The Colosseum, built by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 70-80 CE, was a symbol of how Vespasian and the Romans came to power. It was built to project Vespasian’s power and to reinforce the notion that the Romans ruled the world. This was no mere sports arena, as we know that thousands of prisoners, slaves, and gladiators were mercilessly killed through bloody spectacles.
Let’s consider the notion of spectacle. A spectacle is a visually striking performance or display; an event or scene regarded in terms of its visual impact.
Please think of a spectacle that is political in nature and meant to affirm and/or assert a particular political ideology. This can be a spectacle from any time period, including the present, from any culture, nation, peoples, discipline, etc. How do spectacles work on our individual and collective psyche?
Political Spectacle of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi's foreign rallies and rousing speeches are example of honing the art of political spectacle After he came to power in 2014, he conducted 15 rallies in foreign countries and delivered emotional and haunting speeches addressing expatriate Indians. As a Prime Minister Modi travelled 100 times out of India and visited 60 countries. He projects himself as the a strong promoter of unity between all Indians in the Globe and asks them to be fair to the country they are staying now keeping passionate ties with the mother land India.
The "Howdy Modi" rally in Houston attracted 50000 supporters and even Donald Trump. We all know the rich Indian society in US can be a very good source of finance even though, they don't vote in India. The expatriate Indian's feel an emotional tie with India through Modi and they feel proud. This is being converted in to money. The foreign currencies came as donation for Modi's second term of election is the demonstration of success of the strategy.
Back in India, whole world know that economy is in a bad situation, unemployment shot up, industries are closing down, farmers are in a very bad condition, and gap between poor and rich is widening. But these news and tough experiences are subsided by the inflated projections of Prime Minister flying around the Globe, shaking hands with the prominent world leaders, talking about space programmes etc. Total distractions from the tough facts prevailing in the country is camouflaged by the successful political spectacle by Modi. The huge success in 2019 elections of BJP is the success of this strategy.
It is clear that we like to be proud of our country by the huge support and acceptance of the head of our nation in all important stages all over the globe and the support being projected by the rich and elite expatriates will trigger new hopes in our mind. The visual impact of this activities are very high in our mind. The pseudo positivity is the decisive factor making such strategies successful in getting mass support and the prevailing sad realities will be forgotten as long as the picture of virtual prosperity sustains in the environment. Individually and collectively we are getting aligned to the projected visuals and get pulled into the wishful actions of the projected leader.
Modi's political spectacle made him retain his power is a good example of how people are made to think that Modi is the leader who made us proud of our country and he only can bring foreign investments by keeping high regards by other countries about India. Even though we know the situation different, we like to keep the impression about our future the way Modi projects. Modi's message to Expatiates is "India is your motherland and you have gone elsewhere to work, and you can be loyal to both". This catching message attracts them towards BJP and they may be committed to support by donations and good messages. The collective proud feeling can bring in positive actions in the long run if the spirits of Indians are tapped in productive ways with goon national policies and planning. This spectacle can be made good to the country if it is used properly by the leadership.
The Colosseum, built by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 70-80 CE, was a symbol of how...