technological medium, resulting in popular and entertaining films that promote the capitalist ideology. Congruent with the value of entertainment, cinema supports the ideological motives of Hollywood and Hollywood’s homogenisation of culture, as the visual attractions and creative narratives propagate Hollywood’s values around the world. According to Debord, the spectacle is simultaneously the result and project of the existing mode of production, the maintenance of the present model of socially dominant life. With the notion of the spectacle elevating sight, the cyclical affirmation of the dominant in Hollywood movies-as the world is filtered through mediated images-targets the masses through the unconscious and often unconsensual consumption of visuals. For McLuhan, European filmmakers constitute his definition of ideal artists because, rather than interpreting the message on behalf of the audience, through their emphasis on the film as a medium, their work triggers a cognitive process within viewers, promoting critical thought through the combination of reality and imagination, thus empowering the autonomy of the viewer. In Amélie, Jeunet exploits the power of the image in our capitalist context to create opportunities for wonder, imagination and, as such, autonomy. In understanding the spectacle-as both the result and project of the existing mode of production- in the present model of socially dominant life, Jeunet exploits the value of the image through the surface of Amélie and the unreal visual aesthetic of the film. Returning from Hollywood, having finished work on Alien: Resurrection, Jeunet made a commitment to himself: that he would contribute to the national heritage of French cinema;as an homage, Amélie is a patiche, rife with references to French films. Controlling every aesthetic element, Jeunet’s shots are filled with intent. Beginning with the anamorphic format (2.35:1), Truffat’s Jules et Jim is conjured. Jeunet further references Truffat through the prologue of Amélie before showing Amélie watchi>