Jean Baaudrillard's America

In America, Jean Baudrillard explores the American society and its transgression away from genuineness, to form a fake and superficial society with no meaningful interactions. Baudrillard recalls his interpretation of the smiles he sees around him and how it reflects the romanticized Reagan reign:
“they certainly do smile at you here, though neither from courtesy, nor from an effort to charm. This smile signifies only the need to smile. It is a bit like the Cheshire Cat’s grin: it continues to float on faces long after all emotion has disappeared…the smile of immunity, the smile of advertising: ‘This country is good. I am good. We are the best’…Smile if you have nothing to say. Most of all, do not hide the fact you have nothing to say, nor
your total indifference to others”. (Baudrillard 34)
Baudrillard’s observation of the smiles he sees symbolizes transgression because a smile is simply seen as a repetitive automatic reaction to being out in public, it is not a gesture to signify warmth and comradery.
This is a transgression against humanity because an act such as smiling, that is built into human nature, has now transformed into a robotic and routine action. There is no longer genuine warmth behind a smile. This robotic state of mind is a direct output of the hyper-real society Americans live in. The increased media presence and technology advancements has led to a lack of consciousness in people’s interactions as well as a lack of personability. This is emphasized through Baudrillard’s perception that people have nothing to say to each other, so smiling is the least personal gesture they can give. Coincidentally, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs emphasizes the human necessity for love and belonging. Humans have transgressed against fulfilling their needs in a natural way, such as through human interaction, and instead seek out interaction through other non-interactive ways, such as digital connections, which is an attribute of the hyperreality. In fact, comparing these smiles to the grins of the Cheshire Cat is making a statement about ingenuity, as well as deceit. The Cheshire Cat is a symbol of deceit; he says one thing when in reality the implications behind his statements are beyond his words. People’s smiles now mimics the deceitful smile of the Cheshire
Cat. This deceit is an act of transgression because people natural smile when they are happy, but now people are smiling when they are sad, mad, frustrated, bothered, etc. There is no universal emotional signal or meaning behind a smile anymore, so the gesture is insignificant. Additionally, Baudrillard consistently mentions “advertising,” a strong theme in the Regan reign. An era of illusion, a celebrity turned politician, who knew how to create a sense of security through American pride. Reagan deceived people into thinking he was a great world leader, when he simply gave off the illusion that he was a powerhouse because of his charisma and convincing smile. Baudrillard comparing Americans’ smiles to Reagan’s advertisements is a statement that a fake smile will always float on our faces as long as we have a fake person to maintain. This transgression, of creating a fake persona, is rampant in our society because we cannot realize or accept our individual identities. We continue to advertise a certain facet of ourselves, although it may not be truthful, because it’s what we want others to believe is truthful.