Attraction, Fantasmatic scene, Impersonation, Intensities

Attraction example:

The Las Vegas Strip.
“Attractions are those phenomena that directly solicit the viewer’s attention in the here-and-now.”
The Las Vegas Strip is one of the most recognizable shots on screen. The presence of hundreds and thousands of lights shine the street endlessly from dusk to dawn. The viewers are immediately caught up and wrapped into the show of spectacular buildings and lights. It directly captures their attention and mesmerizes them, almost freezing them in time. But it is only a façade, a picture that draws the viewers into the world of entertainment.




Fantasmatic scene example:

In the club, those girls get sexy dress up and dances sexily to attract guys. They are doing that for pleasing guys or for self-approval. They do that to see what guys reaction to them and have their self-approval through it.
“It compels us to seek fulfillment through the gaze of the other: the elementary fantasmatic scene of being looked at (validated) by an unseen presence. “
Girls dance in the club, they usually dance with some sexy posts. In an attempt to achieve this attraction, she looks at men, dance “for”them, and then attempt to attract guys to dance with her. This ultimately will get self-approval, but perhaps even more than that, if she wants. This gives full fulfillment to the men seduced by her looks. But at the same time, the young woman is also fulfilled through this interaction.







Impersonations example:

A boy (or young man) uses a girl avatar while playing a massive multiplayer role-playing game such as MapleStory.

“One is called upon to play roles in order to assume symbolic mandates, to the extent that “impersonation” becomes a core act of self-identification.”
More boys pick girl avatars than vice versa. They are aroused by this selection and at times, they need this change to be able to know that they are still men and in control of the situation. It gives them a new identity to play around with. But the realization that this is not what they want will give them reality and solidify their manhood. In the cases that they enjoy the role-playing through a girl character, they become fully aware that a new identity has always been what they are looking for. This self-exploration is a way for them to self-identify.







Intensities example:

Fans at a USC football game.

“Yet at the same time, these insertions of the self into the symbolic order can be regarded as a way of channeling or dissipating surplus energy. From such a viewpoint, the connective intensities that drive these new forms of self-exposure and display are those of expending excess, and the allure of showing could parallel that of sacrificing.”
The fans are one at the game, or any other sports event for that matter, but we see more coherence and a mob-mentality in college football anywhere else. These people connect through this sport and self-expose and display the excess energies emanating out. Some would body paint and flash their bodies at the same time; groups would do waves across the stand, and even one or two fanatics run out into the field only to get arrested. These displays of form an order that channels the intensity produced by the event.