looking into the next phase of “masking of absence of reality,” one cannot help but jump right into television and film. Friends has and always has been my brother and my favorite show. We always used to joke around that he was going to get an apartment like theirs in Chicago (not quite New York, but nevertheless a city) and he was going to have that life. Then, he grew up and realized the “absence of reality” this show portrays. His apartment could probably fit in their kitchen and unlike most of the characters that jump around between employments and are everything from chefs to waiters; he has a pretty steady job.

Finally, I take a look at “no relation to reality” or the simulacric phase. While this phase can examine heavier topics such as images of war, I like to find a lighter note in the term of YouTube videos. YouTube has become a forum to share videos that may or may not be connected to reality. A few years back, a video appeared on all of the Disney websites about this perfect marriage proposal. Complete with song and dance right on Main Street U.S.A., it obviously ended with a “yes” and a very happy couple. However, the more the video circulated, people began to wonder was all of it real? Eventually word got out that it had been scripted and planned by Disney and filmed a number of times to get the best shots. With growing number of social forums and access to media outlets, it is becoming very difficult to distinguish what actually is reality, masks it, or has no relation to it at all.