Serendipity, Foucault

The one idea that really appealed to me in the Foucault reading was the notion of constant surveillance. Celebrities, Gossip Magazines, and Reality Shows are everywhere. The reason for this is because our society is literally obsessed with finding out about and watching other people from behind the camera lens, the tv screen, or the glossy pages of a magazine. When these "celebrities" are seen in real life it is a shock because part of our pleasure is seeing them in our private spheres and almost spying on them. Many people get "starstruck" and literally cant physically move because of this shock. Like Benjamin said "the camera lies". We are often disappointed seeing our favorite stars, saying things such as "shes so short!" or "she was prettier in the movies". DUH!We are tricking ourselves by watching these shows and reading these magazines, making a perfect alternate reality, and when we see them in real life, it all comes crashing down. Going further into the notion of surveillance, what we dont realize is that much of our communication devices can work against us. For example, we make ourselves "celebrities" on the internet using Facebook,and now the term "Facebook Stalker" seems like it has been around forever, it is part of our vocabulary. Everyone can see into our lives. Delving even further, we are digging our own grave. If we make the slightest mistake, the government can pull up our phone records, our internet history records, and even tap into our phones and hear what we are saying at that exact moment. They have all the power, and even though it seems like we can do "whatever we want" in cyberspace, there is authority always invisibly looming.