The Problem, loosely defined . . .

For French cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard, the problem with representation becomes an issue of "simulation" (especially as it is practiced by the news media). Simulations introduce a logic which defies the neat separation between the original (or "real") and the copy, combining elements of both categories until the distinction loses its force. For example, a television program devoted to the "true crime" genre (e.g., COPS) may recreate the scene of a crime--either with video footage, or through a dramatization--to such a degree that its approximates news coverage of an actual crime. In such a case, the genre conventions (e.g., style of narration, use of voiceover, handheld cameras) usually inform the viewer of the program's intended effect, but the content destabilizes "reality" in a disturbing fashion. Applying this same logic to the photographic image, a representation of a historical figure significantly shapes our perceptions of that individual (e.g., images of Kennedy taken from the Zapruder film), even as we recognize that it is "just a photograph." In other words, there is a tendency to confuse the representation with its referent. Images capture aspects of the real, but they also represent a limited perspective, a fact sometimes overlooked.

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