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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...
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…
References:
Debord, Guy. The Society of the Spectacle. New York: Zone Books, 2006. Print.
Engfehr, Kurt, Bonanno, Mike, & Bichlbaum, Andy. (directors) The Yes Men Fix the World. Starring Kurt Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum. Renegade Pictures, Charny/Bachrach Entertainment, USA, 2009.
Borderless World Kenichi Ohmae is a business consultant and the author of various books including The Borderless World- Power and Strategy in the interlinked economy, which appeared in 1990, and deals with nature of business and economy in this era of rapid globalization. The main purpose of the book according to Ohmae is to illustrate the benefits of globalization by highlighting the role played by multi-nationals in creating and distributing
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