07.03.2016

“Remember, authenticity is often shitty” – Chilly Gonzales

Media texts are now used as a tool for education and experience of knowledge that would not be available to most people otherwise. However, can the media experience of the outward world be compared to, or is it less authentic, than a physical and tangible experience of living these actions and obtaining this knowledge alone?

“Our perception of reality is an act of faith based on mere fragments” – Scott McCloud

As discussed in Scott McCloud’s ‘Blood in the Gutter’, human experience often lies in a faith that things are as they are; because that is what we are told or what we assume from knowledge that we already have, and what we believe we already know. The media offers a range of platforms that can allow people to assume that reality is what is portrayed through these texts, simply because it can also offer us knowledge that we already have. Are we too trusting of media representation of reality? If we are mislead by knowledge provided through media texts, does our experience of reality change? Does this mean our experience of the world is inauthentic?