Ally, post 8

Ally Best
post 8

As I was staring at my blank computer screen, trying to build up the courage to type in those first couple letters, I began thinking about the culture industry and, more specifically, culture. What exactly is culture anyways? The best definition I could come up with was the “stuff” that so-called “intellectuals” studied in order to better understand a group of people. As my mind drifted farther and farther from the blinking bar in front of me, I remembered back to a high school bio class in which we discussed “cultures.” Something rang a bell, so I looked up the definition of “culture,” not its classical meaning, but its scientific one. The definition I found from Merriam Webster, “the act or process of cultivating living material (as bacteria or viruses) in prepared nutrient media,” finally made me understand the meaning of culture and, in effect, Adorno’s problem with the “culture industry.” If we ignore the part about bacteria, this definition really does explain culture’s aim; it uses “prepared media” to cultivate “living material.” From this definition, one word in particular stuck out: “living.” Culture is supposed to be full of life. In essence, Adorno’s complaint with the “culture industry” is that it is taking the “life” out of modern culture. In Adorno’s opinion, culture should be about expression, imagination, and spontaneity. Culture should force people to actually think. However, the “culture industry,” as he describes it, removes these elements from culture by turning it into an industry that uses standard “formulas for success” to produce the greatest profit. It causes the individual to live in an almost “sleepwalking” state. First, it creates a need for the consumer and then it provides a product to fill that need. Adorno states that “The man with leisure has to accept what the culture manufacturers offer him,” and goes on to explain that industry’s “prime service to the consumer is to do his schematizing for him” (Culture Industry). In effect, the culture industry is removing intellectual thought from many aspects of life. Rather than analyze the thousands of different images and sounds that society thrusts upon the viewer each and every day, he or she is forced to simply observe them as an uninvolved bystander. Yet, even while viewers are simply “taking in” the culture industry, the culture industry itself is playing a much less passive role on them. As people are bombarded with different forms of media, they are steadily manipulated into robot-like life forms. They accept what is being presented to them at face value, without bothering to question or consult their own personal views. Adorno blames this deterioration of the consumer’s imagination and thought on “the objective nature of the products themselves” (Culture Industry). Most pieces of entertainment are so full of fast-paced action or overwhelming visuals that neither require nor stimulate any thought from the viewer. Adorno’s dislike of the culture industry is not limited to its effect on the viewer, but also its effect on media itself. Media today follows a recipe. For example, movies have happy endings. This statement has nearly become an expectation in modern-day culture, so much so that any deviation from it is oftentimes met with disapproval by the viewer. While occasionally the creators of mass media stray a little from the recipe, adding a pinch more of this ingredient or, if they are truly adventurous, an entirely new ingredient, they never seem to truly break free from the constraints of the recipe and create a masterpiece entirely their own. The culture industry has discovered a recipe that consumers like and will, therefore, “eat” and it is unwilling to venture out from this guarantee of success (and profit).

The fact that the culture industry is growing exponentially is undeniable. As Ashley pointed out yesterday in class, the average American views/hears/is exposed to approximately 4000 advertisements each and every day. Advertising is probably the most obvious form of the influential media to which Adorno refers. At least its motives are clear: buy this, go there, try that. The consumer has no trouble determining the purpose of the ad. However, there are many other forms of media which are not entirely as transparent. Movies do not come right out and say “Buy Me!” Yet, the goal of virtually every producer is to turn a profit. So, movies are produced in such a way that people will like them, not so they portray any groundbreaking, thought-provoking ideas. The best evidence of the growth of such media is obtained by simply using common sense. As the use of technology grows, so does communication. Through this increased communication, it only makes sense that the culture industry has expanded uncontrollably. For example, as the internet became more widespread, more advertisers and other media-producers used this easily accessible resource. The controversy created by films that stray even slightly from the accepted norms is further evidence of the spread of the culture industry. In the past, people created and viewed films as a way to express and consider different thoughts. Watching a movie required thought as well as observation skills. However, now any film that steps out of the rigid formula of filmmaking causes an immediate scandal. Passion of the Christ drew huge attention from the media, probably because it caused the viewer to actually think. It graphically presented an event that many people tended to gloss over. It caused the viewer to actually feel something. Brokeback Mountain is another example. When people view a set of ideas different from their own, they are forced to reconsider their own thoughts and beliefs. This evaluation requires an intrapersonal analysis that people in this hurried, hectic world are rarely willing to perform.

Movies are perhaps the best examples of the range of media. Most are very clearly profit-driven. However, for those producers brave enough to step outside the box, they allow a great deal of freedom and personal expression. Adorno refers to this difference when he contrasts a “freely competitive” society to a “virtually closed society in which one wants to be admitted or from which one fears to be rejected” (How to Look at Television). He explains numerous times how products of the culture industry are predictable and require very little thought. They are created using very specific guidelines that ensure their success. Chick flicks are a perfect example of movies that follow such guidelines. Let’s look at A Cinderella Story, a typical pre-teen chick flick. The intended audience is clearly girls from about 11 to 15 years old. In the creation of the movie, the director followed a very specific “recipe for success”: shy girl in pretty dress + popular jock guy= hours of entertainment for indiscriminating pre-teen audience. There are certainly no deep, thought-provoking ideas presented, but the 12 year old girl has no desire to think anyways when sitting just mere feet away from the TV screen where Chad Michael Murray is running around in football gear. Such movies target a specific audience and they use proven themes that said audience will enjoy. Tuesdays with Morrie, on the other hand, was not created according to such guidelines. Its purpose was to force the viewer to think; to evaluate their life. The film included more dialogue and less action than many other movies, thus allowing the viewer to really consider the themes and the themes’ relevance to his or her life.