Imagine society is like a vast, elaborate theatre where everyone is both an actor and an audience member at the same time. In this theatre, the script is written by the images, models, and maps we create—these are the rules, norms, and expectations set by our culture, media, and economy. Initially, this script was based on a reflection of the real world outside the theatre—a representation of reality. For instance, if the script described a tree, it was a symbol everyone agreed represented the actual trees outside. This is akin to Baudrillard’s first order of simulacra, where the distinction between the symbol (the image of the tree in the script) and the real tree outside was clear. As time goes on, the theatre becomes so engrossing and self-referential that the actors start to forget about the world outside. The script begins to reference other scripts and images within the theatre, rather than the real world outside. This is similar to the second order of simulacra, where the distinction between the symbol and the real starts to blur, as with mass-produced images that begin to mask and replace reality. Eventually, in this elaborate theatre, the script becomes reality. What the script says becomes more real to the actors and audience than the actual world outside. Trees are no longer judged or understood by their existence outside the theatre but by how they are described in the script. This stage represents Baudrillard’s third order of simulacra, where the symbol (or the script) precedes and creates what is considered real. The concept of the tree is now entirely defined by its representation in the theatre, not by any real trees that grow outside.In this theatre, Debord’s spectacle is the grand production that keeps everyone’s attention fixed on the stage, on the script, and away from the world outside. It’s so captivating that the audience forgets there is a world beyond the theatre’s walls. The spectacle is the entire set of performances that make up society’s engagement with the images and narratives that now define reality.Capitalism, in this analogy, would be the process by which the theatre’s script is written and rewritten. It decides which roles are valuable, which narratives are given prominence, and how the actors (society’s members) should interact with the spectacle. It commodifies the script and the performances, turning attention, labor, and even identity into things that can be bought and sold.Anti-globalization and anti-capitalist groups in this analogy are like actors who begin to question the nature of the theatre itself and attempt to tell the audience about the world outside. However, since the theatre’s script has become the only reality the actors and audience know, these attempts are seen as part of the theatre’s performance. They struggle to effect change because the theatre’s production—the spectacle—has become so pervasive that it shapes the entirety of their reality.