The movie Videodrome is about a man who becomes entangled in something far larger than himself and begins to see and experience hallucinations — as the film progresses, he becomes unable to discern what’s fake and what’s real, and the viewer is unable to tell as well. The reasoning behind “Videodrome” in the narrative is that it’s a broadcast designed to essentially brainwash viewers and make them extremely susceptible to dangerous suggestions. While Max, the protagonist, falls victim to this and struggles with it for the entire duration of the film up until he is manipulated into committing mass murder and suicide, there are themes in the movie that mirror concerns in real life as well; mainly, the concern of fiction affecting reality.
The article Simulacra and Simulations, written by Jean Baudrillard, delves deep into the idea of “simulations” and how different they are than actually feigning something. The first example written is that of feigning an illness versus simulating it. One who feigns an illness simply pretends he is ill, while one who simulates an illness brings forth actual symptoms of the illness from within – does this mean, then, that simulating an illness means one actually has it? Baudrillard says he neither does nor doesn’t.
Later examples are much of the same. If you were to simulate an event with no intent of actually harming someone or doing collateral damage, other people would not be able to see it in the same way. To them, it’s very real, and the consequences of your actions would be just as real as if the event were actually happening — because for all they know, they really are happening. In cases like these, there is no discernible difference between a “simulation” and the real thing; they’re one in the same, even if props in a situation are fake. People will react just as genuinely, and at some point you may not even be able to call it a simulation anymore.
Also mentioned in the article is how the government or army can use it to their advantage. Making people believe in a simulation can be a form of torture; it can be used to make people believe they’re something they aren’t, believe they’re in a dangerous situation despite it just being a simulation, etc. To them, everything is true, so is it really still just a simulation?
In Videodrome, it’s the same thing. Max struggles with his hallucinations as he becomes unable to tell what’s real and what’s not, and even when he finds out that he is just being manipulated into doing whatever the person behind Videodrome wants him to do, Max still is unable to fight back in any real way – and eventually, he gives in to the simulation. He ends up killing real people and then himself, and by then, it doesn’t even matter that it’s all a simulation: people have died, and that in itself is not a simulation or false reality.
In Videodrome, nonsensical and even dangerous hallucinations begin to combine with reality until it’s impossible for the character and audience to tell what’s real and what isn’t. In Baudrillard’s article, it’s argued that simulations make people believe in them and can induce real effects — while it can’t be classified as real or not real by then, the effects of them are still very much real.
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Baudrillard, J. (n.d.). Simulacra and Simulations. http://web.stanford.edu/class/history34q/readings/Baudrillard/Baudrillard_Simulacra.html
Cronenberg, D. (Director). (2010). Videodrome [Motion picture]. S.l.: Criterion Collection.
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