Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Man Under The Mask-V.S

"We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning."Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation
"There is nothing more mysterious than a TV set left on in an empty room. It is even stranger than a man talking to himself or a woman standing dreaming at her stove. It is as if another planet is communicating with you."
Jean Baudrillard, America
"The futility of everything that comes to us from the media is the inescapable consequence of the absolute inability of that particular stage to remain silent. Music, commercial breaks, news flashes, adverts, news broadcasts, movies, presenters—there is no alternative but to fill the screen; otherwise there would be an irremediable void.... That’s why the slightest technical hitch, the slightest slip on the part of the presenter becomes so exciting, for it reveals the depth of the emptiness squinting out at us through this little window."

— Jean Baudrillard,Cool Memories
Who is V.S. is he a political leader or a symbol of resistance; resistance against the inhuman agendas of globalization and also against the ideological deviation of CPI(M). V.S. the Opposition leader and the Chief Minister are two individuals, two identities. Or it is just an idea constructed by the media and the pseudo-intellectuals of the day.
The Medias projected V.S as a warrior who is fighting against the decayed political ideology of the Communist Party. If this is the case the people supporting V.S., as claimed by the Medias, should have a clear political vision centred on the Communist ideology; that they have clear cut objection against Globalization.
The Medias, do they have any sentiments towards Communist ideology, no. Since they are the products of globalization they simply using the marketability of V.S. Not the ‘original’ (?) V.S. but the image, the “product”. So the impact of the long struggle conducted by V.S. is that he became an important product in the hands of consumeristic capitalism, the same thing he was fighting against. This argument is true only when we assume that V.S is actually fighting against globalization.
The man under the mask, V.S., is not fighting any battle, he need power. The bourgeois politician K. Karunakaran and V.S are not two different entities but signify the same political behaviour, the only difference is the strategy adopted by both; one with a mask and the other naked.
The book India On Television (Nalin Mehta) discusses the impact of television in Indian society. The role of media in constructing and destroying persons/ images is discussed in detail in this book.
Everywhere we are running behind images/idols. We don’t want to take risks so we construct some images and fighting for it. So the Man Under The Mask of V.S. is not V.S. but the medias itself.

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