Post class 10/3

Hmm… Where should I begin in discussing the film Memento? Prior to the showing I had no idea what exactly to expect other than the forewarnings of possible confusion and clarification in the end. I was pleasantly surprised with how well I followed along with the structure of the story line and keeping track of the characters personality. I think it takes a certain level of talent to layout a whole film from one characters perspective, Leonard, inviting viewers to step into his mind for the duration of the film. In regards to the theorists we've viewed in class, there's a definite link to Walter Benjamin's theories on mechanical reproduction through the use of the polaroid camera by Leonard. What is being lost each time he takes a picture of the action or person? We as viewers see how much the polaroid is capable of as Leonard continually loses the memories previously captured on film. Overall, I really enjoyed the film and the way it worked transgressively into the final "ah hah" moment, bringing everything together.
The next thing we examined in class was Baudrillard and "The Desert of the Real". This idea of the procession of simulacra is something we are constantly surrounded by, especially in Orlando. Simulation is a concept that seems so simple, yet it's complex in the way it works with our imagination. As a class we talked about the simulacra's and simulations found within Disney Worlds theme park Epcot. Now to add some more complexity there's successive phases of the image, ranging from reflections to hiding the absence of reality. I for one like to go somewhere and escape reality, such as Disney. Reality is constantly where we live and sometimes to feel as if we can escape reality allows us to escape all that reality entails, going back to Barthes notion of the pleasure of the text. Rollins could be seen by some as a simulacra of a small town or an older location due to architecture. What is the school trying to simulate through its composition?