Spectacle and real life each contain the other, defeating simple contrast

Evidence

The spectacle cannot be abstractly contrasted to concrete social activity. Each side of such a duality is itself divided. The spectacle that falsifies reality is nevertheless a real product of that reality. Conversely, real life is materially invaded by the contemplation of the spectacle, and ends up absorbing it and aligning itself with it. Objective reality is present on both sides. — Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle, 19

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Refuses the easy move of opposing false image to true reality; reality itself is already invaded and aligned. This is the passage that dissolves the reader’s comfortable critical stance.
• XREF: connects to: Under modern production, lived experience becomes representation and spectacle — Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle, 12