Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer take a bleak, criticizing eye towards culture, society, and individuality in “Enlightenment as Mass Deception.” The authors assert that culture has become mass produced, and standardized by what they call, the “cultural industry.” Under their beliefs, the term individualism is no less a creation of the cultural industry, those powerful enough to control society economically and ideologically, than is the standardization of society.
We think what we are taught by our mass-culture to think. While this may seem like an austere look at our own culture, perhaps the authors are correct in asserting that, “personality means hardly more than dazzling white teeth and freedom from body odor and emotions” (71). In a culture, obsessive over brand names, exuberant displays of wealth, and outward beauty, would it be farfetched to then say that we have become not only assimilated, but also forced to conform to some universal culture dictated by the elite who persistently barrage us with these lavish images? The images we see, music we hear, and advertisements we hear are not much different from any other widespread propaganda; they are first, formed, edited, and reshaped by big businesses to perform a certain task before transmitted to the masses. That is to say, in fields, like the entertainment industry where creativity and individuality are often touted as the idealistic qualities of an artist, the only possible way to still succeed is, if one is not too obstinate about one’s own concerns, and proves appropriately pliable. Even our cultural originators, are first forced to fit the mold that the cultural industry wants them to fit. No object in our media, no idea, no work, is able to be put into mass-circulation along the society without first getting the stamp of the cultural dictators that are big businesses. Adorno and Horkheimer actually reveal a horrifying truth about American culture, “the basis on which technology acquires power over society is the power of those whose economic hold over society is greatest” (1). American culture has in many ways fallen victim to a monotonous set of beliefs propagated by those wealthy enough to circulate it under the cloak of originality, and received by mass society, which has proved blind enough to not see the truth.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I enjoy your original approach to Horkheimer and Adorno; you immediately apply their thoughts to culture and society. You explain clearly how culture functions to the benefit of the elite and how the masses feed into their ideologies. It's great how you are taking a step back away from merely the messages being shown in mainstream media, but you focus on fact that those images are purposefully edited and chosen to fulfil certain results from the masses. One thought I do have concerns the ideas of Macherey - how do you think he would respond to Horkheimer and Adorno bearing in mind that the author and the reader are equally distance from a true appreciation of the work? :)
Post a Comment