Post 8
Step1:
Adorno summarizes his view of the dangers of homogenization of culture by the culture industry as he states that “Above all, this rigid institutionalization transforms modern mass culture into a medium of undreamed psychological control. The repetitiveness, the selfsameness, and the ubiquity of modern mass culture tend to make for automatized reactions and to weaken the forced of individual resistance” (Adorno, 216). In other words, the greatest danger about homogenization and commodification of culture is the loss of individual free thought. Such free thought is replaced by common ideals and “the curse of modern mass culture seems to be its adherence to the almost unchanged ideology of early middle-class society” (Adorno, 219). “The system’s concerted effort results in what might be called the prevailing ideology of our time” (Adorno, 215). This concept of the prevailing ideology is considered unattainable (Adorno, 219) and is similar to the sociological ideal family. For example, the ideal family is portrayed by media as the classic Leave It To Beaver bunch with an attractive white family with the father as the breadwinner, wife as the homemaker, successful children and no financial worries. However, this ideology presented and enforced by the culture industry is unattainable for most American families. These families of mass culture are “posing as realistic” (Adorno, 218) and actual Americans feel they must emulate these standards. The Americans’ inability to reach these ideals may lead to disappointment and decrease in feelings of self-worth. Thus, homogenization and commodification of culture “creates hierarchical and authoritarian social structure” (Adorno, 219) to render “clear-cut prescriptions of what to do and what not to do” (Adorno, 220) such that “the individual is only a puppet manipulated through social rules (Adorno, 220). The media dictates the ideal. In addition, the concepts portrayed by the media indeed influence the behavior of the viewers, especially children. For example, psychologist Albert Bandura conducted the Bobo Doll Experiments in which children were shown video of an actress hitting and punching an inflatable Bobo doll. Three videos were shown, in the first the actress was punished for playing violently with the doll, in the second there were no repercussions and in the third the actress was positively reinforced for her violent behavior. After viewing the designated video each child was given a Bobo doll to play with, it was found that in cases two and three the children were equally very likely to hit and punch the Bobo doll as the actress in the video did (Pastorino &Doyle-Portillo, What is Psychology?, 240). Thus, the media has a strong impact on the behavior of the viewers, reinforcing the idea that homogenization may lead to uniform behavior.
The culture industry is flawed in its capitalist/commodity gaze. For example, when creating media, the focus is on the media’s effect on the consumer. The viewer is seen as a consumer and media is a means by which the consumer can be influenced to buy a specific product for the profit of the powerful companies and organizations that control the culture industry. The name “culture industry” itself attests to its capitalist/commodity orientation. The problem occurs because the culture industry shapes the desires of the viewer (consumer) even if the viewer is unaware. The preferences that the corporations determine are imposed upon the consumer, such as the preference that boy babies like blue colors and toys such as hammers and blocks while girl babies like pink colors and toys such as dolls and Barbies. In a psychological experiment mothers were first given a baby boy to play with. The mothers reported that the baby boy “preferred” to play with the tools and blocks. However, the same baby was then dressed as a girl and the same experiment repeated, the baby supposedly “preferred” to play with the dolls. This experiment indicates the way that preferences are dictated. Advertisers use media to depict the appropriate girl and boy toys and parents reinforce these standards on their children, even during infancy. If the media already has such influence at an early age, imagine the preferences of Americans today that are constantly exposed to the culture industry.
The culture industry also imposes formal constraints on the media in everything from the length of the media, genre, participants (actors, DJs, hosts), language and age-appropriateness. Such constraints force uniformity among media and thus limit the individual expression in each form. Also, as the culture industry is controlled by the powerful organizations, media must be subject to their approval or funding will not be provided and the media will not reach mass audience to cause an affect. This process allows the “most powerful sectors of industry- steel, petroleum, electricity and chemicals” (Adorno & Horkheimer) to control what viewers are exposed to and thus their behavior. In class discussion it was mentioned that film media must have a happy ending in order to be successful. Such a claim is evident in the movie version of The Count of Monte Cristo. Unlike Dumas’ original piece, the film ended with Mercedes and Dante living happily ever after when in actuality the novel ended in tragedy.
However, exceptions must be noted. Some films have gained success despite breaking many formal constraints. An anomaly occurred in 1999 with the success of The Blair Witch Project which did not have the typical plotline and well-known actors and included widespread use of curse words.
Step 2:
The culture industry is expanding in its increased use of tactics and its widespread effects. Media advertisers use polls and sample groups to map viewer’s preferences and make generalizations about target audiences. Such data is then used to design the most effective advertisements to motivate the viewer to consume their products. For example, the adaptation to the target audience can be seen in the difference between daytime and evening television. Daytime television includes far more life insurance, denture and pharmaceutical commercials in an effort to target the elderly population. However, evening television focuses more on food, car dealerships and household appliances, topics to target the middle-aged working population.
As mentioned in class, the average person sees 3,000 advertisements per day; this number is undoubtedly an increase from the early to mid 20th century when television, radio and film first became popularized. Today, the culture industry has even expanded to encompass the World Wide Web. How often have pop-up advertisements interrupted a web surfing session? Also, advertisements pervade websites that offer free videos and music in order to pay for the use of such works.
The culture industry has expanded to the point that it has affected the political workings of the
Step 3:
The culture industry and imaginative art works both offer means of expression, however, the two have numerous differences. For example, culture industry has no expectations of the viewer and makes clear its purpose of promoting a specific product to a target audience. “No independent thinking must be expected from the audience” (Adorno & Horkheimer). On the other hand, the freely created art work often motivates the viewer to think and interpret the image, leaving room for much independent thinking.
Culture industry also works to promote a uniform ideal and maintain the status quo. Thus, the culture industry supports “obedience to the social hierarchy” (Adorno & Horkheimer). However, artwork maintains its ability to speak back to social problems and critique the status quo. The artwork may do this by expressing the views of a repressed people, as in the mural
In addition, “The secret of aesthetic sublimation is its representation of fulfillment as a broken promise. The culture industry does not sublimate, it represses.” As mentioned in step one, the culture industry represses the reality of the average viewer’s inability to reach fulfillment by constantly promoting the desires and ideals.
Artwork seems to be the very essence of style and aesthetics while the culture industry is “reproached for its lack of style” (Adorno & Horkheimer) due to its intense focus on product promotion. Also, while the freely created artwork is debatably considered to not be in service of a greater organization, the culture industry is a tool of these powers. Art work’s purpose is generally to stimulate thought and provoke change while the “culture industry remains the entertainment business. Its influence over the consumers is established by entertainment” (Adorno & Horkheimer).
Differences are important between art and the culture industry as Adorno believes that culture “is so blindly consumed in use that it can no longer be used” (Adorno & Horkheimer). Thus, culture as filtered by the culture industry is no longer worthwhile. However, Adorno contends that art on the other hand is far more stimulating and important to the furthering of society as culture industry “creates too much satiation and apathy” (Adorno & Horkheimer). Recognizing such difference may help viewers avoid the ensnaring of the culture industry by thinking independently in viewing art.
Art, provoking change:
This famous art work fulfills all of Adorno’s main contentions for a piece to be considered art: it critiques the status quo, provides a voice for a repressed people and proposes an imaginary world.
Culture industry, maintaining status quo:
This image works to maintain the status quo by presenting the ideal family structure of a family consisting of a husband, wife and children living in a financially well-off sized house in a suburban area. Also, notice the separation in genders which possibly emphasizes the division in the domestic sphere which is furthered by the wife holding the infant. Such portrayal reinforces the role of the wife as the child-bearer and main parent in raising the infant.
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