The Spectacle
Etymology
From French theorist Guy Debord’s "The Society of the Spectacle" (1967, "La société du spectacle"). "Spectacle" derives from Latin "spectaculum" ("a show"), from "spectare" ("to watch"). Debord repurposed the word to mean social relations mediated by images. Flagged as a theoretical redefinition.
noun · /thuh SPEK-tuh-kuhl/
A society so saturated by images and media that lived experience is replaced by its representation.
What it names
A sweeping handle for a world where everything real gets repackaged as something to watch — useful for critiquing consumer and media culture.
Example
Political conventions have become pure Spectacle, staged less to decide anything than to be broadcast.
Related idea
Compare hyperreality; the Spectacle names the social order of image-saturation, while hyperreality names the blurred experience of reality it produces.