Breaching experiment using Twister at Macy's to expose consumerism

Breaching Experiment

A Game of Twister Played at Macy's Department Store

Brief Description of the Breaching Experiment

My daughter, Kayley, who is fourteen and one of her friends, Dani, with her mother's permission, participated in a brief experiment. The experiment was to play the popular game "Twister" in a social setting that would be extremely uncommon for something like that to occur. The three of us took the game to the mall and looked for a spot in which we could play. We asked a few people to participate in the game as the game's "spinner" however each person that was asked refused to participate. Eventually we chose the department store Macy's to play the game.

When playing the game there were several odd looks that were cast in our direction; one lady shook her head in what appeared to be disgust. Shortly after the game began, a store employee promptly demanded that were leave the store and appeared rather annoyed. Even after an explanation of the purpose of the experiment, the employee still seemed rather peeved and announced that she was fully prepared to call security if we had not of complied with her demands. She also mentioned that was the oddest thing she had witnessed in the store all year.

Critical Theorist Interpretation

Much of the modern social structure and social context is embedded with consumerism concepts. Consumerism is so deeply embedded in society's collective subconscious that it is simply taken for granted. Throughout our consistent bombardment of consumerist messages that appear in unavoidable advertisements, we develop a self-consciousness that is framed in the social world that promoted and guided by social institutions. These institutions evolved over time to gain their place in society and thus there is a historical element to the way that the present social world has manifested.

In many cases the development of the social structures occurs in a top-down fashion as the powerful or the ruling classes work to impose their social expectations either directly or indirectly. This development can be referred to as the concept of hegemony. In the modern social environment, powerful social institutions with access to vast resources, such as multinational corporations, that can spend billions collectively in advertising dollars work to shape the social construct. Much of this advertising portrays shopping as a virtuous and almost religious experience in which an individual can partake in to define their identity through consumption.

To relate this to the breaching experiment, the fact that our game of Twister was conducted in a upscale shopping establishment seemed to largely upset the social expectations of the game's audience; with the exception of a few children who seemed more accepting of the experiment. Playing a game in such an establishment was a disruption in the consumerist mindset and hence it was certainly greeted by annoyance; especially by those who make their living by working in this establishment. The shopping experience is "protected" by retail experience that has developed in the modern capitalistic social structure.

Symbolic Interactionism

There are three realities that can be viewed in the symbolic interactionism model. There is the physical objective reality, a social reality, and some combination of the two that can create a unique reality to the individual. Playing twister in the middle of an upper scale retail establishment is undoubtedly something that does not easily reconcile with peoples social reality. It is likely that this is a unique occurrence that they have not experienced firsthand nor have had any other explanation of such an occurrence. Therefore, it is likely that many of the customers who were shopping in the store simply dismissed the visual symbol of the Twister game because it may have seemed surreal or just outside the realm of what could be considered reality. For example, a passerby might take a couple looks at the game being played by not find any significance in the occurrence because it just doesn't fit anywhere within their world view.

It is interesting to note however that some of the younger children who witness the game or the preparation of the game exhibited curiosity or interest in the game. Within the symbolic interactionism model, these children did not have the same level of social reality as the older individuals who witnessed the scene. Therefore, they would virtually be forced to rely on more of an objective measure of reality. In fact, in the elevator on the way to the location we chose to play the game, a little girl mentioned that "that game is so fun." Thus there may be different symbolic interactions among different ages and demographics.

Discussion

My role in the experiment was that of the spinner. Although I didn't directly play the game (like the teenagers did) I was pretty closely involved. This involvement had certain internal reactions that I could easily recognize. As an agent in the experiment, even though I knew the role I was playing, I also felt that I was in violation of certain social constructs. Even though that was the purpose of the experiment in some regard, many of the feelings that I had were in conflict with the idea that I was expressing my own free will in participating in the experiment.

I do not believe that the children involved had quiet the same internal reactions to the experiment. They were in good spirits and laugh, played, and giggled as we played the game. It could be the case that they were responding to me as an authority figure and this in some way was held in higher regard than participating in an experiment that broke traditional social constructs. However, it may also be that at that age the sense of the social norms is not as strong as it would be in adulthood. Whatever the case may be, one of the most interesting aspects of the experiment, in my opinion, is how people at different developmental stages seemingly interpreted the experiment in different ways.