Spectacle

Tahir Russell The Spectacle

            The society of the spectacle is what humankind has been consumed of unknowingly. Technology, social media, movies, music, radio, all of those are how human beings are constantly consumed by the spectacle. We regard it as something small and some people try to avoid being consumed by media and the spectacle in various different way but we are all consumed by it even those who make the media are not immune. The French theorists Guy Debord describes the spectacle as “where the tangible world is replaced by a selection of images which exist above it, and which simultaneously impose themselves as the tangible par excellence” (Debord 36). The fake and superficial images we are fed in our society become things people consistently crave, from the worship of celebrities in our culture to technology.

Apple, one of the most popular tech companies in the world has developed somewhat of a cult following. 

            Technology and fashion in particular are an interesting topic people will flock for the new hottest thing. New phones and sneakers are items people consistently wait in long lines for hours for. People get robbed, beat up, and even killed over these material objects. In this modern society we are constantly told that we must have this new object, whatever it may be. 

            Debord explains this further by stating “The spectacle is a permanent opium war which aims to make people identify goods with commodities and satisfaction with survival that increases according to its own laws. But if consumable survival is something which must always increase, this is because it continues to contain privation” (Debord 44). He goes on to explain people consistently need to buy more material objects in order to fill a void in their lives. Ads, commercials, product placement are all examples of the spectacle, feeding us useless information so that we become ignorant to the world around us. Those are the commodity of the spectacle, the must have, and must see object of the world, the things that make us stand in lines for hours a day.

            News in most regards has become a spectacle as well, instead of hearing about the worlds events we are consumed by the daily activities of the Kardashian/Jenner clan. While they have become household names no one in that family has made any positive contributions to our society that require the amount of attention that they get. “Until recently the news has meant two different things-events that are newsworthy and events covered by the press” (Shirky 64). As Shirky describes the media has changed a lot in recent years, from the way it is covered and even the topics that are discussed. Bloggers can now be considered media outlets despite some not being professional and as established as companies such as the New York Times. 
                                     

    The Kardashians, the family the world loves to hate and love at the same time.They are always in the media in some way good or bad.

                 The commodity is immensely embedded into our lives, even people who tried to avoid it by not watching tv or having a smart phone are influenced. People still have to drive to work or take some form of transportation to get around, ads are on the radio and in subways and buses. The commodity of the spectacle can influence all aspects of our lives despite how hard we try to avoid it. It matters how we choose to deal with its influence so we do not become slaves to its constant influence. 

 Debord, Guy. The Society of the Spectacle. New York: Zone, 1994. Print.
 Pavlik, John V., and Shawn McIntosh. Converging Media: A New Introduction to Mass Communication. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.