Similarcrum/cra

Simulacrum is the idea that everything is just a copy or representation of something else- this means that often the reality of the original is lost. For example, the statues of Michelangelo, which have been replicated many times-the original therefore just becomes an icon, which we link to cultural links such as art, or beauty etc. This means that the reality of the piece is really just the media telling us the reality of the original. (links to death of an author)
According to wiki: Simulacrum, from the Latin simulacrum which means "likeness, similarity", is first recorded in the English language in the late 16th century, used to describe a representation of another thing, such as a statue or a painting, especially of a god; by the late 19th century, it had gathered a secondary association of inferiority: an image without the substance or qualities of the original.
In the Media

There are quite a few examples of simulacrum on TV and in film which I have noticed. Often many music videos like Lady Gaga use the image of simulacrum to make everyone like her-the distortion of reality makes the videos quite other-worldly and distorting. It has also been used in Doctor who, with everyone becoming the Master, which is a reflection of a bad society-where everyone is the same, and lacks originality.
In film, a director very interested in simulacrum, is Spike Jones-a postmodern director, who also makes things very disorienting and strange, often as a reflection of our society now. An example is "Being John Malcovitch" which questions the idea of self, by putting other people in Malcovitch-and questioning whether this changes someone, and whether the real one is still there. It taps into the celebrity obsession, and obsession with fame- which cause people to overtake his body. In one part, John Malcovitch enters his own brain- which causes a simulacrum of himself. (picture)










Another film is "Synecdoche New York" which is also very interested in the idea of everyone being the same. The story is postmodern in it's post-structeralist style, and the eventual end up of events which mirror everyone elses- he ends up being a mirror of the little girl in the picnic, and his 2 families become mirrors of eachother. Also, his becoming the maid of his wife, something he always pretended to be.
This also explores self, and the human desire to be their own self, while they live in a way which means they are everyone else. It also deals with simularcrum in a different way- the protagonist creating his own small version of new york inside a huge building in New York, and employing thousands of actors to act out normal lives. He even employs people to play himself, as the director. He builds the memeorable places of his life, so the whole city is a simularcrum of himself and his life. It grows bigger and bigger, and soon his relationships with his family are detrmined by the realtionships of the actros on screen playiong him and his family. It gets even bigger by the employment of actors playing the people who are playing him, and the building of a mini new york inside the mini new york in new york. The whole thing is based on everything being the same and stimulates of eachother. It aimed as a film, to make uncertinaty on what is reality and what is the art- there are some scenes which happen and it is unclear as to their reality-it could have been a scene written, or not. In the end, everything looses reality, and the protagonist can find no meaning in anything-it's just a series of random events in life. This relates significantly to the similarcum.
watch the film! It's amazing!