Article Analysis:
Felluga, Dino. “Modules on Baudrillard: On Postmodernity.” Introductory Guide to Critical Theory.
This article talks about Baudrillard and his significance to the theory of postmodernity. Humans are constantly becoming out of touch with what is “real”. The world will become so hegemonic that there will be no room for resistance of a controlling system. Baudrillard points to a number of factors our society is becoming conformed and shaped including the lost of history, mediatization, the proliferation of kitsch, consumer society, the cool smile and the simulacrum or simulation.
Felluga, Dino. “Modules on Baudrillard: On Simulation.” Introductory Guide to Critical Theory.
According to Baudrillard, our postmodern society is so reliant on maps and models that we lose touch with reality. We are replacing real things with simulations of things that are really real. We lost distinction between the real and the simulation and Baudrillard explain the phenomena behind it which includes media culture, exchange-value, multi-national capitalism, urbanization, and language with ideology.
Blau, Annika. “Social Media and the Hyperreal.” Medium.
This article again further explains Baudrillard’s theory of simulacrum such at the high orders of simulacrum as well as the low orders. The higher the orders, the more realistic and undistinguishable the simulation becomes from the real thing. There are so many copies of the original thing as well it can prove extremely challenging it eventually becomes impossible as more copies are being made. Baudrillard also uses social media as an example of a saturated market. We can tell the difference between our myspace persona from our real world one. However, social media posts and trends are formed that it becomes a part of who we really are.
Sherry Turkle, alone together Introduction, alone together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other.
This article talks about how technology caters to our needs or fantasies of being perfect. Humans are naturally lonely but we are sometimes scared of intimacy. We as humans are often bound to our phones and operate online without necessarily working at human connection or friendship. Computers no longer wait for us to project meaning on them. Robot intelligence can now recognize us and and speak to us. Artificial intelligence and robots can have conversations with us which allow us for some people to trust and confide in the software. Some people develop relationships so strong with their technology that they thing about marrying it as opposed to a real human with real thoughts and emotions. People are now starting to rather look at exhibits with animatronics because they are more “lively” than the real and alive exhibits. An example of this is the Animal Kingdom, where based on feedback received in the park states that the visitors preferred the animatronics because they are as “realistic”, despite them being real.
Bell, Jo. “How the internet is changing the way we grieve.” The Conversation.
This article explains that no after a loved one dies, they leave a digital footprint. The internet is an archive and even though someone is dead, there online profiles live on and this changes how people grieve over the loss of a loved one. Some of the loved ones of the deceased continue their Facebook page and makes posts saying that they miss them and they did something that reminded that person of them. This is a new way to grieve. It is a substitute for physical objects of morning such as a family heirloom or their loved one’s tombstone.
Black Mirror Episode Analysis & Article Application: (spoiler alert)
In the Black Mirror episode, “Be Right Back.”, we are watching a woman entranced in the simulacrum of her lost loved one. In the beginning of the episode, we see our main protagonist, Martha and her man, Ash. Ash is constantly on social media and Martha makes comments that it is almost like he is not even there. Ash is clearly entranced in the Baudrillard’s textbook example of postmodernism. A society that replaces the real with maps and models. In the case of Ash, he is replacing his real life with social media as sometimes he is not even in reality, as Martha has to “wake him up” with a pillow. Ash then passes, leaving Martha to grieve over the loss of her loved one. She is alerted of beta technology that takes the digital footprint of Ash and lets her talk to him and listen to him on the phone and computer and she eventually got so obsessed she dropped a substantial amount of money, which is another example of Baudrillard’s postmodernism as it is commentary of consumerism in society and how cycles… to clone a physical but synthetic copy of Ash. However, she realizes that this is not truly Ash, just a performance of Ash which took her a while to figure out because you could argue that this replica of her man was a higher order of simulacrum because he could literally grow a mole based on the information that she gives the technology. In the end, Martha holds on to the copy and puts him in the attic. Just like Ash’s mom used to do when he lost his Dad and his little brother. She put their photographs in the attic and that was how she grieved. This is implying that she is still grieving, but she is still holding on or not moving on.
Discussion Questions:
- Is continuing a social media page of a dead loved one a good or bad way to grieve? Why or why not? Can someone truly move on?
- Can social media dictate our lives to an extent where we no longer value the physical or real aspects of the death of a loved one?
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