Spectacle and détournement in critical theory

Debord, the Yes Men, & the Society of the Spectacle

Frenchman Guy Debord composed his opus The Society of the Spectacle nearly five decades ago, and the Yes Men produced their culture jamming epic, The Yes Men Fix the World approximately four decades after the publication of Debord's work. Though they are years and miles a part, there are distinctive connections between these two texts that the paper will examine and report upon concisely. The Yes Men are a somewhat famous, possibly more infamous though, duo that makes films and engages in social experiments, pubic art, and other activities that are closely linked to artistic and activist movements such as the Situationalists and the Dadaists. In their film, they play both themselves and their corporate alter egos as an interactive mockumentary protest against some the greatest crimes against humanity and the Earth in the name of material accumulation and subordination of the masses. The Society of the Spectacle is dense with descriptions of the nature of consumer culture and the fundamental pillars of infrastructure that must be in place in order for the society of the spectacle to exists and persist. Likely with Debord's ideas, observations, and strategies in mind, the Yes Men apply their knowledge in a humorous, scandalous, and informative manner in order to expose to audiences to, as well as to educate audiences about the greater context of power, discourse, and consumption that so many people live and die by, unknowingly. The paper attempts to create clear connections between the two texts, to demonstrate the intertextual conversation they have with each other and that they have with consumers.

The Yes Men, while posing as industrial, executive, capitalists, have the intention to expose the lack of ethics and empathy of the world's most wealthy and powerful men, who control and manipulate the most profitable industries in the world. The most prominent connection to this writer, with respect to the Yes Men and Debord, is in relation to Debord's ideas regarding the destruction and elimination of the society of the spectacle. Debord argues that there are two primary ways to destroy the spectacle, consumer society -- one way is full blown armed revolution, in the traditional sense. Literally, fighting back and destroying the system from without is part of the strategy. Another, and likely the more subversive tactic, which the Yes Men employ, is to destroy the society of the spectacle from within by means of excessive, blissful participation in the system.

Debord contends that for those of us who are aware of this type of society and wish to escape it, we can fight the system directly, and we can also fight the system indirectly. If conscious members of society, as well as (and probably more importantly) ignorant members of society blissfully participate in the system to the point of excess, the system will freeze or shut down because of overload. This is the same kind of tactic proposed by the hacker/activist group of the 21st century, Anonymous, who once threatened to shut down Facebook by means of precisely time, excessive participation.