Sarah Hussey
Critical Frameworks Post-Class Blog on Answering the Question: What is Post Modernism? By Lyotard
Hello Blog!
This past week, particularly Tuesday’s class, we talked about the article “Answering the Question: What is Post Modernism? By Lyotard. One of the concepts we discussed was the idea of:
realism vs. verisimilitude
Firstly, let’s define these terms. Realism can be defined as the adherence to what we, as a society, accept as real. Whereas, verisimilitude is the appearance of being true or real. With these definitions in mind, it can be applied to the concept of movies and television. With movies and television the goal is to depict reality to some degree depending on the genre. Often, genres such as romcoms can be described as verisimilitude as it is the appearance of being real but is most clearly not. The scenarios which occur in rom-coms often do not occur in real life. I think of it as putting a series of coincidences that could potentially, but not likely, happen in real life into a sequence calling it a movie. However, there are movies in the film industry that can be described as realism. For example:
Shifty (2008)
28 Days Later (2002)
Both movies explore very real issues we face today. For Shifty (2008), it explores the life of a young crack cocaine dealer in London. Movies and television are created to connect with a general part of the population; In this particular case, there could be someone out there in the world who is viewing this movie that connects with this premise. However, the actual elements of the movie we do not accept as a real because we know it is fake, however, it is still verisimilitude. Moreover, 28 Days Later (2002) delves into the topic of an incurable virus that is spreading and a handful of survivors finding sanctuary. Given the state of the world today with our own COVID-19 pandemic, this could be highly relatable for most people. However, it is not real as it is a movie yet has elements of real life that we find relatability in.
Ultimately, before Tuesday’s reading and class I never thought much about this concept in this perspective however, it makes me question to what degree can we represent the reality we accept as true on film?
Signing off,
SarahSlays
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