1. Postmodernism Lesson 3
Aims and Objectives
By the end of this lesson you will…..
Understand the theories of the following thinkers -
Baudrillard and Foucault
Be able to apply their ideas to your own ideas about
Postmodern Media

2. Notes
• Take notes from text in RED

3. Baudrillard
Part One: Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007)
Baudrillard was a controversial Philosopher
whose main ideas and concepts have been
used to understand the effect of living in a
Postmodern environment on our
perceptions of reality.
His most important book "Simulacra and
Simulations" became the basis of the Matrix
films
 Simulations and Simulacra
 Hyperreality

4. Baudrillard cont.
• The effect of Postmodernism on the Audience can be extensive and can alter
our perceptions of the media and reality as the media and reality merge.
REALITY

HIGHTEN AND EXAGGERATE
(SIMULATE)

SIMULACRA

HYPERREALITY

5. Simulations and Simulacra
• Media represent reality and
in doing so change it to make
it more visual and fun.
• However what happens when
we start to believe that this
"Simulation" is actual reality?

6. Activity: Chinese Drawings
• Using your whiteboards draw the image that
is passed to you - how different is the end
image from the original?

7. • Rate the following foods
– which would you prefer to consume ?
– which tastes more like an orange?

8. • The effect of living in Simulacra is a distorted
sense of reality or Hyperreality…..

9. Hyperreality
Key Term: Hyperreality
Was first described by the
Philosopher Jean Baudrillard were
he suggested that the media can
now create such idealistic
representations of reality that out
perform actual reality.
The audience is left feeling
depressed as they're own life
doesn't live up to artificial reality.

10. Baudrillard and Aspirational TV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59OJ17raqWw
• How can we see the hyperreal world of TV
advertising as a simulation of Reality?
• What effects will this have on the public?

11. Baudrillard and the Media (war)
• Baudrillard wrote an article
called "The Gulf War did not
take place" which was very
controversial.
• In it he suggests that the
Media set the agenda on the
narrative of war - the war we
saw on TV did not match real
events.
(they don’t show all truths (restricted truths) therefore
this limits knowledge/power)

12. News events = Haiti Earthquake
• How can we use Baudrillard's ideas to understand The
Haitian Earthquake?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZRJtAED8uo
newswipe haiti
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62QIIjOmJq0
newswipe season 2 ep 3
• Can you relate this to recent events such as North
Korea & Boston bombings? Similarities/differences?

13. Think of what is NOT on TV
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_
conflicts
• On going conflicts NOT on TV news agenda

14. Baudrillard and Hyper-sexuality
• Watch the following news links on the recent report into
Media representations of gender.
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8538000/85
38207.stm (the whole of society is hyper-sexualized’)
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8538179.stm (children of
both genders are over-exposed to sexual imagery’)
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8537757.stm(media blamed
for sexualization of young girls’)

15. Dove evolution advert
• Hyperreal beauty
http://www.nextnature.net/2007/03/simulacra-for-
dummies/
Simulacra for Dummies
• ….it seems appropriate to post (above website) this
movie as an ultimate “Simulacra for Dummies”. This
movie is quite known and probably already posted on
this blog. But just in case, here it is once more: the
“Evolution” movie made by Dove. The construction of
reality.

16. Comparison of companies
dove Body shop
2013 – sketch artist idea for advert (to
show pretty/ugly……seems positive to
reflect that everyone is beautiful
BUT
Emphasis on beauty – outer
beauty/image (let’s face it – they
wouldn’t have a model with a deformity
would they?)
-no animal testing claim
-but they have animal products (crushed
bone)

17. The debate = should this happen?
• Using the concept of Hyperreality apply it to the
ongoing debates of sexual imagery and children:
– Should the media represent hyper-sexual/hyper-
beauty (idealistic) representations?
• Yes? = why? – free speech, democracy, money/profit
• No? = why? – sets up false expectations/aspirations that
people cannot reach = they feel inadequate
– How can you apply Baudrillards ideas to virtual
worlds like The Sims?

18. What does this mean?
"Life doesn't imitate Art, it
imitates bad TV"
(Woody Allen)
Original quote: Does life imitate art or does art imitate life? (Oscar wilde)

19. Part Two: Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
• Foucault's ideas centred on
History, particularly around how
we know about the world around
us and each other. He wrote
extensively on the history of
sexuality and gender and was a
pioneer of "Queer Theory" he
main contributions include.
• Panopticalisation
• Knowledge and Power
• He died from an AID's related
illness in 1984

20. Foucault and the Panopiticon
• Foucault's ideas explain why we are so obsessed with
Voyeurism in Postmodernity.
•
• The Panopiticon was an innovate prison design by English
philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1785. In it he designed a
prison in which all inmates could be constantly watched or
be under the threat of being watched.
•
• Foucault thought that this idea was interesting and started
to apply the idea to Society.

22. Panopticonilastion and Power
• Foucault suggested that the act of watching (voyeurism) was an act of
power and control on part of the viewer. We are never ourselves in social
situations until we are alone away from others controlling sight.
• Because of this people act differently and the act of watching becomes
an act of control.
• Recently Foucault's ideas have been used to understand Reality TV and
the Media.
• In the late 90's CCTV cameras were introduced to the UK and
Nottingham has the largest concentration of CCTV than any other city.

23. Noam Chomsky
• What you will find in this film is compelling evidence (based not on
delusions, but on facts) that American media is controlled by a
corporate elite who use it essentially for propaganda purposes in
order to, if I may lift a phrase from Chomsky, "control the public
mind."
• Once you realize how consolidated the corporate media really is,
and how they twist the facts in order to pump disinformation into
the homes of unsuspecting citizens, you'll never be able to look at
CNN the same way again.
• Main stream media is used to divert people away from hard-hitting
content (Example – people rather watch ‘Knocked up’ or ‘Juno’
(comedies) than ‘If these walls could talk’ (graphic drama).......both
films about unwanted pregnancy

24. Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky (1928 - )
Chomsky is a key media analyst working at
MIT, he wrote "Manufacture of Consent" in
which he suggests that the media is a key
part changing peoples opinion on new
technologies or political decisions.
How have the media gained
consent for CCTV since the
early 90's?
How controlled are you by CCTV? - Google
street view

25. Big Brother as Panopticon
• Since the late 90's reality TV has grown in popularity as
it turns the camera on the audience, some argue this is
lazy TV programming others that it reflects Chomsky's
"Manufacture of Consent" and Foucualt's Panopticon.
• Does "Big Brother" reflect our Postmodern voyeuristic
visual culture?

26. Big brother & panopticonism
Editing & Reality -
Celebrity Big Brother & Racism
Big Brother
 To what extent is Big Brother a
Panopitcon?
 How does watching Big Brother
feel?
 To what extent does the voting
system put you in control?
 How real or Hyperreal are the
contestants?
 Why was it been cancelled?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBwepkVurCI editing & reality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trcA4r41OL8 big brother and racism

27. Social Networking as Panopticon
• Recently the growing Popularity of
social networking has reflected how
dependant we are on observing
others and wanting to keep in touch.
• To what extent to you agree that
"Facebook" is a Panopticon?
• What is the most popular feature of
"Facebook"?
• What other features of the Internet
could be read as Panopitcal?

28. Summary
Baudrillard
 The media presents a simulation of the world
that is artificial and hyperreal
 Some audiences read the hyperreal
representation as reality - hyper-sexuality
 The representation of reality is mediated
through the media - war reporting
Foucault
 The media could be argued to "Manufacture
Consent" for CCTV
 Voyeurism (the act of watching) changes the
way people behave/present themselves
 Reality TV reflects a voyeuristic Postmodern
society
 Social Networking and the internet give us
greater control over voyeurism

29. Task (due mon apr 28)
• Write an essay:
Compare the similarities and differences of 2 advertising campaigns by evaluating their
postmodern features.
• Research both campaigns a little
• Deconstruct and analyse both adverts
– Denotation/connotation….context…….audiences……forms……conventions (and whether they
reinforce/challenge conventions) etc.
• Give context (what is it’s purpose in the world it was created in?….how does it relate to history,
present and impact on future?)
– Extension: compare to other traditional adverts
• Discuss audience – who is it for? Type of audience? Effect on audience?
– Extension – relate to an audience theory
• Relate to Baurillard’s theory of simulation/simulcra/hyperreality ……….also discuss idealistic
representation
• Relate to Focault’s theory of panopticalisation and power
– Compare the pomo theories of both adverts
• Throughout essay remember the for and against arguments!
• Extension: you could mention the men’s dove parody (and talk about how this is postmodern)

30. Elnett Adverts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v6vB-mbjWE&safe=active

31. Dove adverts
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhPeA5LaEiI&safe=active
Article:
• http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/146e19ee-a92e-11e2-a096-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2RSNZ1f3H

32. Controversy with dove
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKLDEj73gGQ&safe=active
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbVvx2vsF04&safe=active
• Article:
• http://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-hate-doves-real-beauty-ad-2013-4

33. Extension
Dove parody
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpWkZiZaQsA&safe=active
• Article:
• http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/22/dove-real-beauty-sketches-reactions-parody-
video-blog-critics_n_3130929.html?utm_hp_ref=uk