在資本主義式的商業機制運作下，宗教信仰的符號也被作為流行符號操作，在宗教商業化操作以及大眾傳媒的推波助瀾，台灣大甲媽祖遶境活動引發信仰符號消費熱潮。媒體刻意營造一種氛圍，呈現一種景觀、這種無形的制約是最深刻的奴役。資本家如何透過媒體營造景觀、製造氛圍，用以催眠消費者使他進入這個物體系 ?本論文藉布希亞符號消費理論及擬像理論，並融合德波的景觀概念，分析信仰符號消費的流行文化現象，並試論宗教信仰在過度商業機制的符號化操作後所面臨的限制和危機。符號的過度複製與再生產削減了符號的內涵意義，人透過符號消費是否真正完成自我 ?或僅是符號價值取代自身價值使個人失去主體性，而符號的內涵則因為充斥過多的意義，導致符號意義的內爆，符號的內涵意義終究消失殆盡 。 Jean Baudrillard claimed, "To become an object of consumption, an object must first become a sign," which announces the arrival of the consumer society. We consume mainly in order to obtain the sign in the object. The consumption of sign is one of the ways to establish our status in the society. The sign value decides the system of objects. Moreover, we consume the sign in order to produce the value differences. We consume “sign difference” in a tendency to be recognized and to save ourselves by our own efforts. Consumption builds relationships between human beings. By consumption of sign, we construct the system of sign and social orders, which reflects the culture. In this enormous system of objects, we deny the value of ourselves and yet build it at the same time.
The media not only interfere with the order of the consumer society. Moveover, its prosperity also disrupts the sign order. The sign order we used to have is totally destroyed. The messages distributed by the media are patched together in chaos with fragments of meanings. The reproduce of artificial images makes a strange spectacle in the consumer society. This spectacle is made up of artificial images, which appear to be even more real than reality and through TV provide an overwhelming atmosphere. In a world with too much information and without enough meanings, we can hardly tell between the phenomenon of mass media and the reality. As a result, the reality is very hard to recognize.
Under the mechanism of Capitalism, the religious sign is manipulated as the fashion sign. The pilgrimage activities of Daja Mazu bring about a rush of the consumption of religious sign. This ambience of the spectacle is like an invisible constraint which forces people to consume. How does the Capitalist control the mass media, produce the ambience of the spectacle to hypnotize the consumer? This thesis discusses the consumption of sign and analyzes the consumption of religious sign in the popular culture as well.
