Post-class blog 10/3

Christopher Nolan’s Momento is one of my favorite films, and actually wrote about it in a previous post-class posting. It is one of those films that when you see it more than once, you  always pick up on something new. Leonard’s character ultimately make you question your own perception of reality. From an outside perspective, we see that he constructs his own reality. Leonard however perceives his reality as “fact”, rejects anything that interferes or questions that. We often do that as well. We take our reality as fact, and also neglect to question it.  In the film, Leonard’s purpose in life is to seek revenge on his wife’s killer and the person who gave him his condition.  However, at the end of the movie we learn that this has already been completed. Leonard cannot accept this fact, and therefore continues this cycle. The film is present in a non-linear sequence, but it is also a circle. The beginning is the end, and the black and white scenes are what eventually connect the dots. To me, this represents how we continuously construct our own reality, it is a circle that is never ending.  The meaning of reality, and the question of what is “real” is lost because it cannot ever truly be answered because it is tainted with perception. 

The notion of simulacra is difficult for me to wrap my head around. I understand it in my mind, but I find trying to explain it difficult. I understood when Baudrillard stated  “Disneyland exists in order to hide the fact that it is the ‘real’ country...Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real...” (461) much better after it was explained in class.  The idea that we enjoy the simulation so much that we are willing to give up the reality. I have family who lives in Celebration, and will sometimes visit them during the holidays. One year I was there close to Christmas time, and I can honestly say for myself, it was probably creepier than Halloween Horror Nights. Everyone realized we were in Florida, and Florida (for the most part) experiences one season-Hot. There was a fake ice skating rink, a fake christmas tree, fake snow, etc. The snow is what threw me off the most. I’m from up north, where it actually snows (or ices). To be in Florida, in warm weather, standing by a lake, with fake snow falling around me was strange. However everyone else loved it. It is like Barthes pleasure of the text. Something made them excited to know that they were in Florida but were still able to “experience” winter, without actually experiencing winter.  We are willing to give up the reality for the pleasure of the simulation.