Technology as Media Spectacle

Our talk about science this week got me thinking about 60's space race as a media spectacle. The coverage of this race between the United States and Russia was the basis of the Cold War. It was a media war, a technological war, and whoever could land on the moon first was the ultimate superpower. The United States ended up landing first and the picture of the American Flag being implanted on the moon became one of the most iconic symbols of the US rise to power. The picture became truth and provided the empirical evidence of the technological power of the United States.

This created the idea that scientific power = world power. That is why although the United States does not make anything we still hold the most patents out of all the countries giving us the Biopower. Our 'big pharma' has the power and funding to develop vaccines that cure the world of their ailments. We can go into countries who cannot provide their own people with vaccines and cure them of their sickness, giving us an almost 'god-like' status in that we can control life and cure people. The idea of the 'miracle' that doctors perform everyday is revered in culture as seen through the countless shows, such as ER, Grey's Anatomy, House, and Nip/Tuck. The obsession/awe with technology and the body lends itself to be the perfect media spectacle because it is so far removed from most people's intellectual capacity that is shows our ultimate dependence on the government and big business to provide us with this technology.