The Modernity Of Jean Baudrillard : Transformationism And Modernism

Some very typical examples used by Baudrillard are prison and Disneyland. Prison, as Baudrillard considers, is programmed to exist so as to make people believe that the rational one is entitled to live with freedom.(p89, Lane). In comparison, the irrational are punished and imprisoned. However, resonating with Foucault’s central idea in Discipline and Punis h(p89, Lane), Baudrillard boldly states that freedom does not exist, and the society as a whole is a prison: “Prisons are there to hide that it is the social in its entirety, in its banal omnipresence, that is carceral.”(p14, Baudrillard) In this sense, prison becomes a simulacrum where people acquire a sense of freedom that does not have its origin through this fabricated site, in the same way that he describes the function of Disneyland: “a deterrence machine set up in order to rejuvenate in reverse the fiction of the real.” (p25, Baudrillard, 90,

Antoine Watteau’s La Perspective (View through the Trees in the Park of Pierre Crozat) uses many elements of the Rococo style of painting to instill a sense of intimacy. In this painting, members of the elite society gather unceremoniously in a wooded clearing. The people make casual exchanges as they mingle in the park. Trees and foliage dominate a majority of the painting. A small white building can be seen in the background through a clearing in the trees. Watteau uses color, composition, setting, and pose in the painting to create intimacy.

Uncertainty of what seemed the clear distinction between the simulated and the real: No clear line between the artificial and the real

The psychic crisis marked the parameters that afflicted the postbellum intellectuals. Disconcerting to the antimodernist would have been the cultural advancement of modernity, most likely brought on by the opportunities of urban industrialization. These ideas, delve much deeper than simply searching for comfort or the will to outrun time, however, both of these concepts are made up within the times they surrounded themselves with. The bourgeois morality of the 19th century was a morality that eluded to moral progress and materials. This can be seen as having a higher compulsiveness then we do today. Lears indicated that the dynamic of the bourgeois individualism had been uprooting the everyone’s external forum of moral authority. Whether it is the king over his subjects, master, and slave or something as a priest over his

In his article, The Precession of Simulacra, Baudrillard establishes simulation as a copy of an original or otherwise reality. This concept is even apparent in the title, The Precession of Simulacra, since precession is something that precedes or comes first, and a simulacrum is an image or representation of something else; in that sense, the title literally states that an image precedes its original. Thus, Baudrillard argues that simulation adopts a reality effect in which the viewer’s view of the real world is skewed and this notion is easily seen throughout the CSI episode of “The Living Doll.”

Thought: the very basis of the human race. Ideas, opinions, and views, these are what make humanity grow and change as a society. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 shows the reader a dystopic future of what might happen to a country if people stopped thinking and instead solely let the controllers of mass media exploit their desire for pleasure. This future also shows the end of culture; no original ideas or stories are being made, and all art that still exists is abstract, without “even people or words, anything that would make a person think before they could enjoy it” (McGiveron, “Trick”). The mass exploitation by media in Fahrenheit 451, along with the loss of culture and decline of thought, shows that any society that loses itself can only end in the destruction of its’ people’s minds.

By analyzing Fahrenheit 451 it is evident how Bradbury has created an example of the Capitalist society, focused on material possessions and entertainment through which the invisible bourgeoisie class, represented only through the faceless 'Government' are able to maintain power and control and oppress the proletariat through a variety of control structures both overt and subtle. The power and control of the bourgeoisie in Fahrenheit 451 is so absolute that the greater majority of people are ‘numbed’ to reality and live in the illusion that they are content. This control is achieved through the inundation of mass media, which creates a consumerist mindset focused solely in the acquisition of material possessions and distracts the people through

Picture a world where one must meet the expectations of being normal, where diversity is not accepted, or even worse, a detached society where emotions no longer exist. By reading the first few pages of Fahrenheit 451, readers immediately get the feeling of a dystopian society. Firemen creating fires, instead of extinguishing them, and technology that has taken their society to a whole new level of entertainment. These are exaggerated ideas right off the bat, yet Ray Bradbury carries the readers through the story in order to show them his own outlook on the future- in fact, all dystopian works share an aspect of how the world could turn out to be. There are many ways of creating a true dystopian story, although social commentary is by far the most impactful. This is a stylistic element that creators use to express their opinions about society. Fictional novels and films such as Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, The Young Elites by Marie Lu, and Kurt Wimmer’s Equilibrium, each provide a different message to the audience, including the dangers of advanced technology, what could happen if people lived in a non-diverse society, and how emotions are significant in life. The different style techniques that the writers and directors use allow the people to become more aware about the dangers of things and realize that although they may seem like far fetched ideas, they have the potential to become a reality.

All humans have different morals that change based on their environment and circumstance. Jean Valjean, in the novel Les Miserables(1961), changes from someone with confused morals to a man with more morals than most whom with respect learns to love and share.

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury engulfed us in the flames of a futuristic world with countless advancement in our society. Between walls covered in TVs and ear pieces constantly buzzing, the people of the time are completely surrounded by technology. To possess books is now prohibited, banning the growth of knowledge. Instead of firemen stopping fires, they are now lighting fires and burning the books with them. Citizens no longer have a social life; their mind is only involved with the programs on later. While not specifically accurate, Ray Bradbury, in his novel Fahrenheit 451, captures the essence of some of the problems that plague our modern day society such as our infatuation with technology.

Textual form has changed throughout time to reflect different ideals, values and notions of human ontology in a world seemingly void of meaning. Throughout the 20th centaury, post-modern artists have disrupted traditional paradigms of thinking that have governed our lives and forged out perceptions of selfhood and linear time. Emerging from the horror of world war II – as well as the emptiness that accompanied it, composers were forced to contemplate upon the very meaning of human existence. And although composers since this time have varied with context, perspective and purpose, the continued struggle to reason for humanities existence remains as an undercurrent in all texts. This search for meaning, which has been explored by several composers, has manifested into, and is representative of the directionless state of humanity, and struggle in identifying our own identities. Thus, texts of the postmodern era expose and question the unstable ontological grounds that humanity is founded upon. Jean-Luc Godard French New Wave Film, A Bout De Souffle (1960) questions whether our existence is validated by self, or recognition from others. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5 (1972) uses a non-linear plot to communicate how we are forever incarnated in the human figure to learn and to grow. Conversely, Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) represents the interconnectedness and solidarity humanity, while Barry Jenkin’s film, Moonlight (2016) raises existential questions about the

When I first heard the name Charles Baudelaire a few weeks ago, I just thought of him as another historical author that we had to learn about in an English class. Little did I know, how his work would affect me in the next weeks. Baudelaire coined the term modernity which was a period of ongoing change and transition to urban and industrial life. As a person who believes technology is destroying communication skills, it was interesting to see how Baudelaire faced the same troubles through urbanization instead of technology. A piece of Baudelaire’s piece that stood out to me was The Eyes of the Poor in his famous work called Paris Spleen. Baudelaire used the word ‘spleen’ in his work to show a sense of disgust with everything.

Despite the age and immensity of the Universe, we have not been visited nor been contacted by extraterrestrial beings because we are a part of a computer simulation. According to the Simulation Hypothesis, theory provided by Nick Bostrom, humans are unaware of being part of this computer generated simulation. The most compelling piece of evidence that supports this hypothesis is the fact to one can consider a sequence of possible situations which an increasing fraction of all people live in simulations becomes more accurate. (Bostrom 1)

In the History of Sexuality Michel makes a genealogical analysis of the metamorphosis of power relationships. Foucault claims that that in current hegemonic society there is a “far more subtle system of coercion grounded in the repressive hypothesis.” (Spanos) This “new” view of power relations, according to Foucault, represented power in essential notational terms. The repressive hypothesis, is a trap, it also the “relation between truth and power in modernity rests is a seductive deception.” (Spanos) The moment we assume we are free of the repressive hypothesis, is the exact moment we are caught in it. The repressive hypothesis deals with the dichotomy between power and knowledge. Power is opposed to knowledge, yet is complicit with it in ways that are unbeknown to us. This is analogous to phusis and Alethia. Alethia is the revelment, the opposite of concealment. Phusis is the movement between revealing and concealment. The more we think we know about a topic, there is an element that always becomes more concealed to us. We assume knowledge gives us the ability to neutralize power, but in fact it always the hegemonic influence of power to become stronger, in ways that won't be apparent to us. A famous example of this is the Barbra Streisand effect. The Streisand effect occurs when an individual tries to conceal or eradicate information, it has the polar effect and often makes the information more readily available. A contemporary example of this would be the 2014 box-office hit The Interview. The premise of The Interview, revolves around two journalist, who yearned to conduct an interview with North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un, but then are recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency to assassinate the leader. North Koreans attempted to staunch its release in numerous manners, including terroristic threats which then garnered national media attention. The film instantly became an

While our dear world around us progressed, enhancing the industrial revelations of our time, our dear artists transgressed away from their masterful, life-like skill toward a more abstract, rudimentary version of their imagined reality. Blasphemy! Haussmann had developed a Parisian Paradise: order and stability concreted the cobbled paths in which we comfortably strolled along midst an afternoon in the epicenter of the beloved city. The new became newer, the old— forgotten, destroyed. Yet, the refinement of our current artists has diminished dramatically. Looking at Degas— a fine example of the deteriorating craftsmanship of our age— the crude brushstrokes and improper subjects juxtapose all advancements the current world has achieved! For