"The Evil Demon of Images"

"What else does the media dream of if not raising up events by its very presence?"

-Jean Baudrillard

A simple question I ask, what is the role of media, truly? In its birth it was meant to foster more efficient communication, but what has become of it today? Media has evolved itself from trying to bring the reality of one place to another into creating its own reality that it has distorted the consumers' sense of which is reality and imagery. It has practically become the walking definition of what reality should be.

Let us take for example the evening news in the Philippines. The news that appears on the television seems to be an exaggerated form of what the real news is. In the television, we often see a dramatic introduction by the anchor with his voice modulation and everything followed by some sound effects that open up to a video clip of the scene of action mostly about death or an accident in a familiar setting to the viewer. Such a climactic set-up of presentation then brings to the viewer emotions that would formulate in the mind the idea of threat in similar places even though the imagery brought by the news is not really embodying the reality of it-- at least not fully. 

But how come, in other countries the news is not brought this way to the people? To this, I then dare say that the form of media presentation in a country is able to affect the impression that a people has on themselves and that others have of them because it is through this form of technology that information regarding the social construct of a nation is spread. It is then with this medium that media is able to conjure up a reality of its own that is transmitted to the masses. And because such seeming "transparency" is appreciated by the people, this mentality of a "truthful media" is what they see. The media then feed off of this image they are able to build and in more than one way control the mindset of the people towards ideologies of controversy.

In the case of the television in the Philippines, the programs ran in the country especially the news are able to create a new world wherein the imagery they present becomes the accepted reality, even though it is only a projection/ representation of it. This "imagery" is then so widely accepted that it becomes the accepted reality among the people. It is then here where the switch between the imagery and reality is made in the minds of the people.

To answer Baudrillard's question then, the evil demon of images is what media brings up in its presence. What it is able to give and gain simply is a show of control and power towards the people and the legal authorities. It is a frightening sight because to have the media control legitimate power of the masses would mean that they are given authority to manipulate the ideas that flow into the minds of the people. And with such authority, they could bring about negative connotations to others most especially the government. In the case of the Philippines, the media is the one who controls the peoples' perceptions of the image of politicians and other public figures. It is then we see how such a power, when abused or used to the extreme, can completely blind people of reality and forever produce a new reality of images based on what projection is given to them.

Unless, I believe, there is then a strong mindset on the part of the people in determining if what is presented to them is reality or just a projection of it, the media will continue to become the hoarding ideological monster that it is. But on a lighter note, I see on the part of Filipinos that the manner programs are presented are starting to change in the way that there is more complexity in the plot of television drama. The news however, I think has taken a step backward as it still has not taken a change for the growing minds of the newly enlightened.

In the article, Baurillard presents the following questions to an unsuspecting media consumer:

"But where did you get this image from? Can you separate it from the various identities you are sold daily in advertising, fashion/ lifestyle/ interior decoration magazines, sex technique videos, shop window displays, fitness programmes, pop records? Do you have any reason to suppose that the kind of person you are, or could become, is not a fulfillment of preexisting models of thought and behaviour? Are you really anything more than a type?"

In sum, he asks if you think you are your own identity and not a product of what you have been presented to have as parts of who you should be from what entities such as the media have given you. Well?
From what I see, I think that these questions are what contemporary Filipinos should ask their selves or need to look at as they watch shows, see advertisements, and scan shops or listen to the radio because it is when we are able to find the answer here that we can say we are able to go beyond what media presents us and see the true reality, the absolute reality.