Gabrielle Mendoza
September 24, 2015
Convergence
Cacoilo
Monster, By The Name of Media
In his famous work of philosophical
thinking The Society of the Spectacle,
theorist Guy Debord enlightens his audience on a powerful “spectacle” that
unconsciously controls society today. The relationship between society and
commodities is the “spectacle” that Debord speaks of in his book. In other
words, the “society of the spectacle” is the modern society that is passively
participating in the spectacle of obsessively consuming fabricated images of
media. With all this said, Debord goes on to explain the impact of the
spectacle on society. Even though his book was written in 1967, his theories
can be linked to today’s society and how they are involved with the spectacle.
It could even be argued that Debord’s theory on the spectacle reigns true even
in today’s society.
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| "Media Monster Unleashed" Photo Courtesy of Sony of Canada |
The impact of the spectacle has
shown to be massive in not only the eyes of Debord, but even in the
relationships of media and consumer in today’s world. In his book, Debord
describes the impact of the spectacle to be similar to a growing, power-hungry
monster that has an ability to control the world around it. He shows this when
Debord states, “in the spectacle’s basic practice of incorporating into itself
all the fluid aspects of human activity so as to posses them in a congealed
form, and of inverting living values into purely abstract values—“ (Debord 35).
In this statement, Debord brings into light the power of how easily and greatly
the spectacle can affect humans. The spectacle can control their ways of living
with the ideas that the spectacle projects onto its society. For example, if a
woman reads an article on weight issues in the magazine such as the
Cosmopolitan or sees images referring to this on Instagram with products that
can help, she may be inclined to do something about her own body or buy the
product. In his work, Debord is trying to convey the great impact the spectacle
has on the lives in the society and how it can easily manipulate anyone.
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Customers buying Pope Francis merchandise
Photo: Robert Miller |
Debord's theories on the society of the spectacle as well as the commodity as a spectacle can be seen in more recent events; specifically the events of Pope Francis's visit to the United States. Pope Francis is always seen as a simple religious figure, but when he stepped foot on American soil, he became so much more. Hundreds and thousands of people lined up at the crack of dawn just to get a glimpse, and if lucky, a selfie with the famous figure. This is where Debord's theory of the society of the spectacle comes into play. The people who participate in standing in large crowds to go and see the pope or even the people who constantly check media coverage on his visit become the society of the spectacle. They become engulfed in the media and its coverage of the pope. Debord's theory of commodity as a spectacle can also be seen by how sellers are reaping the benefits of the pope's visit. In his article on the media mania of Pope Francis's visit in the PoliticoMedia, journalist Joe Pompeo writes about this. Pompeo quotes a magazine in saying "Religion typically sells well" and how there is truth to that statement (Pompeo). Although the pope's visit may have been focused on a religious focus, there are still elements of the event that the pope cannot control; the consumerism-based side of the events. By viewing the media coverage of this event, it can be easily argued that commodity has so quickly and easily become a spectacle on it own.
The society of the spectacle has
become one that breathes in and out obsession. As a result of the growing power
of the spectacle, the society has become fetishized with it. This comes to
describe Debord’s term of the “commodity as a spectacle”. Debord states, “The
fetishism of the commodity – the domination of society by ‘imperceptible as
well as perceptible things’ –attains its ultimate fulfillment in the spectacle”
(Debord 36). In the spectacle, unnecessary wants have become dire needs and the
society is devouring this concept. We NEED to get the new iPhone 6s. We NEED
to see Pope Francis. We NEED to take a selfie
right now. Debord furthers this speculation when he states, “The spectacle is
the stage at which the commodity has succeeded in totally colonizing social
life. Commodification is not only visible, we no longer see anything else”
(Debord 42). It is as if commodity latched onto the spectacle and has become
one with it. With the constant boom in consumerism dealing with commodity as a
spectacle, the society shows to be hypnotized by the spectacle and the
commodities that go with it and that this fact will never change. We have
become too engulfed into the spectacle and there is nothing we can do about it.
In the end, we all wanted this, right?
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| Photo: Nicola Dean |
Sources:
Debord, Guy-Ernest. "The Society of the Spectacle." The Situationist International Text Library. N.p., 1967. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.
Pompeo, Joe. "Media Mania as Pope Francis Makes His Way to America." Media Mania as Pope Francis Makes His Way to America. PoliticoMedia, 21 Sept. 2015. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
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