Response to "Spectacle" - Alejandro Lee

Guy Debord wrote about the dangers of fixed ideas and how heavily they have come to influence us. He specifically singles out the "spectacle" which he defines as an artificial moment which purports to be amazing in how novel it is, but actually works to reestablish the norms of society. On the contrary, the truly novel moments came in protest against this artificiality, culminating in the May 3rd, 1968 riots in Paris.



(additional photos of the '68 unrest)

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."

Indeed, Debord and his fellow Situationists understood that the television could not be the means of conveying their revolutionary message; in part because television was controlled by the elite, but also because it was- as McLuhan put it- a "cold medium" that actually disengaged the audience on a whole.

Debord heralds a call to consciousness: we need principally to acknowledge the distinction between our real lives and the ideal life that is mentally grafted on us by mass media. The goal of the Situationists has proven elusive, because with the advent of industry and mass production, the masses spend their lives creating the commodities of a capitalist society.



And, to complete the cycle, the masses embrace seek a mental release from the grind of their lived lives by embracing the illusory life that is purported by the capitalist society.

If we can acknowledge the artifice, argues Debord, then we can also change it. He believes we ought engage the system using the same language as the system itself. The difference is that our key intent should be propelling a message other than consumption. This notion of a self-restrained revolution relates to McLuhan's problem about how people cannot accept new ideas if they stray too far from the established norm (only 10% new, instead of 75%).

Nonetheless, Debord's words are still important because the struggle for our consciousness is ongoing. We need to remain wary of the spectacle lest we allow it to dictate, over and over again, how we view our lives.