Baudrillard

One of the most interesting quotes from Jean Baudrillard is the following: “the media are part of the event, they are part of the terror” (229). Media manipulates images; they can make a bake sale look like exploitation and a massacre look like a fight for freedom. The power that the media has in our society today is incredible, and is at a point where it can change anything. Baudrillard talks about how terrorism would be nothing without the media. Its all and illusion that the media creates, when in fact they are just as much a part of the terror as the actual terrorists because they are helping them. For example, and I know this is extreme, in The Dark Night, the news network shows the public the tapes from the Joker. What does this do? It fuels the fire and makes people more scared then they should be. Why do we deem it necessary to take something terrible and give it more publicity than the super bowl? Can’t we see how much that hurts us? The prime example here would have to be the events of 9/11. It was nothing short of a spectacle, like an action movie….and guess what, it did exactly what the terrorists wanted it to do; it inspired fear and gave them credibility.