In The Image: A Guide to Pseudo Events in America, Daniel Boorstin argues that Americans falsely perceive what news actually is. Boorstin argues that Americans have “extravagant expectations” when consuming their news. They demand entertainment from the media, looking for crazy or unbelievable events and stories. In reality, essential and entertaining news stories do not occur as frequently and are certainly not predictable. Boorstin proposes that news corporations choose to “fill the gap” when there is a drought of news stories at any given time. These pseudo-events are designed to be dramatic, increasing the interest of the general public. They often generate iconic images and large crowds and include speeches or advertisements covering issues with little value in terms of importance.
“We fill our lives with not experience, but the images of experience.” (193-194) The concern is that we are beginning to be content with just observing these events while not actually experiencing them ourselves. Boorstin notes the residual affect this has on travel and tourism. “There is no better illustration of our newly exaggerated expectations than our changed attitude toward travel.” (67) Travel has become less about the experience of immersing oneself in a different culture and become more about the image created around the experience, and what it looks like from an outside perspective.
There are so many aspects of Paris that have been over-romanticized and photographed over the years, that the priorities of most travelers have been shifted. Instead of living in the moment and taking in what is around us, we are focused on taking thousands of pictures to perfectly capture the moment, joining the millions of other tourists who have done the same. Boorstin’s description of how travel has changed describes perfectly the purpose of our program this summer. I am eager to overcome the extravagant expectations put on not only Paris, but all travel, and experience everything through my own lens.