Hyperreality essay

To what extent can Reality TV and the modern rolling news exemplify Debord's theory of the spectacle and Baudrillard's theory of Hyperreality?

Guy Debord's theory of the spectacle states: "The world we see is the world of the commodity... [the spectacle is] a social relationship between people that is mediated by images to compensate for the crumbling of directly experienced... productive activity." The theory is that what we see in the media is a false representation [a spectacle] of reality. We're being sold a fake, something "worthless to fill our empty lives." Baudrillard's theory of Hyperreality is claiming the distinction between media and reality has collapsed and we now live in a reality defined by images and representations - a state of simulated reality. Images refer to each other and represent each other as reality rather than some "pure" reality that exists before the image represents it - this is the state of hyperreality. There are many examples of this in Reality TV and rolling news.

One major example of Debord's theory of the spectacle is the reality TV show made in chelsea. This is something called scripted reality, they are given a rough script to stick to and then they improvise most of it with how they would in their normal lives. This gives a sense that it's real but the truth is that it's all staged. They almost manipulate the audience in this way because they get the audience to connect with all the different characters and convince them they're real despite most of it being fake. The advertising for instance on the site YouTube for made in chelsea is all targetted at the audience of made in chelsea, adverts for Burbery and Chanel etc. The fact that people think the actors in this show are real creates a problem and makes it something called postmodern, where there's no longer a line between media and reality and so people don't know what's real and what's not, creating a state of simulated reality, which links in with Baudrillard's theory of hyperreality. Another example is the TV show, which in a sense is also a reality TV show, X-Factor. This show has three judges and lots of contestants who perform in front of a live audience. However it's not that simple as the audience is told what to do and when, so if they boo a certain act the show is trying to get you to be against the contestant as well, or for cheering root for that contestant. They also edit the shots so that if someone was shocked about a certain act they could take the audience being shocked and put it to another act to again make you not like that contestant. This show basically manipulates the audience without them knowing into rooting for or against different contestants, real people. This is a good example of how the media is selling us something fake, to fill our "empty" lives.

An example of Baudrillard's theory of hyperreality is adverts today. Adverts such as underwear or perfume from celebrities like David Beckham and Madonna. As well as the actual representation of celebrities like Jade Goody and Chanelle Hayes. With the advertising we are being sold a product by the advertising companies "sexualising" people like David Beckham and Madonna to make you buy it. We see Beckham in his underwear with a significant "bulge" and muscles, which may or may not be photoshopped/faked. This convinces boys and men alike that this image is what you are supposed to look like and gives us a twisted view on reality, a state of simulated reality. This is almost exactly the same with Madonna and other celebrities selling perfume or underwear, convincing girls and women that this is what you should look like. The celebrities being represented by the media is slightly different but still can be applied to the theory of hyperreality. The celebrity Chanelle Hayes has been represented by the media in a completely sexual way, being topless in magazines like ZOO and acting provocative in her music video "I want it", even the title hinting at something sexual. This is completely twisting our view of her as for all we know she could be very innocent and sweet but all we are shown by the media is her looks. She was in big brother 8 and probably mainly picked because of her looks. The celebrity Jade Goody has also been represented by the news and media in a bad light, but also a good one. She was also in big brother and very much hated by the media. She then went on the big brother in india and was told live on air that she had cervical cancer. This is an example of how cruel the media can be in showing someone's life changing bad news live on a show for everyone to watch. After this news the media completely changed their views on her and only gave her good press, but still reporting on her every step of the way. This is an example that once something is on the news it stays on the news because people want to know what happens next. Her entire life from when she was told she had cancer was documented, giving us all a sense of simulated reality as we were literally watching this girl die step by step with the media in her face every part of it. The relationship with both these celebrities for the viewers have been completely manipulated by the media. For example most people believed Jade wasn't a nice person because of all the bad press she got but when the media changed their mind after the cancer discovery most people changed their minds as well.