Superbowl as Spectacle and Man's Search for Authenticity

I rarely watch the half time show at the biggest sporting event in the U.S., but this year, sitting in the bar, my friends seemed intent on watching it so I was all but forced to follow the crowd. Watching Madonna lip sync her way through her old songs (including the highly controversial Like a Prayer, with a new Black Jesus on stage, followed by a one hit wonder in a moo moo) made me realize how far the spectacle society has come from its earlier instantiations in Guy Debord's situationalist formulation. In fact, the Super Bowl might be the best example of the spectacle society today. From the two week buildup to maximize exposure, to the pre-pre-pre show to the half time spectacular (which was aesthetically quite stunning) to the coronation at the end of the game, it is really all about selling. The real genius of the event was their decision years ago to start hyping the commercials as an essential feature of the four hours. Instead of people getting up to grab a beer, some guacamole or chat up the cute guy or girl across the room, the commercials are the headliner, with the silly game really just the reason to have a bunch of people over to watch TV. And the media, of course, plays along like sycophantic dogs lapping up the hype and reporting back on the best and worst commercials of the day as if this were the official salon shows of Paris in the 1880s. The Super Bowl makes players, makes teams, creates legends and sells a lot of products, while sometimes working to rejuvenate a career. I had thought Madonna at 53 was finished performing, but apparently this was her comeback stage, as she now plans the most extensive tour of her career (and a new album as well, of course). As to the game, it was quite entertaining and came down to an exciting last 5 minutes where the Giants squeaked out a victory as Brady's final pass fell on the endzone turf untethered to a players hands. (As a side note, it's funny that Belicheck has been hounded for allowing the Giants to score, as otherwise they just would have kicked the winning fieldgoal as time ran out. I guess it's easy to be an armchair quarterback).

Missing from the game that surrounds the game was that mercurial quality we call authenticity. As youth try harder and harder to find it, it seems to become more and more elusive. And that is the signature quality of the spectacle -- where everything is mediated for maximum emotive effect, undermining any real connection to the underlying event. It seems to me that that desire for the authentic is ironically found throughout the current youth culture landscape, though every attempt is so quickly commodified it must be a dizzying quest indeed. From the hipster movement gone mainstream, to the various subcultures (punk, goth, emo, rocker, folk, etc.) to Facebook and the entirety of Internet culture, the search for authenticity seems as meaningless as the search for Bobby Fisher. As we move closer to the 2012 election, authenticity in politics again comes to the fore, as the people search for someone, anyone who they think actually believes in what they say and stands by what they do. That is a rare commodity these days and it will be interesting to see if Romney can somehow convince the public that all of his lying and flip-flopping doesn't completely undermine his authenticity as a "real" conservative and real American. Bush was able to pull off this feat even as he grew up in the elitist of families and Clinton and Obama both succeeded because they arguably had roots that made them more authentic by virtue of their upbringing. Obama will have to do so again if he is to win and convince the public that his attempts to change the country and improve the economy were authentic and not just a ploy to get elected. This, of course, is made more difficult by a Republican party that has mastered the art of negation as policy, blocking everything Obama has attempted to do that they could. Authenticity has always been a complex idea that some would argue doesn't exist, but it is something that people seem to strive for more and more, particularly as it recedes into the spectacle society and its commodification and mediation of everything that it comes across.

Ron Rossenbaum has an interesting take on another politician grappling with the authenticity issue here: Slate.