Hyperreal

Jean Baudrillard in his article titled “Hyperreal” makes the argument that our images are abstractions of reality.

Baudrillard says that today due to such devices like Photoshop and other image altering devices our view or sense of reality has changed. This sense of reality has changed because we make sense of reality through the image instead of viewing reality and then creating the image. I believe this is true especially in regards to how people view themselves and their body image. How often do we look to the celebrities or brand name fashions to determine how to look or how to dress? We look to the image to find out reality.

Another point that Baudrillard makes is that when reality does not line up to the image then we get frustrated because the promised outcome was not given. This reminded me again of the body image example because when we are told we should look a certain way and we do not then we are disappointed because we can’t live up to the expectation of the image.

Baudrillard say, “Reality no longer has the time to take on the appearance of reality. It no longer even surpasses fiction: it captures every dream even before it takes on the appearance of a dream” (340). I found this statement interesting and made me think about how even our dreams of the future or success etc. are filtered first through the image, so reality has no space to live so to speak.

I struggled with the argument put forth by Baudrillard, but at the same time, I can see how the reality of our society is shaped by the image rather than the other way around.