Century of the Self and Simulacrum

In my last entry I discussed how Adam Curtis' observations in his insightful documentary series Century of the Self could be used to interpret political situations throughout the 2010's in America, and how a world was created where the average person's priorities were misdirected based on irrational, unconscious emotions centred around consumerism.  This world is promoted and reiterated by Big Media to maintain a passive population.  As it turns out, the basis of these theories are based on classic theory of social analysis, deep thinker and sociologist turned philosopher Jean Baudrillard.  Writing on the relationship between people and objects in the late 60's, consumerism in 1970 and politics and culture throughout the rest of his career, Baudrillard's most famous work was a book in 1981, Simulations and Simulacra, writings that served as inspiration for the Matrix movies.

Humans relationships to objects have changed as the roles and functions of objects have evolved alongside us, serving as limbs, sensory objects, or changing how we in turn interact with a third object.  Objects originally bought for a primary function begin to serve a secondary function, and suddenly the secondary qualities becomes the object's primary purpose.  Baudrillard uses the example of a refrigerator, where all old fridges used to be white, once they introduced fridges in different colors, suddenly you must select a fridge based on the color scheme of the rest of the kitchen.  The fridge becomes an accessory to the kitchen's ensemble, and by proximity becomes a statement made by the people who live there.  A person can express themselves by the arrangement and relative colors mixing about the kitchen. 

This analysis continues in The Consumer Society and Simulations, where personal expression is solely done through the purchasing of items in the full spectrum of imagination, and this is but one component of the Simulacrum, where we live in a "hyperreality" where mass production and consumption has created a fakeness or series of reproducible clones.  This ubiquity of copies of objects changes the way we think about objects, believing in the reproducibility of everything and so attributing a disposability and temporariness of everything around us.  A striking example he uses is Disneyland, a hyperreal fantasy that we (as a society) not only use to escape the "reality" that normally surrounds us for a while, but also reaffirms in our minds that the reality we normally inhabit is not a simulation.  This conviction that we are living in a more "real" reality is what allows us to continue living in it, and not questioning why the things around us have to be the way they are.

Century of the Self examines Bernays marketing techniques, but otherwise paints a similar picture where social order is based around consumerism, and where objects are given relationships to powerful emotional symbols based on self-expression.  And if you keep stimulating that irrational self you can maintain the relations of power and control the animalistic forces by keeping them engaged.  Bernays pioneered the technique of marketing research, meeting with volunteers and encouraging them to pretend they are consumer products and act out their relationships with the products.   Similarly, political marketers encouraged people to talk about policies and how they felt about them, encouraging them to act out these relationships as well.  This was the creation of the simulacrum that surrounds us presently. 

Not only are people engaged in this hyperreality, they are completely immersed in a reality created by the forces of media, big business and government.  Advertisement campaigns create emotional attachment by conveying unspoken ideas, encouraging self expression and activity through the purchase of products.  Curtis uses the example of the World's Fair, creating a Disneyland-esque atmosphere, while surrounding the visitor with the icons of consumption and self-expression.