The spectacle is the control
society has over the people.
Socialization is the hand that pushes us in the direction that we are
“supposed to” to be going in. The
spectacle is the idea of a perfect life.
This perfect life is unattainable but the spectacle makes it seem as
though with hard work and perseverance, each person can achieve this
unattainable, imaginary happiness.
“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” (Debord Thesis 42). Debord
states. The Spectacle encompasses our
entire lives. Everything we do is to
satisfy the spectacle. We go to school
to gain an education, to get a job, to pay for the things we think we want and
think that will make us happy. Once we
are able to afford things that are essential, the spectacle brings out the
greediness in people. We always want
more. The spectacle trains us to always
want more. More clothes, more jewelry,
more cars, more diamonds, more shoes, more information. We are never happy with having just the essentials in life.
The makeup industry is using social media to
its advantage and using it well. Makeup
artists are becoming famous using social media platforms and websites like
Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube. The
companies are able to reach more customers using viral marketing just as Pavlick and McIntosh describe in Converging Media (Pavlick, McIntosh 19). The YouTube or Instagram Stars gain followers
and subscribers, the companies collaborate with the “Stars”, slap his or her
name on a lipstick or eye shadow palette, and both profit off of the YouTube
star’s subscribers. These collaborations
are always “limited addition” so the consumers have to “BUY NOW BEFORE IT’S
SOLD OUT!!”
The spectacle has made the goal in
our lives to be able to afford a lavish life style. We see luxury on social media, in magazines,
and on TV these things are automatically “#goals”. We attribute a person’s success with their
monetary value instead of the happiness and peace a person. Debord calls it “a necessary pseudo-justification
for a counterfeit life” (Debord Thesis 48). Many companies use celebrities as examples for
what the average person can have.
Debord explains the spectacle as a
commodity but it is also that of information.
We are constantly yearning for the newest news. We need instant gratification in all aspects
of life. The spectacle has robbed
society of patience. The reason we’re
constantly consuming products and information is because of this counterfeit
life we think we need.
(Photo I took at the Wynwood Art District in Miami, Florida in January 2016)
Works cited:
Debord, Guy. The Society of the Spectacle, Chapter 2: The Commodity as a Spectacle.
Pavlike, John V., and Shawn McIntosh. Converging Media: An Introduction to Mass Communication. Boston: Pearson, 2004. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment