Panopticon Island: Analysis of The Wilds Series in the Context of Surveillance Society
Chapter from the book: Çimen, Ü. (ed.) 2025. Current Debates in Communication Studies.

Nisa Yıldırım
İstanbul Gelişim University

Synopsis

In modern societies, individuals or groups are constantly under surveillance. The definition of surveillance society has begun to be used to express this situation. The internalized surveillance phenomenon explained by Foucault with the panopticon metaphor has been taken to the next level in today's digital world. The structure of internet communication that constantly monitors and records users' footprints and the fact that users have largely accepted this situation has necessitated definitions such as voluntary surveillance and digital panopticon. This situation, which modern people fall into, has been the subject of films and series for a while, as every step they take in their daily lives and internet use is constantly under surveillance and recording. Inspired by the increasing number of surveillance society-themed narratives, this research aims to analyze the series The Wilds, released in 2020, in the context of concepts such as digital surveillance, voluntary surveillance, privacy and power. The series is about a group of young girls who go on a plane trip to go to a retreat camp and end up on a deserted island as a result of an accident are actually the subjects of a social experiment. The island, equipped with hidden cameras, has the function of a digital panopticon. It is seen that the researchers, who are the observers, direct the actions of the subjects using the data they gathered. The fact that the subjects and researchers also keep each other under surveillance creates a multi-layered surveillance and power dynamic. In conclusion, the series presents a simulation of the current system that condemns today's individuals to live in the shadow of cameras and algorithms.

How to cite this book

Yıldırım, N. (2025). Panopticon Island: Analysis of The Wilds Series in the Context of Surveillance Society. In: Çimen, Ü. (ed.), Current Debates in Communication Studies. Özgür Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub778.c3238

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Published

June 26, 2025

DOI