CS351 Lecture 14: CS351 Lecture 14
Document Summary
Apprehended in a particular way, reality unfolds in a new generality as a pseudo-world apart, solely as an object of contemplation. The tendency toward the specialization of images of the world nds its highest expression in the world of the autonomous image, where deceit deceives itself. The spectacle in its generality is a concrete inversion of life, and, as such, the autonomous movement of non-life. The spectacle is not a collection of images; rather, it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images. In all its speci c manifestations- news or propagandas, advertising or the actual consumption of entertainment- the spectacle epitomizes the prevailing model of social life. It is the omnipresent celebration of a choice already made in the sphere of production, and the consummate result of that choice. In form as in content the spectacle serves as total justi cation for the conditions and aims of the existing system.