Kim post 8

Kim Hambright

(1) Theodor Adorno wrote about consumerist society in many essays, including How to Look at Television and The Cultural Industry: Enlightenment and Mass Deception, in which he criticized the fabrication of so-called creative media. It was his opinion that mass culture, and ultimately the media, play an integral part in how the everyday individual thinks, feels, and goes about his or her life. He felt that the imposition of media, such as television, movies, radio, and advertisements affect the way one views creativity and freedom of thought: one only sees what producers and corporations want them to see, as opposed to what he or she desires to view on his or her own. To quote Adorno directly, “middle-class “ontology” assumes an increasingly authoritarian and at the same time hollow character.” What Adorno means by this, is that the average consumer is trained from an early age to pay close attention to superficial and consumerist things, as opposed to more human ideas. Movies, televisions, and other media seem to promote prefabricated ideas such as the overt sexuality of women, and the need for material possessions, in an attempt to promote and sell products like Lip Venom lip gloss and the new Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 to continue the growth of our capitalistic nation.

In addition, Adorno thought that the mass production of creative entities works to eliminate one’s free thought. He felt that the relentlessness of commercial media and controlled distribution of ideas prohibited one from formulating thoughts and ideas of one’s own, and therefore weakened the intellect of society. In his words, “The repetitiveness, the selfsameness, and the ubiquity of modern mass culture tend to make for automatized reactions and to weaken the forces of individual resistance.” The idea of a society controlled by the images in its media scared Adorno. He felt that because of over-used plots and cliché storylines television had become hard pressed to “have a serious effect any more.” The idea of any art form withholding a serious meaning or effect is a dangerous one. Art for art’s sake is in itself is not harmful, however, when aesthetic art is the only art, society loses its ability to formulate new thoughts, to speak out against the ill of society, and to improve and document the society itself.

(2) In my opinion, the culture industry has expanded so much that it will soon be out of control, if it is not already there. Advertisements and movies, as well as television shows and music, have become more sexually explicit than most people would like to believe. In a recent advertisement I saw for Tom Ford’s cologne, a bottle of cologne is placed between the legs of a female model. In a similar advertisement for the same cologne, the bottle is placed between a woman’s breasts, with her mouth open in the shape of an “O.” The images use the cologne bottle as a phallic symbol to appeal to the sexuality of heterosexual men. Through the objectification of the women in, the viewer looks at the advertisements and cannot help but associate this certain cologne with the act of having sexual relations with a woman similar to the ones in the photos. My point is that ten or twenty years ago, images like these would ever have been seen. Over the last few years, the levels of modesty and morality of the media has been lowered. Thinking about the amount of promiscuous reality shows on television, many will agree with my belief that society is becoming more and more accepting of sex, especially with young people. If TV shows and advertisements aren’t enough, just look at the 57 billion dollar industry of pornography.

Cologne breast

Cologne legs

In terms of marketing, I also feel that a line has been crossed. Looking at the cover of this book entitled “Rethinking Commodification,” the image of a baby with a barcode tattooed on its body sends a strong message. As a culture, we focus a lot of out attention on material things. We buy what makes us happy at the moment, and many times, it only makes us happy because it is what society has told us will make us happy. The control media has over consumers, while certainly not the consumers’ fault, is ultimately controlled by members of the same society. The stereotypes surrounding certain products or entertainment resources place consumers in “pre-established pigeonholes” and market the behaviors and buying guidelines of certain groups of people. These people have ultimately no control over what society tells them to do, and because of the ever-present dynamic of societal control, they are forced to buy into the consumerist propaganda. As Adorno puts its, “The more stereotypes become reified and rigid in the present setup of cultural industry, the less people are likely to change their preconceived ideas with the progress of their experience.”

(3) Adorno believed that thoughts and ideas (and ultimately products) were divided into two categories: commercialized products created for a pre-determined audience, and individually thought up works created without the influence of society. To Adorno, commercialized products could be art or entertainment, or products from any genre, including radio, television, music, advertisement, and film, to name a few. The products created in this area are created with the help of society, as opposed to creations purely by an individual. The products will either support a commercialized idea, a gender norm, the government, or another strong social entity. Though the creator, and the consumer, might think they are creating something unique, there is a certain cliché that exists with all products make for a pre-determined audience. The store Hot Topic for example, sell alternative music and “unique” clothing, though, as a chain store, how unique can the music and clothing really be? Another example is the movie “Sweet Home Alabama.” It falls into the genre of “chick flicks” and has a easily determined ending. The girl ends up with the good guy, what a shock.

At the other end of the spectrum, freely created works are ideas and thought up without the help of social norms and restrictions. Works in this genre are extremely hard to categorize because there are so few works created entirely by an individual. Even a girl who sews her own clothes cannot be considered in this category, because on some level, her designs were influenced by the trends and norms of society. Adorno may have included Pablo Picasso in this category, because for his time, his artwork was completely new and avant garde. Likewise, a documentary about the ills of social consumerism may be considered a freely imaged artwork, as long as it does not follow the traditional plotline of any stereotypical film genre.

The differences between these two types of creation were incredibly important to Adorno based on his belief that society and the commodification and homogenization of culture had taken a step too far. In Adorno’s beliefs, the restraints on society, placed there by the conglomerations controlling the advertising and entertainment industries have so much control over the populous that “it is almost impossible for anyone to dodge” the expected norms and behaviors. It is important to note the near impossibility there is for one to create a imaginately created work, because it was Adorno’s idea that society restricts one’s creativity. Without the ability to think for oneself, one loses their creative power, and thus become another drone for the consumerist nation.