kelly g post 8

Step 1:
The homogenization of mass media has made music, television, movies, and all other forms of entertainment thoroughly predictable as opposed to enlightening: “As soon as the film begins, it is quite clear how it will end, and who will be rewarded, punished, or forgotten. In light music, once the trained ear has heard the first notes of the hit song, it can guess what is coming and feel flattered when it does come. The average length of the short story has to be rigidly adhered to. Even gags, effects, and jokes are calculated like the setting in which they are placed. They are the responsibility of special experts and their narrow range makes it easy for them to be apportioned in the office” (Adorno 4). This pattern prevents forms of entertainment from education, inspiring, and challenging its audience. America spends a large majority of our time participating in leisure activities such as reading, watching movies and TV, and viewing advertisements. Before the homogenization of the mass media, various outputs served as educational opportunities for the public. Now, as media has become homogenized, there is less diversity, less lessons to be learned, less resources to discover different and innovative aspects of life. Children watching Disney or Nickleodeon are essentially watching the same sitcom over and over again. Once upon a time, those shows each had a specific aspect that defined it separately from all other shows on television. Now, if a child likes one show on Disney, they’re likely to like all shows on Disney, ABC Family, Nickelodeon, The Noggin, and PBS. This lack of diversity prevents the spectrum that once provided a source of education, and it also disables people from having specific likes and dislikes. It might be general to state, but most people who watch Grey’s Anatomy also tune into Desperate Housewives. If one person adores Survivor, they’re likely to enjoy Fear Factor. People can now watch TV for twenty-four hours on one network without viewing a show that they don’t enjoy. Essentially, the homogenization of our media culture has homogenized our personalities, our interests, and the trends we follow.

Step: 2

The culture industry used to be controlled by many more sources, but today, there are about six networks that control the television outputs. Besides that fact, and due to technological advancements, those six sources are able to broadcast shows and movies globally. There are no boundaries in the world, except within those countries whose governments censor the media. With the use of satellites, the internet, blackberrys, cell phones, and other technology, there is no end in sight. Many companies are struggling to invent the next big communication device – or the next device that will enable you to listen to music, watch tv, or read a book on the smallest possible unit of technology (referencing the iPOD 3^rd Gernation Shuffle that measures one square inch by one square inch). The internet has also enabled the media to become literally endless. Any individual can post websites displaying information, any person can sell items on eBay, and anyone can access these websites. Through Google, yahoo, Wikipedia, and other sources, discovering your world on the internet is just one click away.

Step 3:

a)




These images provide an example of books and television shows specifically designed to target a certain audience. They specifically cater towards female teenagers within ages of 12 and 20, however the sexual inuendos and blatant lack of clothing has intrigued males of varying ages to tune in. Today, it's very popular to watch and read about fictional or real characters who have immense wealth and spend it frivolously. They live an extravagant lifestyle, they drink expensive drinks, sleep with gorgeous people, and dress to impress. Those people are replacing the models in magazines. They are becoming the icons that young girls want to be. This is because the media has placed them everywhere. It's difficult to view such beautiful people living such carefree lives where their biggest concern is which designer handbag to bring to the LA nightclub and not want to be them. They've created an ideal -- something the majority of America will never be able to attain, but it's free to watch it on TV or rent it from the library, and that's the closest some of us will ever get, so we eat it up like chocolate cake: The connoisseur and the expert are despised for their pretentious claim to know better than the others, even though culture is democratic and distributes its privileges to all. In view of the ideological truce, the conformism of the buyers and the effrontery of the producers who supply them prevail. The result is a constant reproduction of the same thing" ( Adorno 8). The same thing repeated through music, movies, and TV forces the audience to become numb. They remain unaffected by the medium, the artist, or the message that is being sent.

b) Contrastingly, the truly individualistic writer, producer, or artist is met with a whole new set of obstacles: "Not to conform means to be rendered powerless, economically and therefore spiritually - to be "self-employed." When the outsider is excluded from the concern, he can only too easily be accused of incompetence" (Adorno 8).




Recently, there might be an argument that avoiding conformity is actually more credible than accepting conformity. It's becoming the trend to be different, which essentially ruins the idea of being different because "different" is the new "common". For example, recent styles such as Bohemian trends and popular Indie films have acquired quite a following simply because they avoid the conformity that society forces onto cultures. "Different" suggests educational, revolutionary, and commonly controversial. "Different" creates a stir and makes noise. "Different" causes people to look twice, it might not gain as much of a following, but it's easier to respect and refreshing to enjoy. Original thought provides diversity and a revolutionary way of looking at the world. It influences audiences to think and form opinions.