Abstract

Abstract Today, mediascapes (see Appadurai) play a predominant role in the construction of modes of human existence. How do they determine our agency? How do they form screens for our emotions, how do they build non-negligible spaces in which our dramas play out? Do they support us or, on the contrary, do they limit us? I pose these questions in relation to Holy Motors (2012), a film by the French director Leos Carax. His film presents man’s postmodern condition as well as state of the art nowadays. The hero of Holy Motors is the absolute actor, a set of his avatars, the postmodern Proteus doomed to live and experience repeatedly a parody of “all the same.” My thesis is that mediascapes only seem to strengthen our agency. They offer us a plural existence and an easy ability to enlarge the borders between illusion and reality, but in fact, they make us part of a system of the urban “desiring machine,” they make our identities and our bodies into a sort of spectacle directed by external forces.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.