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In Disney World, US, countries such
as “China” are re-created. These virtual
models, says Baudrillard, are far more
appealing to Disney’s customers than
the world “outside.”
and worlds, and even re-create
ourselves in any shape or form
online, in virtual worlds where we
are invited to interact with other
real/virtual people.
And herein lies the danger, says
Baudrillard. Constructed realities
can be built to maximize pleasure,
so they are far more appealing
than reality. We are constructing
utopias, because if you have the
freedom to construct a world, why
not aim at a utopia? But the utopia
we are creating in our virtual
worlds is tantamount to death: we
no longer want the real experience
of something, but the experience of
being told about the experience of
something—in such a way that it
is hyperreal, or more real than real.
For instance, we prefer to sit in a
cinema and enjoy the hyperreal
experience of a family reunion than
go to one of our own. On screen it is
more colorful, noisy, and complete—
it seems “so true.” Our own lives
pale by comparison, except perhaps
our virtual lives, on Facebook or
elsewhere. Meanwhile, we sit, not
moving, looking at a screen.
Too much information
According to Baudrillard, our reality
is now dictated by the incredible
amount of information that streams
into our lives from so many forms
of media. He says that, strangely,
although the real is disappearing,
“it is not because of a lack of it,
but an excess of it.” An excess
of information pouring into
our awareness puts an end to
information, he says, because we
drown in complexity, and reach for
the simple solution that is handed
to us. Simulacra make sense of the
world, even if this is at the cost of
complex meaning. The world is
becoming ever more superficial.
The simulacra that make up our
reality today have been constructed
to immediately gratify our desires.
Baudrillard says that as virtual
reality increases, our ideals and
imaginations will recede. We
accept what is given, just as we
find it far easier to travel from
“Germany” to “France” in DisneyCULTURE AND IDENTITY
World than in Europe. There is no
longer a requirement for systems
or things to be rational, just to work
well, or be “operational.” We have
created a hyper-reality that is, he
says, “the product of an irradiating
synthesis of combinatory models in
a hyperspace without atmosphere.”
We seem not to have noticed the
fact that only robots can “live”
without an atmosphere.
Some critical theorists, such
as US philosopher Douglass Kellner,
have criticized Baudrillard for
moving away from a Marxist
interpretation of culture. Marxist
geographer David Harvey takes
a similar stance, saying that
Baudrillard is wrong to insist that
there is no reality behind the
image. Many theorists, however,
including Canadians Arthur and
Marilouise Kroker, praise his
celebration of postmodern culture
and see his work as a vital guide
to the cultural dangers of the
21st century. As media ecologist
Kenneth Rufo notes, Baudrillard is
“full of interesting things, and even
his misses... still pack a wallop.” ■The age of simulation thus
begins with a liquidation of all
referentials—worse: by their
artificial resurrection in
systems of signs.
Jean Baudrillard