Simulacra
Baudrillard's concept of copies without originals in postmodern society. Simulacra are representations that precede and determine reality. Four stages: reflection of reality, perversion of reality, pretending reality, no relation to reality. Hyperreality is more real than real—simulation becomes truth. Disneyland hides that America itself is Disneyland. Gulf War existed primarily as media spectacle. Digital images, virtual worlds, fake news exemplify simulacra. Distinction between real and representation collapses. We live in the desert of the real.
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