Christopher Post 8

Christopher McCauley

1. In 1944, Theodor Adorno said, “…culture now impresses the same stamp on everything.” I think this is a very simple way to describe Adorno’s philosophy about the danger caused by the homogenization and commodification of culture. If culture is going to have the same effect on everything, than why is it important? Also, what is the purpose of culture, if it is going to do the same thing every time? Culture is important to society and to the whole world because culture is what creates diversity among people and different societies. Adorno feels that we have a “cookie cutter” culture. “There is nothing left for the consumer to classify.” Everything, according to Adorno, has been molded into categories, and is created for the consumer and for mass production. “Art for the masses,” has come to ruin the point of art, since it is created in large quantities to satisfy large quantities of people.

Commodification of culture has caused a lack of new thought to occur. With the development of the culture industry, technicalities and other details have become more important than a work of art in which these are a part (the part is more important than the whole, perhaps?). Visual art (painting, photography), music, writing, and all other forms of art and expression have become commercialized to appeal to great amounts of people, and make people agree with the message trying to be addressed. This perhaps sounds slightly communist in a way, and this is why Adorno was unhappy with the way culture was and is evolving. Another point that Adorno makes is that “real life is becoming indistinguishable from movies.” Films have tended to almost reduce the imagination of it’s viewers, and caused them to think that they are more realistic than they are. They “equate [movies] directly with reality.”

“The public is catered for with a hierarchical range of mass-produced products of varying quality, thus advancing the rule of complete quantification…Consumers appear as statistics on research organization charts, and are divided by income groups into red, green, and blue areas; the technique is that used for any type of propaganda.” Commercial art continues to effect culture more than regular art has. More people would identify the Starbucks logo of a mermaid, rather than a painting of one by John William Waterhouse. Above, these two images appear, along with a third, which expresses the discontent that Adorno had with the fact that culture has been engulfed by mass-produced, consumer driven artwork, advertisements, and logos.

2. Another argument about culture is that is has only grown and expanded exponentially. Adorno believes that the expansion of culture through mass produced media, films, television, etc. is bad, but this could be looked at as very good. This is the way culture has evolved through the ages, and it seems to be working well for people. The culture industry is huge, with many job opportunities, and infinite amounts of capital involved. “The might of industrial society is lodged in men’s minds.” This is the direction of our culture, and where it will continue to grow. This is a good occurrence because it shows growth, change, and expansion. Things can not remain the same forever, nor can old ideas, opinions, and practices. One might argue that Adorno was very old fashioned, and was stuck in the past.
3. “The attitude of the public, which ostensibly and actually favours the system of the culture industry, is a part of the system and not an excuse for it. If one branch of art follows the same formula as one with a very different medium and content; if the dramatic intrigue of broadcast soap operas becomes no more than useful material for showing how to master technical problems at both ends of the scale of musical experience – real jazz or a cheap imitation; or if a movement from a Beethoven symphony is crudely “adapted” for a film sound-track in the same way as a Tolstoy novel is garbled in a film script: then the claim that this is done to satisfy the spontaneous wishes of the public is no more than hot air.” —Adorno, 1944

Adorno certainly preferred freely and imaginatively created art works, over formulaic culture products. As he said in the quote above, the latter is just “hot air.” These culture industry products are built to cater to an audience—this is why Adorno does not like it. They are mass produced; they do not show individuality. An example would be the Starbucks logo above. Adorno did not believe that culture should evolve in to huge collaborations, advertisements and media images. He would certainly not approve of the Geico cave-men on television commercials, and he certainly would not approve of the newly created television series featuring these cavemen. Freely and imaginatively created art works leave room for individual thought, interpretation, and expression. Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night (1889), would be a perfect example of a piece of art that Adorno would like, and see as good for our culture, because it portrays a realistic scene, in an unrealistic way. “Culture in the true sense, did not simply accommodate itself to human beings; but it always simultaneously raised a protest against the petrified relations under which they lived, thereby honoring them.” Culture should honor human beings and society, it should not be an easy thing for humans to abuse and contaminate.

Sources:

http://code0range.net/node/997 (culture whore logo)

http://www.northwestern.edu/nucuisine/images/newsletter/Starbucks-logo.gif (starbucks logo)

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=268054 (mermaid painting)

http://www.rcs.k12.va.us/csjh/06_07_web/jordanP/jordan2.htm (stary night)