Umberto Eco: travels in HYPERreality

Eco discusses the American phenomenon of recreating moments. The Fortress of Solitude is a experiential museum recreating moments of Lyndon Johnson's life. The items and places recreated are not actual replicas but shinier, polished idealistic versions that would never deteriorate like the real one. In the same way, films are recreating places and stories but only depicting certain aspects to show the audience. Thus, the audience experiences such places in a state of heightened or "hyper" reality. They see, hear, smell, touch, and taste only what the author wants them to.

That being the said, this new state of reality is a medium for filmmakers to explore themes and drive a certain interpretation of events. For example, the encounter of Veronique and Weronika in La double vie de Vernoique. The motion of the camera heightens the experience of the audience. The audience in a sense experience the moment as Weronika, seeing her double. They feel her curiosity and frustration as the bus turns away. The director could have equally only shown Weronika's view of Veronique on the bus or the view that Veronique had. (Though these would be more realistic recreations of the event, they speak noting to the effect on the characters.) But showing Veronique as she circles to match the spin of the bus, the audience is captivated with equal dismay. Thus, the scene isn't just about Weronika meeting Veronique, it's about the emotional and psychological effect the experience has on her.

It is this "hyperreality" that authors bring out. It is almost a state of after thought or remembering. People, never actually recalling exactly how events happened, reinterpret the series of events and memories over and over again. Each time, events shift according to the action that we are trying to remember. Giving some details clarity and others obscurity, until they focus on what we want them to. A memory of knocking down mangos with a basketball, of a friend pulling you out of harms way, of crying after a bad panel review. This reinterpretation is parallel to what authors and filmakers do. And people slip in and out of memories as with equal ease as they do with the "reality" of movies.