Simulacra and Simulation

Humans repeatedly replace reality with myths. Films glorifying violent and complicated points in history reveal the mythicization of historical reality. These films are simulacra, or abstracted copies of historical events. Baudrillard argues that all history, as it is understood by humans, is comprised of mythology. This is also true in how politics and history are presented in academic settings. Students are offered a condensed and socially acceptable version of historical events, further perpetuating this mythology.

One of the ramifications of historical hyperreality is that humans no longer feel connected to their own time or experiences. As a result, they become nostalgic for moments in history when people still felt attached to contemporary events. Baudrillard compares historical nostalgia to Sigmund Freud’s work on fetishism and sexuality in Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. In both fetishism and nostalgia, the original is replaced by the allure of an abstraction. History represented in film has no resemblance to its original reality; instead, it presents an empty representation of a nostalgic ideal. As the medium of film advances closer to presenting genuine experience, the line between reality and abstraction grows blurrier.