Foucault described and re-illustrated Bentham’s Panopticon, by saying that the idea of the Panopticon creates “identities.” According to Foucault’s interpretation of the Panopticon, citizens of society create their roles based on a primal need to satisfy those roles in society.
Even though there are not many current examples of the Panopticon in today’s society, there are a couple examples of the Panopticon prison; however, the theory behind Foucault’s observation is most importantly discussed in the creation of “Big Brother.” According to Foucault, Big Brother replaces the idea of the guards in the tower in the Bentham model. In Foucault’s theory we are shaped by the presence of the “moral” and “judging” un-seen-eye.
The real and most prevalent version of the Panopticon is the reality t.v. show. On most reality t.v. shows there is an understanding that there will be a camera monitoring the actions made. And like Foucault described, each person on the show has their role.
On MTV the show “The Real World” best displays the roles in a consistently surveillance environment. Most of the time there are a set of typical roles: the macho guy, the wimp, the overly emotional girl, the moral one, the homosexual one, and the overtly sexual. This is like the scenario he described with the leper colonies. The only difference is, well aside from the fact that the cast of the “Real World” won’t have leprosy, that the power play is between sexual relationships and, therefore, is not about survival.
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