Reading The Spectacle

Blogging the Spectacle

2009-12-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

The internet is a medium of the spectacle. When you read Reading the Spectacle you are, in a sense, literally reading the spectacle.

"In analyzing the spectacle we are obliged to a certain extent to use the spectacle's own language, in the sense that we have to operate on the methodological terrain of the society that expresses itself in the spectacle. For the spectacle is both the meaning and the agenda of our particular socio-economic formation. It is the historical moment in which we are caught."

One might say the internet is a less alienated form of communication, in that amateur creators of free content are afforded the freedom to publish their work in a free to inexpensive forum, relatively free from the constraints of commercial and/or political interests, (though this doesn't mean entities like Google or deviantART or YouTube won't exploit the display of such work for spectacular commerce with context-sensitive smart advertising.) Even so, the internet isn't going to remain as free as it is forever.

The Television Event Everybody Will Be Talking About

2009-11-30T05:48:00.000-08:00

"Did you see Idol last night?" ... "Can you believe the Pats went for it on 4th and 2?" ... "It turns out Lost jumped the shark in season one, but none of us noticed!" ... Small talk and Monday morning quaterbacking around the water cooler are hardly human interaction. Although an utterance of, "There was nothing good on TV last night so I read this book in which the author says we no longer directly live, but experience a false representation of life through an endless succession of spectacles," might be met with a slightly more authentic form of human contact: the blank stare.*

"The spectacle is not a collection of images; it is a social relation between people that is mediated by images."

* The Blank Stare, once the weapon of sardons and malcontented comedians, (see: Bill Hicks,) has matriculated into common use and been commodified by the spectacle to punctuate and soften irony. A goofy "just kidding!" sung after every "insult," (see: Jon Stewart.)

Alienated Production

2009-11-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

This child is not making a soccer ball for himself. He is making a commodity of a thousand soccer balls. Somewhere along the line he may have the opportunity to own or play with one of these balls, but he only benefits from a very small portion of the value of his surplus production. Most of these soccer balls will be utilized by the children of other alienated workers in far away lands.

"[A]lienated consumption has become just as much a duty for the masses as alienated production. The society's entire sold labor has become a total commodity whose constant turnover must be maintained at all cost. To accomplish this, this total commodity has to be returned in fragmented form to fragmented individuals who are completely cut off from the overall operation of the productive forces."

Spectacular Improvement: Home and Garden DIY

2009-11-23T07:24:00.000-08:00

Home buyers expect an updated kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops. And a master suite with plenty of space. And a tiled bathroom. And don't cheap out on the fixtures!

"The spectacle ... is the omnipresent affirmation of the choices that have already been made in the sphere of production and in the consumption implied by that production."

In Death , He Will Be Larger Than Life

2009-07-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

Jackson May Play London After All, Via Footage

Why should death get in the way of a comeback tour...that's the transcendence of The Spectacle working its magic....

The Spectacle Must Ensure That It Is Available at Any Time or Any Place

2009-07-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

from the happiest place on Earth:

The ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney today started the early stages of upgrading more than 100 of their 150 television screens to high definition — including the tubes in the bathrooms...
“Right now, they’re doing a lot of wiring — behind the scenes stuff,” said David Nakashima, the Zone’s marketing manager. “The plans have been in the works now for quite a while. Now is the perfect opportunity — we’re at the time right before football season.”
He said the upgrades will include replacing the screens above the urinals in the men’s room and on the ceilings above the stalls in the women’s room.

HDTV when you pee...now that's progress!

cross-posted @ Pime

News Exclusive

2009-05-29T17:17:00.001-07:00

"Hello Kitty really was born a style icon and the moment that the public met Kitty they fell in love with her".

- Katrina Szish reporting for ABC News

To Fool, Mislead and Contradict

2009-05-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

The Spectacle co-opts itself just for kicks.

I don't think Guy Debord dressed like a hipster, but then again, I didn't know him.

Philosophy Is Dead! Long Live Philosophy!

2009-05-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

One of the most important attributes of The Spectacle is its ability to appropriate anything, including dissent and opposition, and reorder it to suit The Spectacle's needs and whims.

Statement

2009-05-16T22:28:00.001-07:00

There is no red pill. There is no blue pill. There is only The Spectacle.