Model / Mediator

Definition

In mimetic theory, the model (also called the mediator) is the person from whom the subject borrows their desire. The model is the hidden third vertex in the triangle of desire: Subject → Object, mediated by the Model.

The model is not necessarily conscious of their role. They do not necessarily intend to provoke imitation. Their desire simply makes the object appear worth wanting.

The Model’s Double Role

The model has a paradoxical double function: they both show the subject what to want and, as a rival, block access to it. This double role is what makes mimetic desire so powerful and so painful.

When the model and subject share the same social world (internal mediation), the model’s possession of the object becomes both a proof of the object’s value and an obstacle to the subject’s having it. This is the engine of mimetic rivalry.

Choosing Models

Since desire is always borrowed, the question is not whether to have models but which models to choose. Girard’s Christian ethics were partly about this: imitating Christ, who is a model that does not compete with you for worldly objects, is a form of liberation from mimetic rivalry.

Luke Burgis’s Wanting develops this point practically: most people choose models unreflectively, driven by proximity, prestige, and social media. Choosing models deliberately — and choosing models whose desire does not converge on the same scarce objects you desire — is what Burgis calls “anti-mimetic” living.

Freshmenistan and Celebristan

Burgis introduced two useful terms for types of models:

• Celebristan: the world of celebrities and public figures, where models are distant enough that direct rivalry is impossible (external mediation). Their desire inflames our own without trapping us in direct competition.
• Freshmenistan: the world of peers and immediate social circles, where models are close enough to become rivals (internal mediation). This is the more dangerous form.

Social media has made Celebristan bleed into Freshmenistan: we are now in direct contact with aspirational figures who were formerly safely distant.