Rethinking Jean Baudrillard's simulacres et simulation in Christopher Nolan's memento and the prestige

• Main Author: Ahmad Naufal Amirza
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Literature::English
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/59092
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan taps into the simulacra in several of his renowned works. Tracing their origins to the philosophical masters of the Greeks, the varying opinions on the simulacrum have since evolved to suit the context of postmodern condition. Nolan’s films display a distinctly postmodernist character and style evident in the way his works consciously attempt to communicate ideas that are central to the postmodern age. Film critic Pia Tikka observes that “the discussion on the simulacrum and simulation has been taken further by postmodern philosophers” (44), the likes of which include Jean Baudrillard, a pioneering figure in the study of postmodernism. Drawing on Baudrillard’s revolutionary theories of the simulacrum, Christopher Nolan rethinks and redefines these concepts in his films. While I accept Baudrillard’s premise that the simulacrum is a postmodern condition that defines consumer society, Nolan seems more interested in exploring the simulacrum through the lens of the individual. I find attractive Baudrillard’s theorization of the simulacrum as a process whereby “images become the main reference point in the generation of cultural, political, and social meaning, rather than reality itself” (Mason 32). My thesis is that the simulacra in Nolan’s films is caused by the repetition and layering of simulations perpetuated by the individual. As Nolan’s cinematic world is deeply rooted in the crisis of postmodern indeterminacy, I will show that the difficulty in creating meaning and deriving at the truth is caused by the layers of simulacra. In particular, Nolan connects Baudrillard’s theories to the layering of memory, the repetition of behavior and the mechanics of a magic trick, all of which constitute the simulacrum experienced by the individual. I have chosen Memento (2000) and The Prestige (2006) for this study because they provide contrasting and insightful perspectives on the simulacra. Memento critically explores the problems of memory and behavior hence making it ideal to show how the individual navigates the truth with imperfect agency. The film also provides a strong basis for comparison as it projects the simulacrum as a process of layering and repetition of memory and actions. In contrast, The Prestige explores a pre-history of the simulacrum, a period far removed from the postmodern condition. In spite of the inherent disjunction between the postmodern and the Victorian setting of The Prestige, it only seeks to reaffirm the belief that “the loss of historicity is a distinctive trait of the postmodern” (Gallego 44) and that postmodernist thinkers do not particularly believe in historicity. Therefore, Nolan turns the problem of representing the past in a contemporary film into an opportunity, as he is able to effectively show how the individual illuminates the simulacrum in a time when mass media culture and modern technology were not as pervasive as opposed to the spectacle of magic, theatricality and illusion.