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Depiction of a pipe, not the actual pipe.
If the message being addressed is a real event, deciphering signs and symbols can result in misunderstandings. Hall (1980), however, argues that a tale must be created in order for an event to be told. This approach is consistent with Flusser's theory of reproducibility, which maintains that reality is singular, unrepeatable, and only capable of being replicated through alteration. According to him, "all action immediately loses its historical identity [...] and becomes into an endlessly repetitive movement" when it is recorded and photographed (Flusser, 1983). Because "this space and time particular to the picture, [...] is structurally different from that of the linear world of history in which nothing repeats itself and in which everything has causes and will have consequences," this occurs (Flusser, 1983). Because history is linear and cannot be repeated, events lose their historical significance when they are repeated. The 2015–2017 television series Narcos recreated the photos taken following the assassination of drug lord Pablo Escobar (Figure 2). However, both might be viewed as merely reconstructions of a historical period that has passed. This replication was likely done for aesthetic reasons as well as to help the viewers comprehend the context in which they were taken. Since change is a byproduct of representation, we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that we can faithfully recreate reality. Because it raises the issue of how to depict history and whether we should even attempt to do so, Hall's concept is crucial to the conversation concerning the representation of reality.
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