"We are all just prisoners here, of our own device"
In “The Society of the Spectacle,” Guy Debord alerts readers about the severity of an alluring facade and how it articulates itself into everyday life. The Spectacle consists of tiny images merging together to generate one broad image that controls the masses. According to Debord, the spectacle represents an unattainable false reality that creates an unquenchable thirst amongst the population. Different forms of media such as magazines, advertisements, movies, television and music serve as valuable assets to the spectacle. These assets project the image of a perfect life, merely filled with various types of commodities. By constantly bombarding individuals with these images, an endless cycle of consumerism is created.
Consequently, in pursuit to acquire a lifestyle engineered by the spectacle, people enter a vicious race of consuming that has no finish line. Debord suggests that with such a phenomenon dominating society, the real quality and value of life disappears. He warns, “the loss of quality that is so evident at every level of spectacular language, from the objects it glorifies to the behavior it regulates, stems from the basic nature of a production system that shuns reality. The commodity form reduces everything to quantitative equivalence” (Debord). In other words, the spectacle distracts people from reality; it’s easier to focus on a glamorous lifestyle filled with luxuries rather than paying attention to the violence, poverty, and inhuman injustices that happen everyday. The life glorified by the spectacle does not serve to uphold values and aspects that actually matter, instead it sells commodities consisting of a temporary and quantitative satisfaction.
Furthermore, commodities can be considered to make up the heart of the spectacle. The materialistic goods that are being sold to people every minute of the day, are presented to them as necessities. The spectacle lures in individuals by using commodities to symbolize happiness. This illusion enslaves people to a certain high attained only when they are consuming goods. Debord expresses, “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). He suggests that the spectacle oppresses consumers by implementing that their survival relies on the amount of commodities they acquire. This mindset manipulates societies into worshipping individuals that attain the most materialistic goods, commonly referred to as the rich and famous.
Although “The Society of the Spectacle” was written in 1967, it achieves timeless relevance. Debord’s warnings persist with major themes portrayed in many works of art. In particular, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald dives into the 1920’s; a time period in which materialism and gluttony had diminished moral values. Aside from illustrating the charismatic charm of Gatsby’s parties, Fitzgerald ultimately compares worldly desires and the American dream to isolation, unhappiness and chaos. He reveals, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther … And one fine morning – so we boat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 189). Here, Gatsby's obsession with obtaining an ideal life exemplifies how the spectacle operates. With each step taken, the meaningless illusion moves further away. This ongoing concern resonates with society today; given the current obsession of engaging with the media at all times, people are far more vulnerable to the spectacle now than they were before.
After all, advertisement has recently crept its way into every space it could possibly occupy. As technology has advanced, various ads are designed in order to appeal to an individual’s self interests. It is easy to lose oneself amongst the marketing schemes constantly being enforced by ubiquitous media outlets. In order to think outside the box, and stray away from mindless consumption, people must focus on what really matters to them. Whether it be the company of their friends and family, the experiences that they value the most, or the satisfaction they get from doing what they're passionate about, people should be able to chose what makes life worth living for.
"But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic — their irises are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose"
Work Cited
Debord, Guy. "The Society of the Spectacle." Chapter 2: The Commodity as Spectacle. Buearu of Public Secrets, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner Trade Paperback ed. New York:
Scribner, 2004. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment