Short Essay #2 ~ Luzangela Martinez

Luzangela Martinez

November 23, 2020

“The Society of the Spectacle” Essay #2

Technology is everywhere. It is like gravity. It is what controls our daily lives. Without it, several tasks are difficult to complete. Initially, technological devices were invented to improve our lives. However, its large growth has led for it to consume our lives, distracting many individuals. Through technology, comes other distractions either via the internet, television, radio, social media or smart phone applications. In the best-known work, “The Society of the Spectacle” by Guy Debord, the author predicts our distracted society years before the technological boom. He blames “the spectacle” as the cause for our distractions for fame, advertisements, social media, and materialist items.

            In the beginning of Chapter 1, “Separation Perfected,” Debord provides the reader an idea of what the spectacle is and accomplishes. For instance, he states that “[t]he spectacle is not a collection of images, but a social relation among people, mediated by images” (4). In other words, the spectacle is not a collection of physical images that can gathers dust as the years progress. Instead, the spectacle plays a significant role in life by changing and perverting social relationships between individuals, where people are judged by their appearances. Everything in this society must be “in style.” If an individual is not “in style,” they are not part of this socially constructed group. This idea was influenced by the “spectacle” such as social media, movies and television shows. Within these platforms, people must post things that are captivating to their followers in order to fit in or dress like a celebrity to be, again, “in style.” It is also these platforms that influence relationships with their partner, friends or family members. For example, romantic movies often portray characters that have such a wonderful and romantic life with their partner. As a result, people long to have this and pretend to have this movie-like reality.

In addition, Debord also emphasizes that “necessity is socially dreamed, the dream becomes necessary. The spectacle is the nightmare of imprisoned modern society which ultimately expresses nothing more than its desire to sleep. The spectacle is the guardian of sleep” (21). In other words, the idea of necessity is influenced by the “spectacle.” For example, advertisements play a part in this dream of owning specific material items. As Joanne Finkelstein once said, “[a]dvertisements have to be arresting…[where] we are drawn into their universe” (147). Indeed, advertisements draw people into this universe of buying and dreaming of owning material items like the new 2020 BMW or owning the new Iphone 12. It is images like Figure 1 that remind people of what they don’t have by playing with their emotions. It reminds them of the bubbly, cold sweet, and sugary taste of Coca Cola (see Figure 1). It is advertisements of celebrities like Marilyn Monroe that causing people to wish to look like her (see Figure 2).

Not only are people in this dream of necessity, the spectacle is causing people to live an unreality. In quote 6, Debord states that:

“[The spectacle] is not a supplement to the real world, an additional decoration…..In all its specific forms, as information or propaganda, as advertisement or direct entertainment consumption, the spectacle is the present model of socially dominant life. It is the omnipresent affirmation of the choice already made in production and its corollary consumption” (6).

In other words, the spectacle can be manifested in diverse forms such as advertisements, television shows, video games, Youtube videos, social media, news and movies. As a result of these platforms, people are manipulated to believe that these things need to be apart of life in order to survive.  He also says that the spectacle is “omnipresent.” It is like a god worshipped by many daily. It is also everywhere and exhibits a permanent presence in people lives. For example, the omnipresence of the spectacle have been evident due to the current global pandemic. It is needed to communicate to others without coming into physical connect with them. It is necessary to use it for school in order to do and submit assignments (see Figure 3). Truly, the presence of the spectacle has increased significantly during the pandemic.

Near the end of the chapter, Debord highlights that the “The spectacle within society corresponds to a concrete manufacture of alienation…..What grows with the economy in motion for itself can only be the very alienation which was at its origin” (32). In this quote, Debord emphasizes the main purpose of the spectacle—to alienate. It alienates people from their lives, where they become unaware of the true meaning of living. In this case, he blames economic capital for alienating people. People have been working double the hours to be able to purchase items that allow them to fit into society. As shown in Figure 4, money (the dollar sign) is very important to purchase these items. Society does not welcome you without it. Certainly, “retail and advertising industries promote a belief…..to search for private satisfactions and a sense of identity in the consumer economy” (175).

Furthermore, Guy Debord discusses important points about the spectacle. He emphasizes its control over the human race. As a result of it, many alienate themselves from the true meaning of life and dream of this fictional idea of what life should be life.

 

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 4

Figure 3