I really enjoyed Ken Rufo’s post on Baudrillard and his theories. Ken was able to convey complex thoughts in a way I could grasp and understand, so thank you so much Ken for helping us out!
When learning how Baudrillard basically said that other philosophers did not create terms to describe things, but they created things when they made the terms, it made me really like him. I don’t really know why I liked this statement so much, but it really made me think of how theorists create a term and then a whole study is built upon this term, such as the “Freudian slip”. Yet, even Baudrillard made up his own terms.
I also really enjoyed this post because of the way that Rufo described the terms Baudrillard coined. His examples made me think of instances in my life where I have tried to experience the hyper real.
This summer, my boyfriend Tony and I went on a vacation up and down the east coast via Greyhound, and at one point stopped in the lovely city of Savannah, Georgia. I had read all of the little pamphlets and touristy books I could get my hands on, and found that the scene in Forest Gump where Forest tells his story on the bench at the bus station was in Savannah. The bench was located in Chippewa Square, so Tony and I thought it would be fun to find this square and take a picture on the bench. Once we found the square, we could not seem to find the bench. Racking my mind for the image of Forest on the bench while looking at the actual area was incredibly strange. I was looking for a copy of this picture I had in my head. However, I would never find it because it was just a simulation of realty, and I was trying to make it a part of my reality. When reading Rufo’s description of going to a national park and trying to find that spot where a famous picture was taken, was describing exactly what I was doing. I was experiencing the hyper real.
After a local (homeless man who did not ask for money until after he gave us some useful information) told us that the bench was placed in the visitors center due to fear of theft, he showed us the flower patch where the bench was. Although we were disappointed the actual bench wasn’t there, we found some happiness in the fact that we found the scene of the movie.
When Rufo says, “ So the real you discover will always be an effect of the simulation, a copy or non-copy of it.” I was really able to apply my Forest Gump experience to what Baudrillard is trying to say.
2 comments:
I really feel as though these theorists try to discredit everyone until they become “master and commander” of their given beliefs. They really are trying to one-up everyone else.
If there really is such a thing as the hyper-real, your example is great. Now I understand that you are trying to recreate Gump, however, isn’t it still a reality in your life. Were you not there? Were you not experiencing a little slice of Gump and making it your own reality??
Rufo says, “ So the real you discover will always be an effect of the simulation, a copy or non-copy of it.” However, THERE IS REAL in your experience. Not everything is a simulation. Granted, you tried to simulate the Gump scene… but that was your intention.
He was there, to be sure, but if before he even arrives his understanding of Savannah is through tourist books, movies like Midnight in the Garden of Crap and Drivel, or Forest Gump, well, did he really experience the place, or was his experience already overdetermined for him before his arrival?
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