Horkheimer and Adorno offer compelling critiques of the role mass media plays in our society. They posit the notion of sameness, which I agree with completely. “Culture today is infecting everything with sameness. Film, radio, and magazines form a system. Each branch of culture is unanimous within itself and all are unanimous together.” (41) The reason everything is becoming so similar is because of media conglomerates. Conglomerates such as Disney can perpetuate their ideas through all sorts of mediums. This is what Marx and Althusser discuss in their pieces regarding Ideology. The ruling class has the power to broadcast belief systems of all sorts to the rest of society. In controlling society the ruling class obviously controls the culture of society.
Horkheimer and Adorno argue that mass media cares more about profits than the material it puts out. Sameness could apply here as well. TV shows, movies, songs, etc, all seek to become popular by making people “connect” with it in some way.
“The whole world is passed through the filter of the culture industry. The familiar experience of the moviegoer, who perceives the street outside as a continuation of the film he has just left, because the film seeks strictly to reproduce the world of everyday perception, has become the guideline of production.” (45)
The most disturbing aspect of this “filter” is how we get most of our entertainment from the media now. Rather than entertaining ourselves or having friends amuse us, we can use forms of media to fulfill our entertainment needs. “This is already evident in the fact that amusement is no experienced only in facsimile…” (56) Life has become more about the media and less about personal relationships. Simply put, society has become more private. The “filter” causes people to lose their sense of reality. Movies and TV shows are now confused with reality because they are such a huge part of our culture. Culture itself has become a commodity. As I mentioned before, the media is more about profit than material these days. Due to this fact, consumers blindly follow the lead of the ruling class media conglomerates.
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You do a great job in finding the key concepts Horkheimer and Adorno identify as prominent in mass media. So does the sameness of culture come from the perpetuation of ideology amongst media conglomorates (the ruling class) or the demand of the masses? You seem to be identifying Althussar's ISA concept with how the ruling class rule society and culture. On another note, how else do you see the concept of sameness resinate though culture? I don't know about you but I've found that all the new Britney Spear's and Knickleback songs all sound the same and yet people still buy them - is this a form of sameness? What effects come from seeing the real world as film? Just a few things to think about :)
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