Michel Foucault’s observations of Western societies and their means of keeping their people in their right place and order lead him to contemplate the similarities between civil vigilance and Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon. The Panopticon is a circular-shaped building, which can serve the purposes of a prison because of its separate rooms lining the outsides and a control/watch tower situated in the center of the building. Foucault says in Discipline and Punish, that:
The panoptic mechanism arranges spatial unities that make it possible to see constantly and to recognize immediately. In short, it reverses the principle of the dungeon; or rather of its three functions – to enclose, to deprive of light, and to hide – it preserves only the first and eliminates the other two. (554)
Taking that model into consideration, it is reasonable to say then that media outlets such as TMZ or OMG.com function in very much the same way as the panopticon for those who are either brave enough or foolish enough to undertake the task of entertaining the masses for profit. Entertainment media sources such as TMZ also reverse the idea of the dungeon in that they provide their “prisoners” with plenty of light (the spotlight and the flashing lights of the paparazzis’ cameras) and they reveal to the general public everything and anything which they can possibly find out about their prey, the celebrities. The only thing that celebrity gossip sites do keep from the “dungeon” is the idea of confinement; Foucault says that “Visibility is a trap.” (554). Unfortunately, the celebrities who see themselves trapped within this societal prison can do nothing but try to brush off all of the unwanted press.
Works Cited
Foucault, Michel. "Discipline and Punish." Ed. Julie Rivkin. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2004. 549-66. Print.
SmartPictures / PacificCoastNews.com. Rihanna Can Get Away with Wearing Just about Any Outfit ... as Long as It Doesn't Consist of a Purple Metallic Cap, Ill-fitting Sweatshirt, and Terribly Unflattering Trousers. 2010. Photograph. Www.OMG.com. Yahoo, 12 May 2010. Web. 17 May 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment