The Society of the Spectacle

The Society of the Spectacle (‘the Spectacle’) is an inverted image of society in which relations between commodities have replaced relationships between people. La Société Du Spectacle is a work of philosophy and critical theory by situationist and Marxist theorist, Guy Debord. It is a book that was first published in 1967 in France, and later made into a documentary. The Spectacle provides an extensive reinterpretation of Karl Marx’s work in its application of commodity fetishism.

This essay explains the background of the Spectacle by setting out the thoughts of the famous philosopher, Karl Marx, on capitalism, and how the founder of the Spectacle incorporates Marx’s teachings. The essay establishes how society is affected by the Spectacle, in particular, how commodities have replaced the social aspect of life. It goes on to describe how the Spectacle reflects on photography and how photography plays a main role in enticing consumers into buying a particular product that they may not even need.

Karl Marx was a German philosopher whose ideas played a significant role in the development of modern communism and socialism. Marx argued that capitalism would inevitably produce internal tensions which would replace capitalism and lead to a stateless, classless society. Structured upon the common ownership of the production, free access to articles of consumption, the end of wage labour and private property in the means of production and real estate. Guy Debord was a Frenchman who was raised by his Grandmother. After dropping out of university where he was studying law, he became a revolutionary poet, writer and film maker. In the 1960s he led the Situationist International Group which influenced the Paris Uprising of 1968 which saw the largest general strike in France resulting in the economy coming to a virtual standstill. It’s affect was such that it almost caused the collapse of President Charles De Gaulle’s Government. Many think it was his book ‘The Society of the Spectacle’ was a catalyst to the strikes. He later developed this into a film which was one of his most recognised works. Debord’s aim is to “wake up the spectator who has been drugged by spectacular images.”

Anxious iPadders awaiting the release of the iPad 2

Commodity Fetishism marks the mystification of human relations said to arise out of growth of market trade, when social relationships between people are expressed as, mediated by and transformed into, objectified relationships between commodities and money. People are controlled by what happens in society whether they are aware of it or not. The clothes that are worn to the latest game console and the most popular influence: the mobile phone. Mass media is a major influence and seduces people with the sexualisation of advertising. By sexing up the products, the advertisers are tapping into  the subconscious mind thus making that product an object of desire and even if one cannot afford it at that moment, by seeing other peers with that particular product entices one to find ways of obtaining it just to keep up with the Jones’s. Apple have cornered this market extremely well. They have made their products the most sought after in the world and every time a new product is released people of a certain market flock to the Apple store days before just so that they can be the first to own that product, be it the iphone or even the ipad. Although other companies try to compete and bring out similar products to rival them, people still remember the Apple products. Apple do not need to do much marketing because those who do buy their products will tell others how great the product is, which can be by word of mouth, video clips on youtube, ebooks, images and even text messages.

Brands such as Nike had no credit in the basketball world before 1984, when they struck a deal with Michael Jordan for $2.5 million to promote them. Michael soon became a rising star in Basketball and all the youngsters knew who he was and those who didn’t soon found out. This was the perfect way for Nike to promote their name. Each of the Air Jordan’s released pushed the boundaries of style and technology. Since it’s first release in 1985, there have continually been new designs of the Air Jordan athletic shoe released each year even after Jordan’s retirement from basketball. Today, Jordan is not as popular as he was a few years ago and the youth of today probably do not even know who he is but they are still buying the product because of the Nike brand. Nike is probably the most successful in sportswear and they do not even need to write their name because their logo i.e. “the swoosh” alone speaks for itself and everybody knows the brand. 

Nowadays people tend to have less time for socialising, and jobs and hectic lifestyles have taken over people’s social lives. As a result of social networking sites, people are now communicating through the power of the internet. This has affected face-to-face communication skills in a way that people do not really know how interact with each other as they did say 15 years ago, prior the technology boom. This can be noticed mainly in London where there is almost no interaction between people on the tube. Everyone has either a newspaper, mobile phone or laptop to keep them occupied just so that they do not have to make conversation. This is exactly what Debord was expressing when he said relations between commodities have replaced relations between people, i.e commodity fetishism. The lack of face-to-face communication has affected people’s confidence. When sitting behind a computer, there is no direct face-to-face contact which allows more time to respond to whoever is on the other side, therefore not seeing facial expressions and hearing tones in the voice may lead to conversations being misunderstood. Traditionally, people in the north of England tend to have a different attitude; they are not as technology hungry and tend to be friendlier and seek that interaction with people. Social interaction plays a big part of their identity, particularly the older generation. However, this pattern is starting to fade to some extent with the younger generation wanting to catch up with the South.

Today, society is more about wants rather than needs due to the facility of obtaining credit to be able to afford luxuries. Television has been the major culprit in enticing society into buying what we do not really need. Food, shelter and clothing have been made more desirable, no longer does one just want a house, one also wants a designer kitchen, bathroom, bedroom with all the mod cons and 40” flat screen HD, 3D TV. Marks and Spencer’s make their food so desirable on TV that when people watch television they are automatically captured. Their timing is also calculated so that it is shown before or around dinner time to get ones taste buds going. This reflects in photography in marketing which can be seen on billboards when one is driving, on public transport or even in magazines and newspapers. Photography is the tempter used to draw in the consumer. Due to editing software a simple image can be manipulated to look “perfect” and draw in a specific market. Fashion magazines have greatly airbrushed the image of models to show her with flawless skin and a size zero and this is viewed by young girls and there is this pressure to “look good” because this is what society believes a woman should look like. There is no understanding of why images look this way and this leads to women crash dieting or even turning bulimic to reach societies expectations.

Not everybody will react the same to a particular advert, as everyone is different and has different values; what appeals to some may not appeal to others. A Marks and Spencer’s advert for chocolate cake with hot creamy chocolate oozing out of it will not appeal to someone who is weight conscious.

People are influenced and dominated by images everywhere. In this modern day, if an image appears sexy, it will sell. The notion that ‘sex sells’ is extremely clear. The sexualisation of products is what captures a person and makes them desirable. Even simple things such as books have caused a stir when the image of a naked couple in bed were more interested in reading than sex. In some ethnic societies in the UK this was scorned upon and they resorted to painting over the billboard to cover up the nudity. So photography dominates society because it is quick to capture a person’s attention compared to a short film or advert on television. In all the magazines that are available today, whether it be a food magazine of gardening, good photography is what first captures a person before reading the text. Sex appeal can increase the effectiveness of an advert because it attracts the consumer’s attention. A pair of long legs on a billboard is more likely to catch and hold a man’s attention than a puppy regardless of how cute it is; even women are drawn to them with the desire of having silky smooth ‘goddess legs’. 

In conclusion, today’s society mirrors that of the Spectacle; commodities have taken over and are a substitution for using the once important social skills people possessed. This has occurred through photography, in particular how ‘perfected’ images influence people to buy products that look good but that they may not even need. Is photography the reason for the substitution of social skills with commodities? This may appear to be the case. Today’s society is the Spectacle ... an inverted image of society in which relations between commodities have replaced relationships between people.

Essay by Rishi Bangaroo