Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
mediarts: medya ve sanat çalışmaları dergisi, sa.8, ss.42-59, 2025 (Hakemli Dergi)
This article examines the boundaries between reality and simulation by applying Jean Baudrillard's simulation theory to Wolfgang Becker's film Goodbye Lenin! (2003) from a cinematic semiotics perspective. The film narrates the story of the main character Alex's attempt to recreate and idealize the old socialist order for his mother Christiane, who has just emerged from a coma, following the collapse of the socialist regime in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). This process of recreation transforms into a construction of hyperreality that parallels the four stages of simulation detailed in Baudrillard's theoretical approach. The article provides examples of scenes considered to fit the four-stage simulacrum order and uses a semiotic analysis method to reveal the layers of simulation in these scenes. At the same time, connections are established between these layers and the accompanying ideological indicators, symbols, and psychological transformations of the characters. Evaluated within a historical and political context, these layers reveal, at a microcosmic level, how the perception of reality is manipulated and reconstructed, particularly through the media. Ultimately, the film Goodbye Lenin! presents a complex structure where reality and simulation are intertwined and makes significant contributions to understanding the concept of hyperreality in cinema.