Explaining surveillance state via pop culturefrom @pleasedontmakemefocus

Transcript

Note that Tyler the creator dropped after his new album really highlights something in the whole fear of being perceived conversation, and it's the fact that we live in a surveillance state. Not just politically, but socially, creatively, and emotionally. And there's actually a sociological line for this, and it's called the panopticon. It's this idea that people regulate their own behavior no because they are being watched, but because they might be being watched. That's what's happening now where we've internalized the possibility of being perceived. So we move to the world like there's always a camera running because there usually is. And it's funny because most people are actually complicit in this system. Like, we film strangers on trains. We upload clips of people crying, arguing, breaking down. People narrate each other's lives in real time. Surveillance isn't just a force applied to us. It's one that we enact on each other. Even creativity has been folded into this idea. To be a content creator now means optimizing your life for visibility. Post more, stream longer, be everywhere. Even just existing online demands a constant performance. You don't even need a niche anymore. Sometimes your personality can beat the product. And it's not even that we've just adapted to surveillance. Sometimes we even style ourselves around it. Like the paparazzi style campaigns, the tabloid inspired edits, the trends to make it look like you got caught off guard. Being watched is a style. I remember this Cameron Diaz interview. She said the moment everything changed for her was when films started having cameras. She knew then that privacy was over. What shifted is that now everyone's a potential target, not just celebrities. There used to be, like, an implicit contract, visibility tier exchange for access. Fame meant that you gave up some privacy, but you got protection, perks, money. Now regular people are being exposed in the same way, but without any benefits. And that's why people are starting to say things like being unreachable or touching grass is the new luxury. Privacy, stillness, and not being online are being reframed as aspirational. It's no longer about disappearing to escape, but it's about being able to opt out. And that's why I think a lot of people resonate with what his friend said because the fear isn't just of being perceived, it's of being captured.