Just caught the new Bruce Willis movie, Surrogate and although it sucks, it does inspire me to write this blog entry. On Surrogate and Simulacra. The definition of Surrogate (by the free online dictionary) is: One that takes the place of another; a substitute.

The idea of a simulacra is most commonly expressed through the popular cult movie, The Matrix but is originally part of a philosophical treatise by Jean Baudrillard that discusses the interaction between reality, symbols and society. In short, Baudrillard claims that modern society has replaced all reality and meaning with symbols and signs, and that the human experience is of a simulation of reality rather than reality itself. The simulacra that Baudrillard refers to are signs of culture and media that create the perceived reality; Baudrillard believed that society has become so reliant on simulacra that it has lost contact with the real world on which the simulacra are based.

Which is what the humans in Surrogate are doing – they are living their lives through robotic surrogates who have created a stimulation of reality for the humans. Their surrogates are living the lives that the humans dreamed of – they can run faster than cars, jump higher than anything known, they feel no pain no stress and they always look like they’ve just stepped out of the centerfold of Vogue. In fact there are no fat or ugly or balding people….only surrogates. Crime rate is down 99%, and when they get out of hand, they get ‘disconnected’ by the police.

There is no need ever for the humans to be out on the streets, anything and everything can be done for them through their surrogates. So when someone started ‘killing’ the surrogates with a special gun that also causes the connecting human’s brains to explode, it sets off alarms. Their simulacrum is threatened.

Check out the last scenes when the masses of surrogates ‘expired’ on the streets while the frail and ‘normal’ humans (most in pyjamas) hobbled out of their homes; the contrast between them is telling. And bad as Bruce Willis’ acting is, he did get it right when he finally met his wife in flesh and said, “All I wanted was you.”

And this brings me to think about how this applies to us now living here in a city – are we displaced from reality? Are we in our own ways, subjugating our true selves in order to live up to a representation of reality (a simulacra)? Do we send our personal surrogates to live our lives while we retreat behind the safety of non-involvement? After all, if you don’t fall, you will never get a bruised shin; if you don’t love, you will not get hurt; if you don’t try, you will never fail.

And you will remain a shiny perfect robot….until the next recharge.