The Image: A Guide To Pseudo-Events In America by Danile J. Boorstin opens a multitude of questions regarding media consumed by American citizens. While most readers may assume the publications, media, and news coverage presented in their country follows a ‘global standard’ of sorts, Boorstin illustrates the ways in which this is far from the truth. Society no longer strives for the truth, from celebrity interviews to national crises, we now crave sensationalism. This narrative then plays into the preconceived notions people now hold true about most places and experiences. Personally, I can speak about the culture of Paris and more specifically French individuals that I was told time and time again in the months leading up to this program. The notion that all French citizens hold grudges towards Americans that come to visit and actively express their disdain has been far from accurate in my time spent here thus far. This also plays into the concept Boorstin described when discussing travel, how people no longer travel to gain knowledge of a region or appreciate its customs and practices. As we may now assume we have a deeper understanding of a place and its people before we step foot in it due to the intense media representation, the reality of the situation can be vastly different as it is not viewed the same when experienced in person. A main player in the concept of the human pseudo-event was the bombardment of content that Americans experience. Boorstin attributes this to the high volume of information retained by, “Newspapers, magazines, second class mail, books, radio, television, telephone, photograph records – these and other vehicles confront is with thousands of names, people, or fragments of people.” (Boorstin 53). This has proven to be a very effective technique in depreciating the significance of truly remarkable events or people, as there is now seemingly a surplus of both. This overflow of media in all forms not only shapes our initial impressions of things where we would otherwise know nothing but also dictates our experiences when actively traveling. While the media technically holds no responsibility for this perception as consumers are able to take in the information given in their own way, I do believe that the media has to take full responsibility for playing into stereotypes that often plague their work.
