The introduction part of the Keyworks text was what initially caught my eye while I was reading for the class discussion on Baudrillard and Zizek. There was a heavy discussion of how postmodern culture is organized around simulation, that of images and models which are supposed to connect back to reality or attempt to replicate it.
For me, this correlates back to the conversations that we've had in class about reality and simulation. How film, being the example of media that I want to use for this posting, changes the lenses in which we see something. Therefore, only allowing us to experience what the cameraman chooses to capture. This leading to the thought that no film, however realistic it may seem, can fully capture reality. But not because it is a film, rather, reality is the problem as it's elusive and cannot be captured nor held. Yet, postmodern society is fascinated and maybe even addicted to this idea of chasing and capturing reality.
Another connection I have with the course texts to my own media consumption is how there's a new trend on Instagram to post raw, unedited, and almost un-aesthetic images as it seems more "real" or more closely related to the account user's "reality." This humors me, not because I dislike this trend, but because we now can edit photos so that they look "natural" or raw.
This search for reality through media is fascinating but doesn't seem to prove a clear end or at least in the gaze of my current understanding of media and theory's relation. Yet, our personal realities are reflected within and affected by the media we consume and create so it is worth exploring. Wrestling with this tension warrants a greater understanding of life itself.
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