Society of the Spectacle

Kristine Villanueva 

 

 Guy Debord author of "Society of the Spectcale" was able to recognize the rise of television as a paradigm for mass communication and technological advancements. In the 1960's nearly every household had a television. People began to part take in watching what Debord calls "The Spectacle". People did not simply watch as information was thrown at them - they were now allowed to part take in the distribution of information. 

 The spectacle lives on today. People are under constant surveillance. However, it is not only the government who watches us - we watch each other.  And to an extent, we even watch ourselves. Every Instagram photo, every Facebook and Twitter status contributes to the new aged spectacle that will only continue to grow well into the future. We also do not grudgingly submit ourselves to vast streams of data. Without technology, we all feel that we would be dislodged from the world. Our fingers would itch for touch screens and keyboards without the option to create and share information. 

 Altogether, we may be part taking in the spectacle without much thought. Debord's Society of the Spectacle says, "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."  Although we are subjected to the spectacle, it can act as a distraction to vital knowledge. Even the news is not wholly disconnected from the spectacle. Sleep is without a doubt, people's subjection to the spectacle without question. No one thinks about what creates the spectacle. Presently, people fail to ask why something was created - for what purpose? While we are fiddling away at our new devices, enchanted by technological advancements, we fail to realize what part we play in the spectacle.  Debord says it's a desire. Perhaps it is a societal scapegoat for people to not care. 

 Mass communication may also bring rise the to decay of language - or challenges it.  On the language of the spectacle Debord says, "the language of the spectacular itself in the sense that one moves through the methodological terrain of the very society which expresses itself in the spectacle."  Not only that, but the language of the spectacle also relies on an image, something that might not be real but materialized as a commodity. An image is only what it appears to be without having real value. People buy into this ideal, this language, as a means of consumerism. 

 Although the spectacle may be beneficial to us - it continues to shape society. People who question the spectacle might help change up the game. In all, the spectacle is something that we all love - maybe for all the wrong reasons. We exchange ourselves and privacy for information. Maybe we should care to stop the spectacle. Maybe being part of the spectacle is just too much fun to let go.