Almond Pre-Class Post 10/2/13

Baudrillard & Zizek talk about the "real" or more to the point that the Real doesn't really exist anymore. I could not help but think of the movie This is the End. The premise of the movie places actors playing themselves in an over the top parody of modern  cinema. This film and the words of Zizek & Baudrillard resonate and condemn the fact that in the world today is broken by constructs of our media. Not that I disagree, but the thought is troubling because with advancements in technology, the spread of information only getting better, what will become of us and how broken can we become before we break. By break I mean both as a society and as an individual mind. But on the other hand the fact that theorists are able to recognize, warn and discuss the problem of the real, being a virtual representation or thrill of the real seems counter to the argument that nothing can be done because there is no way to stop something that cannot be understood because of the separation of reality and fiction. The fact that the attack on the WTC is so closely related to the media we consume for entertainment that they almost become banal does coincide with the effect of postmodernity. In so much as we all want something new and that the norm is boring and getting to the new as fast as possible is the only timescale that we are will to accept. The power of image powerful, almost innate, but media is staggering, but even more so the idea that we gave them such power. And now have left behind the real for the fictional and the only sense of excitement is when this fictional hints at almost being real.