Linguistique francaise

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Standards and reality in the media

and advertising discourse: a structureof dissatisfaction and renewal

Damien MESSAGERUniversit Paris-Ouest Nanterre, la Dfense

Rsum:Le discours des mdias et des publicits a depuis longtemps t

rendu responsable daltrer la perception de la ralit. Le discours mdiatique etpublicitaire tient sa force du signequi prdomine sur lautenticit! les images

ne sont pas "uges en fonction de leur autenticit mais de leurs valeurs-signes.La reconstruction du rel devient ainsi omniprsente et plus relle que la ralit

elle-m#me. Les mdias et les publicits prtendent nous faire vivre une ralitsans renoncer auprincipe de plaisirni $ la satisfaction de nos dsirs. %ais le dis-cours des mdias et des publicits est soumis $ une condition terrible! il est sans

cesse dtruit et reconstruit.&l faut pour sduire apporter de nouvelles formes desatisfaction tou"ours plus grandes.Mots cls! ralit, signe, langue, mdias, publicit.

'e cinema, television, advertising, and te media in general

ave long been eld responsible for altering our vision of realit(.

'is distortion is often seen as a crac) bet*een t*o *orlds! tat

of te audiovisual media +of moving images, and tat of realit(.

One migt retrace its istorical origin to te film LArrive

dun train la Ciotat +Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, directed

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Damien %essager 0 Standards and reality in the media1

b( 2uguste and Louis Lumi3re. 2s *e )no*, *en te film *as

first screened, te audience ran a*a( from te teatre to avoid

being run over b( te train pulling into te station. %ore recentl(,

4ristoper Nolans movie Inception, released in 55, as

so*n a ost of caracters lost in a simulation of realit( created

b( teir unconscious. 6rom ten on, te( ave no longer been

able to distinguis realit( from its replica.

One ma( consider tat tese films stem from real critiques

and social debates about te media discourse and te distortion of

realit(. Daniel 7oorstin,Umberto 8coand 7audrillard9spea) of

a complete reversal, *ere te media discourse becomes morereal tat realit( itself. :at *e ave ten is a hyperreality.

'e observer evolves in a visual and auditor( universe,

*ere te reconstruction of realit( is omnipresent. 'e media and

advertising discourse ma)es up te landscape of our ever(da(

societ(. 'us realit( appears to us in a filtered, enanced state; to

suc an eines tan in te street;

*e find actors more impressive on screen tan in real life; te

collapse of te :orld 'rade 4entre onl( trul( became real after

multiple broadcastings of images so*ing its crumbling to te

ground.

4oncerning tis last e


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integrate tese events as quic)l( as possible to teir field of

? simulation @.

&t is tus possible to understand 7audrillard, *o *ent so far

as to claim, in a disrupting *a(, tat te Julf :ar did not appen.

'e images brougt bac) *ere so distorted and filtered tat te(

)ept us from reali>ing te true realit( of tis *ar.

1. anguage and reality

:e sould mention tat te media are censored in a similar

fasion, *eter te images on te screen are ta)en from te

imagination or from realit(. 'is lac) of distinction led to a mis-

understanding of te implicated film directors, *ic in turn gave

rise to numerous protests from te censorsip. &n sub"ecting te

imagination +images displa(ed as images of fiction and realit(

+images claiming to be images of realit( to te same "udgment,

censorsip as revealed tat te lin) bet*eensignsand realit( as

been inverted! signsno* prevail over autenticit(. &mages are no

longer "udged according to teir autenticit(, but to teir sign

values. 4onsumer goods ave asign value, *ic means tat te(indicate someting about te o*ner, in te conte


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trar(F. 2s soon as EF=, Lacan stated te inversion of su'%ectand

signifierin te original unconscious constitution of te self; ac-

cording to im, tesu'%ectno* appears second, after te signi-

fier. &t is no more tan a punctual and vanishing su'%ect( as it is

only a su'%ect through a signifier and for another signifierI.

'us te *orld glides on a multitude of images of itself. Aeplica

as replaced realit(.

!. More real than real" flirting with the a#surd

:it te loss of realit( and te advent of its replicas, our

abilit( to put events into perspective is put to te test. :e onl(

see as real tat *ic *e recogni>e in ourselves 0 and, as *e ave

noticed, tis is, from an e


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:e sall no* turn to te observation of elements of our

audiovisual landscape! te media and advertising discourse, but

also te discourse tat *e perceive ever( da( troug te

products tat *e consume.

2! 2ing o


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o* efficient ne* parmaceutical products are. 'o enter te mar-

)et, a drug must prove tat it is significantl( more efficient tan a

placebo. 4onversel(, and b( e


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original one. Doves advertisement goes against te general trend

and critici>es te hyperreality *ic presents us *it none


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onl( to tings but also to ourselves. Or, more precisel(, our

selves also become ?tings@ tat conve( hyperreality, as te( are

components of tis ver( environment..yperrealityaccomplises

ere a second masterstro)e! it is no longer deficient as a replica,

but te deficienc( is to be found in us, in te original source.

:e ave no coice but to consume *at it tells us to

consume, as its *ole structure is in fact onl( turned to*ards us

+for us and against us at te same time. &t is for us, because it

imposes te ne* standards of desire. 2nd it is against us, because

it "udges us imperfect and undesirable +being te original source

and not in accordance *it its standards. .yperrealityleads usto become replicas ourselves.

6rom tis loveSate ambivalence stems our dependence and

our guilt. Love and guilt are t*o prerequisites pusing us to

consume and rene* te standards to consume.

Bince te material or cultural consuming trends oppose eac

oter according to te group te( are lin)ed to, te ? more tan

more @ onl( seems absurd to te groups *e do not belong to.

Bome *ill find a blond d(e *it gold igligts absurd. Oters*ill tin) te same of tese larger tan large trousers. Oters *ill

"udge tat science fiction and mainstream films are. 7ut all tese

people *ill certainl( agree on one point! respect for state-of-te-

art plasma displa(s, or *ide cinema screens, *ic conve( teir

sense of belonging and set te standards of teir en"o(ment.

%. A never&ending revolution

.yperreality is a continuous revolution rela(ed b( audio-visual media, *ic in turn conve( and guarantee its e


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standards tat ave been imposed on us! toda(s perfection must

be tomorro*s deficienc(. Obsolescence as been programmed in

te sort term, and it must *in all 0 or lose all. 4onsumer com-

panies use our responsiveness to enticement and satisfaction so as

to maintain, troug tis revolution, unceasing mass consum-

ption. 'e media and advertisement must innovate and rene*

trends as muc as standards. Pleasure and satisfaction, as te(

ave been presented toda(, must be outdistanced b( a ne* lac)

and a ne* quest for pleasure, a ne* realit(, *ic does not

contradict te old one but *ic encompasses it; oter*ise, hy-

perreality*ould no longer be in movement, but al*a(s stumbleupon te same standards to impose on its devotees, before pro-

gressivel( losing its appeal and autorit(.

2t tis point of our refle

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