"In Modernism, reality used to validate media. In Postmodernism, the media validate reality. If you don't believe this, just think how many times you've described some real event as being 'just like a movie.'"

Modernism and Postmodernism offer distinct ways of understanding the world and the role media plays in shaping our perception of reality. During the Modernist era, reality was established as the foundation; truth existed independently, and media, like newspapers, films, or literature, sought to capture, represent, or mirror that reality. Media’s value derived from how accurately and authentically it depicted the world as it was. If a film, photograph, or book resonated as “true,” it was because it measured up to a reality outside itself.

As culture shifted into the Postmodern period, this relationship reversed. Instead of reality setting the bar for authenticity, media representations began to set expectations for what is real. Rather than asking whether a story in a film or television show seems realistic, people began to frame real events in terms familiar from media. Common experiences or even extreme, unusual moments are judged by how much they resemble what’s already been seen in films, on television, or online. The familiar refrain, describing a coincidence, a disaster, or even a joyful occasion as “just like a movie”, shows that media images and narratives now shape not only expectations but the language used to interpret events.

The proliferation of media and digital culture amplifies this effect. Experiences become imbued with legitimacy or emotional resonance by their similarity to popular media forms; a romantic proposal, a dramatic rescue, or a political scandal is described in terms of cinematic tropes. People may even unconsciously alter behavior, mannerisms, or narrative structure in their own lives to conform to the templates provided by media. As a result, media becomes not a mirror, but a filter or script, through which life is interpreted and validated. The distinction between what is real and what is represented blurs, and reality is increasingly understood, and even constructed, through the lens of media-generated images, stories, and expectations.