Panopticism Essay. random notes things to discuss and bits ive written to pad out!

Panopsism and Advertising.

· Facebook advertising. Monitoring what people look at and what they respond to.

· Email advertising…. Subscribing to newsletters.

· Certain tv chanels reach certain audiences.

· They can see what you are like and what you like without directly speaking to you or you actually buying anything!

Papanopticism is a theory originally developed by French philosopher Michel Foucault, he theorised upon the idea of society and surveillance. The fascination we as a society seems to have developed with the idea of constantly monitoring people, whether it be monitoring there progress or their whereabouts, down to what they do and say. Even In relation to the advertising world; what and how they promote ideas and products. He theorises points suggesting the idea of how being watched or even just the feeling of being watched effects our behaviour. He uses the example of how the rehabilitation process so well succeeds in a prison system because the prisoners have this constant feeling of "big brother" watching over them all the time, therefore this discourages bad behaviour through fear. big brother and his ever watching eye seems to be a ominous presence in society whether we like it or not, the question i keep asking my self that just doesn't seem to settle with me is "am i ok with this?", do i, like the rest of society, care that our privacy could be, and lets face it, is being intruded at every opportunity? i get the feeling i should care a hole lot more than i do, but i really don't. There are major benefits to being under its watchful eye; crime, safety, documentation. so for the slight uncomfortable moment i feel when thinking im being watched, id rather that then not ever being seen?! English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham designed a building that embodies all the principles and theories behind the idea of panopticism; the panopticon. The structure behind the idea and design is to allow an observer (prison guard in this case) to observe all the prisoners without the prisoners being able to tell whether they are being watched.

Ideology and the ISA

• MARXISM AND ALTHUSER

Marxist and Athuser's theories basically center around the history is of the struggle between social classes and how the powerful state control the world. In short they are basically saying that the wealthy and powerful members of society have massive amounts of control over the public and that the media can be censored to benefit the powerful. an example of this is when gordon brown sets up photo shoots with papers so that the public think whatever he wants them to think of him, and in turn shifting public perceptions of him?! Althuser stated that he believed we where being ruled by two governing states; Repressive state apparatus (RSA) including the police, army.

, prisons , courts, controlling us by rules and regulations, and the ideological state apparatus (ISA) which includes the church, education, party politics, family and the media, which control us by use of manipulation of images and image relations.

• NEWS CORP AND ADVERTISING

Rupert Murdoch censored his newspaper corporation so that the memoirs of chris pattern, slandering the Chinese government, couldn't be published. he did this because at the time Murdoch was in talks about deals with the Chinese government and wanted to keep them happy. Advertising is used by large companies and government also to set trends that the public will or will not follow, as i believe we DO have the freedom to choose, but i also agree that i feel the choices we do have are probably censored and manipulated by media and social trends.i believe the consumers ARE the powerful, without us there would be nothing to manipulate??!!!

• WILLIAMSON AND SEMIOLOGY

Humans are identified by objects instead of themselves. advertising is promoting materialism and masking the true person. advertising is responsible for creating trends and promoting this class divide between the consumers. objects are being seen as a reflection of people personalities and status rather than the actual person and their personality alone. THE OBJECTS THEMSELVES ARE BEING ASSOCIATED IN SEMIOLOGICAL TERMS AS A SYMBOL OF WEALTH AND POWER!

Williamson says this is a false status; no matter what you buy still don't really move classes, its just a false pretension created by the state to make you believe you could become more powerful and desirable but in reality you never really will. i agree with this theory, thinking about it in material terms, will having the latest audi or iphone take me one step closer to becoming prime minister?! no.

Panopticism & The IPA - Question answers....

Answers to the Questions .....

1. To subject the prisoners to a constant state of feeling like that are constantly being watched, forcing them to act appropriately at ALL times following prison rules.

2.The ‘prisoner’ knows himself to be observed… BUT..should never truly know when they are really being watched, forcing them to believe they are always being watched.

3. “he who is subjected to a field of visibility … assumes responsibility for the constraints of power … he becomes the principle of his own subjection” (p66). Basically the prisoner is forced to unconsciously act as the prison officer enforcing rules upon themselves to make them better behaved at ALL times.

4. “It makes possible to observe performances … to map aptitudes, to assess characters, to draw up rigorous classifications …compare the time he takes to perform a task … to calculate their wages” (p66).

5.“It could be used as a machine to carry out experiments, to … train or correct individuals… to try out pedagogical experiments” (p67).

6.“It can be exercised continuously in the very foundations of society, in the subtlest possible way” (p68)

7. “the ever growing influence of the state, to its ever more profound intervention” (p69)

8.‘The individual is carefully fabricated’ (p70)

M&S though time?

my comments so far.....

Who would have thought it, Marks and Spenser being the topic of discussion for its undeniably effective and original advertising techniques! Once thought of as a stuffy middle class, and lets face it, pretty boring company, MARKS AND SPENCER has now seemingly once again flourished into being recognised as a quality focused, well respected, British institution.

Having been forced to recognised their flaws, marks and Spencer miraculously managed to turn their fortunes around with the launch of the hugely famous "your M&S" campaign. By focusing on the quality of the ingredients within there food products and emphasising the mouth watering look and implied taste of the product, this made the audience almost crave the product every time the advert came on T.V! By using strong sensory manipulation techniques such as the ever-appetising sight of a succulent golden and moist roast chicken, and the soothing sensual sound of the voice over character, both combined make for a sensory overload resulting the consumer almost tasting and smelling the product through the TV! And lets face it, loving every minute of it making them crave more!

Although marks and Spencer seem to have risen from the ashes triumphant and proud this was not always the case. Many people viewed the company, as being a little to dated and stuffy, suggesting that marks had been reluctant to move into the naughties. However, Marks’s has always maintained throughout its long history it emphasis on quality which i feel even though this could have sparked the "stuffy" contorted remarks, it has faired the company well making it seem more trustworthy and it gives the customer reassurance that have spent that tiny bit extra the product they are getting is going to be better value for money.