Society of the Spectacle

Society of the Spectacle

“Ladies and Gentlemen do you know about the new and top of the line product that can help you not only save money but also improve your way of life?” This is just one of the many lines that you could hear today either on the radio, television, and phone and even email. In today’s society, you hear endless amounts of advertisements that tells you various ways to improve your way of life. However, even after gaining this product you feel satisfied for only a moment. Soon thereafter, society begins to inform you of another product that you must have. Then strangely enough you feel compelled to buy even if it  So why is this? Why is society so keen on making us spend on these products? Why not survive on the basic needs of life?

It’s simply because society has become a spectacle which was developed by Guy Debord in his book The Society of the Spectacle. Debord states that the society of the spectacle is “the developed modern complement money where the totality of the commodity world appears as a whole, as a general equivalence for what the entire society can be and can do. The spectacle is the money which one only looks at, because in the spectacle the totality of use is already exchanged for the totality of abstract representation” (Debord 49). As such within an economy in which money is a basic necessity to survive in the world, the spectacle aids in helping money flow within the economy. Moreover it shows that people actually help the spectacle by spending money on trying to become something we can only dream of becoming. It may range to looking like a celebrity, wanting to look young, owning a top luxury car etc.

Furthermore Debord even states that "the spectacle is a permanent opium war which aims to make people identify goods with commodities and satisfaction with survival" (Debord 44). This signifies that not only does the spectacle provide you the temptation of becoming a celebrity, looking young etc but has also evolve to become we need in order to survive. Even though our hair naturally protects from the elements, but making our hair look like a known celebrity does little to ensure our survival. Due to this the spectacle has commanded people to utilize commodity in order gain value out of something outside our basic needs for survival.

One example is gaming companies such as SuperCell which provides multiplayer mobile games. Their business provides entertainment through their various games which people can battle others online. However within their games they have ranks and levels that make the game progressively harder to players. Due to this the company utilizes a strategy known as "pay to win" in which players can actively use money to buy in game currency which in turn helps players progress the ranks and level with more ease. Despite the fact it may be easier to just learn the game or play a different game, yet people are hooked on the idea of dominating opponents which provides a satisfaction. It was not necessary for people to go online and win a game in order to survive everyday life.

Works Cited: Debord, Guy. The Society of the Spectacle. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.