Lena Headey, the famous award-winning
British actress who plays the villainous role Cersei Lannister, on the
acclaimed and sensational series Game of Thrones (GoT) attends the San
Diego Comic Convention, just like all her fellow castmates. They hold panel
discussions where they drop little teasers and hints about what to expect, shed
light on their characters and answer questions by their fans. Later the cast would
typically sit down for meet-and-greets with fans, where the fans would take
pictures and get autographs signed. For any celebrity at the Comic-Con, I
believe this is a normal procedure. Yet, for Lena Headey, this is not. For, the
fans who would approach the long table at which the GoT cast would sit (a very
long table because the cast is huge), would often skip Headey when
they get to her. While this may be a mild insult, some fans would go so far as
to openly insult her as “We don’t want you” or “B**** Queen, Die!”. GoT is
building up to its eighth season in the April of 2019 and over the years,
Headey has received so much hate that she has stopped coming to Comic-Con and
any event which allows direct public communication altogether.
This is a popular story
that you may have heard or seen circulating on social media, that really got me
thinking after Prof. Maithree’s lecture on hyperreality. Jean Baudrillard
explains that the hyperreality is a simulated reality that has replaced the
actual reality, in which the individual does not even realize it is a
simulation. It is a state beyond reality in which we are unable to discern
between what is reality and what is the illusion. Baudrillard further
elucidates that the hyperreality could develop to such as extent where the
simulation would replace the authentic reality, where the simulated reality
becomes the authentic, which he defines as ‘simulacra’- a copy without an
original. For instance, reality television makes the viewer feel as if the
stories they are showing are indeed authentic and real, but often they are not.
If you have watched the popular Gordon Ramsay cooking show ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ or
shows like ‘The Bachelor’ or ‘The Bachelorette’, you may understand that these
programs thrive on drama, spectacle and commotion. While we the viewer may believe
that the fights or arguments shown are indeed actual, often these are the
result of scripted storylines designed to develop viewership and ratings.
Social media, mass media
and entertainment industries formulate the biggest dimensions of the hyperreality
in the world today. These dimensions have developed to such an extent that they
have even begun to endanger human lives. The recent internet trend such as the
‘Kiki-challenge’, where individuals sing-along to the artist Drake’s popular
hit song ‘In my feelings’, while they walk beside their running vehicles on
open roads, has led to many deaths and road accidents in the USA. A deranged
fan of the famous ‘Counter-Strike’ online game, who was beaten repetitively by
another individual in the game, was enraged to such extents that he hunted down
his opponent and stabbed him to death. I can go on and on of such news stories that
have happened all over the world, where individuals have lost their ability to
differentiate between what’s real and what’s the illusion. And yes, each ending
is the same, one more gruesome than the next.
Revisiting my thoughts on
Lena Headey, I too am not a fan of the character that she plays and as a
die-hard fan of the show, I, like countless others have wished for the demise
of Cersei Lannister. Yet, Lena Headey is not Cersei, but an actor who is hired
to play a character scripted by another. I think we as viewers should take into
consideration of what we watch and how we watch it, in light of our present.
While technology has made us become psychological and emotional dependants upon
it, we should maybe take a step back and re-evaluate our conditions and
perspective. As much as the viewer is human, so is Headey, Gordon Ramsay and
the next girl on ‘The Bachelorette’. Often, we all like to use social media
such our Twitter or Facebook profiles to develop an alter ego we cannot perform
in real life. Technology has tempted us imperfect human beings to develop these
virtual presences to be mean and rude to one another, believing that we can
escape from it, as it’s just a blank profile and not a real individual. Yet, as
the few incidents of many I have cited above shows, it will eventually have
spill-over effects, where we take the virtual into our reality. So, my point
really is to say that we as consumers in this globalizing, consumerist and
virtual world should do our best to hold onto our humanness, even at the direst
of circumstances. We should educate ourselves and be mindful of the happenings
in our society and even how our own perceptions impact others. We all have the
right to use technology and enjoy it however it pleases us. Yet, as social
beings existing in a civilized world, we should act responsibly in what we say,
what we do or how we treat others.
Therefore, as much as I
hate Cersei, and sadly have to await as she returns in GoT season 8 to wreak
havoc on Westeros once again, I would still be excited and happy to meet Lena
Headey if I ever receive the opportunity 😊
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