There he is, the man who confused the heck out of me! Is he also against entertainment? I wasn’t really sure which way he was leaning. Something interesting that stuck out was on page 1733 where he says “Something has disappeared: the sovereign difference between them that was the abstraction’s charm. For it is the difference which forms the poetry of the map and the charm of the territory, the magic of the concept and the charm of the real.” Is he saying that the main reason behind everything has changed? That there is no true distinction between what is real and what is not? There isn’t charm to anything anymore, it is not genuine, everything is being done to keep others happy?

On page 1734 Baudrillard goes on to explain the difference between someone who feigns or simulates in illness. He says that “someone who feigns an illness can simply go to bed and make believe he is ill. Someone who simulates an illness produces in himself some of the symptoms.” Meaning that when someone simulates an illness it is hard to distinguish if they truly are sick, or if they’re faking it. It’s hard to tell if someone is faking it because they eventually develop a symptom, maybe something small like a stomach ache. You can develop a stomach ache because you’re making your self sick over thinking that you truly are sick. As for feigning an illness, it is easy to see that one isn’t genuinely ill. They’re pretending they’re ill- so it’s easier to distinguish between such characteristics. He gives a good example later down the page, saying one “hesitates to draw the distinction between true and false, between the “produced” symptom and the authentic symptom. ‘If he acts crazy so well, then he must be mad.’” There someone would be jumping to conclusions, if someone is acting crazy, they assume one is mad, they don’t think “Well maybe he’s putting on a show,” the same as if someone claims they are sick, people are usually going to believe that person. One would like to think that someone isn’t trying to get out of work, or school by using the “I’m sick” card.

Unfortunately, Baudrillard lost me when he was speaking of religion. What does he mean when he says “One can live with the idea of distorted truth?” When religion is taught to us, is it distorted?

So I got really excited when I started reading his section on Disneyland! He talks about dreams and how when you go to Disneyland, nothing is real. He says “Disneyland is there to conceal the fact that it is the “real” country, all of the “real” America, which is Disneyland.” Is he saying that Disneyland is there to take your mind off of what is really going on in the world? He also says that “The Disneyland imaginary is neither truth nor false, it is a deterrence machine set up in order to rejuvenate in reverse the fiction of the real.” He also says that “In this imaginary world the only phantasmagoria is in the inherent warmth and affection of the crowd..” and all of the rides or “gadgets” that are there. I thought this was so true because I just went to Disney World 2 weeks ago and my brother and I went to the Magic Kingdom one night– It was so exciting and fun because there were so many people around, laughing and having a good time. When it started to clear out it’s like the fun died out with it. We were there late because they had extended hours, so it was open until 3am. When all the families with kids started piling out, it’s like the magic of it all left with them. The park was quiet and dark and it just wasn’t as fun, even though the rides were still open and running. It’s all really interesting to think about…