Thoughts on cultural decadence
A very interesting controversy has been stirred up by Netflix’s promotion of the film Cuties. I found this to be an interesting take from the director of the film:
"I saw that some very young girls were followed by 400,000 people on social media and I tried to understand why," she told CineEuropa.
"There were no particular reasons, besides the fact that they had posted sexy or at least revealing pictures: that is what had brought them this 'fame.'
"Today, the sexier and the more objectified a woman is, the more value she has in the eyes of social media. And when you're 11, you don't really understand all these mechanisms, but you tend to mimic, to do the same thing as others in order to get a similar result.
"I think it is urgent that we talk about it, that a debate be had on the subject."
This piece brings many thoughts to mind.
What is decadence? To take Ross Douthat’s definition, it is mostly repetition.
Why does repetition arise? Fundamentally, a decline in creative energy or instinct. Toynbee would have said that this comes about though a sacralisation of values or ideas which eventually inhibit the adaptation of society to new problems.
But can that explain the trend the director describes above? The connection is not direct. So let’s try some backward-induction.
The girls imitate this behaviour which they observe in a) the popular culture industry, or b) perhaps this is simply an emergent phenomenon on social media.
Regarding a) the objective function of this industry is to make money, and suggestive imagery and themes is one effective way of doing this. Regarding b) the motivator could simply be attention, or again money, as a large following raises the possibility of selling advertising.
So in both cases, it seems that the root of this behaviour is a desire for money.
An important qualifier: for those referred to in 4.b, they may have a need for money e.g. this may be the only way of funding education. Poverty or inequality could thus also be a driver.
But is it possible to reduce the desire for money? Only by creating a set of higher ideals to which people can work towards. It is partly the lack of a telos in the Aristotelian sense, and the self-worth and sense of coherent narrative it provides, which results in people pursuing meaning and self-validation through consumption and attention-seeking, rather than through creativity which requires some level of sacrifice. It hard to justify the sacrifice creativity requires if self-interest is your prime motivator.
I discuss how this sense of a telos can be restored in Chapter 12, which should be posted in a few weeks. But you can get a glimpse of a building-block in Chapter 5.
So what is the link to decadence and Toynbee? If a creative culture becomes rigid due to excessive sacralisation, it will lose its attractiveness and motivating power. As it begins to visibly fail, people will not sacrifice their self-interest, and the level of creativity falls further. Positive role models die off, without being replaced. In their place, imitators arrive, who affect the form of creativity without channeling any of its substance. This is one aspect of decadence.
The inability of this culture to provide meaning then results in other people turning to more immediate forms validation, including status goods such as money and fame. This is the second aaspect of decadence.