Adorno coined the idea of the culture industry, which is his view of the mass media. To him, culture in capitalist society was uniform and identical, although it tries to appear otherwise. This culture is formulaic and has to adhere to certain criteria. Authoritarian regimes dictated culture, imposed top-down, causing it to lose the freedom to think and create imaginatively, as is seen in Hitler’s Great German Art Exhibit. Unlike totalitarian regimes, Adorno argues, this canned culture is established implicitly in the
1) One of the consequences of the culture industry that Adorno found most dangerous was its effects on politics. The products of the culture industry are standardized, interchangeable, and formulaic. Instead of the promised freedom, creativity, and imagination as an escape from the mundane, the same cookie-cutter, pre-fab products are produced, and we as the consumers have learned to blindly accept this canned-culture that is fed to us. There is no imagination in any of the products. There is no thinking outside of the box. Under the control of the culture industry, there is no questioning of the status quo. There is simply acceptance of the way things are. Adorno feared that “the ruthless unity in the culture industry is evidence of what will happen in politics.” Instead of finding new political ideas and solutions, we will simply accept the status quo for what its worth. Indeed, I believe that Adorno’s fears have become a reality. American politics gives us the illusion of a choice between two political ideals, that of Democrats and Republicans. In reality, these parties are very standardized, centrist, and middle-of-the-road in their ideals. They differ only in minor details. Both, however, support democracy and capitalism. Any candidate that would sway from this centrist position is automatically deemed radical, and given no chance to succeed in elections. Instead of accepting these candidates with unique and innovative ideas on how to run our country, we discredit them, because they do not adhere to the traditional political ideas. Americans constantly complain about the way the country is run, yet are unwilling to deviate from the political norm.
Another thing that Adorno found stifling about the culture industry is that it promotes a hierarchal society. “Everybody must behave in accordance with his previously determined and indexed level, and choose the category of mass product turned out for his type” (Adorno, Dialect). There are preconceived notions as to the kinds of art that certain social classes enjoy, or can afford. For example, you would expect a red-neck farmer who lives in the south to listen to country music, and you would assume that he has no appreciation for rap. On the other hand, a rich heiress, adhering to the cultural hierarchy, should listen to classical music, abhor rap music, and have her walls lined with high art, because she has the money to do so.
2) Adorno argues that the culture industry has continued, and even expanded, because of new technology. Today, the products of the culture industry have become closely linked with advertisements. The average American sees thousand of advertisements per day, thanks to the advent of television and the internet. The products of the culture industry, and hence to status quo, are being endorsed everywhere you turn. You can’t escape it. "It has made the technology of the culture industry no more than the achievement of standardisation and mass production" (Adorno, Dialect).
By its very nature, the culture industry is inherently continued. It is true that there are culture movements that go against the norms, challenge the current status of culture, and break loose of traditional confinements put in place by the culture industry. Such an example can be seen in most Modernist art. Modern Art gained a huge backing and became very popular despite its divergence from the typical products. However, it was not long before the culture industry seized up its competition and transformed it into exactly the thing which it had opposed. Works by artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso were soon commodified. You can find Starry Night on almost anything imaginable, including umbrellas, mouse pads, t-shirts, hand bags, stationary, and even arm warmers. This imaginative and unique art became common and everyday, and thus part of the culture industry which it had previously opposed. This seems to be an almost inevitable, never-ending cycle that ensures the continuation of the culture industry, since any opponents of the industry are soon merged into it, eliminating all competition.
Picasso GuernicaSource: www.artstor.org
Unlike autonomous art, the products of the culture industry only deceived the consumers into thinking that it was imaginative and innovative. In reality, it was a never ending cycle of products that, in essence, had the same formal components, but interchanged the minute details for the appearance of ingenuity. The metaphor of “canned culture” works perfectly here. The consumers believe they are getting something unique and different because the wrappers on the outside of the cans appear different. However, upon opening the can and tasting what is inside, it is clear that the product is the same thing that one has been digesting all along, despite the initial creative appearance.
Despite the claims of the culture industry that it brings the consumer an avenue of escape from the mundane, offering imaginative worlds and things you’ve never seen before, its products usually adhere to quite a few formal constraints. Some of these constraints included the money needed to create the product, the length or time requirements, and the big name stars that must appear in order to make the product successful. Art, television, film, and music must not only be readily accessible to the masses, but the consumers must in some way be able to identify with the product, whereas autonomous art did not need to be identifiable to the average American. For this reason, the culture industry had to make products with very literal meanings. The viewer was not expected to contemplate the art, or look for any underlying message. They were only to absorb the face value conveyed. The themes of these products also had to be normalized and standardized. For example, after-school television specials such as 7th Heaven, portray a normal American family going through their everyday lives. In each episode, there is always some conflict or problem to overcome that the viewer can relate to, and it is no surprise to anyone that by the end of the episode the conflict is resolved, while giving the viewer a valuable life lesson. The viewer did not expect the formulized structure of the show to change from episode to episode, and as such it never did.
Adorno thought the difference mattered so much because these two spheres, that of the autonomous, imaginative art and that of the culture industry product, were being forced together. The line between high art and low art had been smudged. This can be seen in the fact that previously autonomous works have become commodified. The high art embodies the low art. For example, Picasso’s
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