The Spectacle (Theodore)

According to Guy Debord the spectacle is all of the media and its forms that we encounter and use in everyday. In a literal sense, a spectacle or spectacles are something you use to view something so in a sense the spectacle can be seen as something that helps us view certain aspects of ourselves as a society. Debord mentions that the spectacle is capable of "incorporating into itself all the fluid aspects of human activity so as to possess them in a congealed form" (Debord, 35). Essentially we, society and the spectacle are unable of being detached because the two are interdependent.

Going back to the quote that I mentioned in class, "The spectacle is a permanent opium war designed to force people to equate goods with commodities and to equate satisfaction with a survival that expands according to its own laws" (Debord 44). Television shows, movies, the newest iOS update, the newest iPhone or gaming console is what is the "opium" that keeps us tuned in on to the spectacle. It's a constant void that we help fulfill by our constant consumerism and the appeal of the spectacle as a commodity. 

Keeping Up With the Kardashians

       
Directly referring to the spectacle as I have interpreted Debord's spectacle, tv and movie industry are the epitome of our society in relation to the spectacle. Tv shows like "Teen Mom" and the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" have created a black hole that constantly consumes people once or twice every week, and with Generation X it has become the way of life for some. Everything they do is inspired by the Kardashian/Jenner family or something they saw on a TV show. Or in the case of movies, the people who have dedicated hours and days to learn Star Trek's Klingon language and the ones who have actually went on to make Jedi teaching into a religion. In this case the commodity could be seen as the TV shows or movies that attract audiences, or society, to feed and be fed by the spectacle.

Apple iPhone 6

To break down the commodity further, it can be broken down to the idiom, “keeping up with the joneses.” The commodity can be looked at as something that the Joneses had or did, that everyone else then purchased or did just because, making it something that must be purchased or done to be considered a part of the spectacle, or to be an insider. “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; the world we see is the world of the commodity. Modern economic production extends its dictatorship both extensively and intensively” (Debord, 42). All aspects of social life are becoming based on what you have, if you know about the latest trends, if you have seen the newest movie, or if you have watched Narcos on Netflix. Now that there is more things being produced more than ever the commodity is blatant in everyday life.

Like Brittney mentioned, the two (the spectacle and society) were initially separate but interrelated because of their interdependent nature, but now the spectacle has taken on a life of its own that we have come to depend on and constantly fuel. We HAVE to order the iPhone 6s because it's a second faster than the iPhone 6 and it has a new 3D touch feature. It's a cycle that holds the majority captive.