Adorno's Culture Industry Theory - Essay Example

Index Introduction 2 Adorno’s Culture Theory 3 Adorno and the 1940s Hollywood 7 Adorno and the Relevance of the Culture Industry in 1940s 11 Critique of Adorno’s Theory 14 Conclusion 16 References 18 Adorno’s Culture Industry Theory and 1940’s Hollywood Introduction The film industry of the United States, specifically Hollywood of the 1940s era was a significantly important role player in the formation of perceptions in people through the art forms of films and music that were made for the masses to be well received. The industry was characteristically monopolistic mass production involved using relevant technology. These attributes are employed by the culture industries that are depicted by Theodor Adorno specific to his theory on Culture Industry and Enlightenment through Deception. The theory basically has its basis in human conditioning and depicts that popular culture can significantly impact a population, making them susceptible to capitalistic traits while conditioning them for passivity. The objective of the paper is to argue in favor of Adorno’s theory with supportive evidence that provides for the applicability of the proposed theory by Adorno on Culture Industry relative to the Hollywood Industry in the 1940s. The study involves an in depth look at the cinematic and film industry in the 1940s, specific to their monopolization in terms of market, ideas, perceptions and themes. The involvement of the Hollywood industry with the politics of the region is also explored to identify the application and the relevance of Adorno’s proposition on Culture Industries. For this purpose a number films the likes of Casablanca are used to provide evidence of the relevance of Adorno’s theory. In addition to this critique against the relevance of the theory to the Hollywood industry of the era is also depicted however this is to present a contrasting view and also show the opinion that the other side has regarding the importance of films and movies in shaping perception of the society for consumerism highlighting personal capitalistic gains. Adorno’s Culture Theory Theodor Adorno addressed the issue of Culture Industry a term defined by him only in his book titled Dialect of Enlightenment which was published in 1944. The book contained several essays akin to chapter, of which one was titled the Culture Industry and the use of enlightenment as mass deception. Through this Adorno provided his perspective of philosophy and sociological studies specific to the mass media and culture. He depicted through this that the mass media tends to create a mass culture that with popular reception from the society takes the form of popular culture. This culture further acts in a capitalistic manner to churn out products in the form of cultural goods which he described as mass entertainment through the communication media including films, radio and print publishing like magazines that created a pseudo culture of consumerism in the people1. He presented that companies made use of the culture industries and the inherent traits of the society specific to the mass media in order to manipulate them by making them want for more consumerist products while stifling their thinking by making them passive2. The propositions made by Adorno specifically reject the notions of philosophy from a Marxist perspective. Instead he focused on the alienation aspect highlighting the cultural element involved. Specifically after his migration from Germany to the United States as a result of the war torn region, the theories depicted by Adorno were much influenced in how the rationality in a community or a society be changed to reflect a more capitalistic society. His theories as depicted in his essay on enlightenment argued that enlightenment as an element and notion in itself was questionable and could result in societies causing harmful acts as depicted in the holocaust. The role of the media was highlighted by Adorno in terms of how the popular mass media manipulate the opinions and the perception of a society making them capitalistic as well as making then impassive while conditioning them for change in a gradual manner which is not recognized by them. Adorno proposed that the mass media had significant potential in terms of making significant improvements in the society and influencing their perceptions in a positive manner, but the works of Adorno depict that he was more critical of the media in terms of how it was being used for personal consumption and personal favor3. Through his work Adorno provided his opinion that the enlightenment of the society undergoes through a process which instead of making it enlightened and intellectual actually makes the society an instrument that works for its own destruction in a slow and gradual manner. He also depicted in his works that the arts and the mass communication media employed played a large role in making the society docile and inattentive to the conditioned skewed rationality, which was specifically present in the 1940s Hollywood4. Adorno’s theory regarding this depicted that Marxist theory of capitalism and related authority was more appropriate for the initial stages of capitalism, and not the significantly advanced ones which were prevalent in the 1940s. Instead he argued that the commoditization was instead a stronger trait of the Marxist capitalist philosophy for a society. Specifically emphasizing the fields of arts relative to the literature and music, he explored the dialectic nature of these and how they can influence the society. This was termed as culture industries by Adorno. He provided that the culture industry was a concept through which the trade of cultural commodities took place, specifically through the use of arts and mass communication media5. His work depicted that the culture industry enables popular culture prevalent in the society to define the society. The role and the thought processes of the individuals are significantly influenced by the popular media. He argued that influential parties were making use of the popular culture through its characteristics and its effect on the society in general to manipulate the society fostering personal gain6. The basic root of the culture industry relates to human psychology and how it can be conditioned and made specifically unaware to the changes which can make it impassive and too docile for creative logical thinking to think on its own. The culture theory presented by Adorno highlighted that societies as a result of popular culture become so docile and passive in nature that they seek to attain small private pleasures. By doing so they forget about the long term effects thus getting completely entrenched in the consumerist culture. The involvement in being consumerist through popular culture enables them to not be able to recognize the level of manipulation they are being attributed to or the severity of their economic circumstances. Adorno further provided for pseudo individualization by depicting that the changes were only in the cultural context, while the rest was essentially the same, therefore making way for a drastically damaging mass culture. The mass media usage of arts directed at the masses creates a culture that threatens individualism as well as stifles creativity in the community while psychologically conditioning the society to work in tandem and not change. Adorno also presented the issue of needs and how it is satisfied for a society. Through his work he depicted that the popular culture tends to create desires and needs in people in the society7 that can only be satisfied through consumption of capitalistic nature. The use of mass media for communication and arts targeted for the masses tends to instill these needs in the people making them crave consumerism. Companies use this to further their profits and motives, further engaging the society into a consumerist cycle. In contrast he presented that the true needs of a society are satisfied through individual self expression and creative arts for freedom and the concept of genuine happiness. Adorno’s analysis specific to the society and the mass cultures depicted that from various perspectives, the root of the problem in the social as well as cultural context laid in the concept of cultural production8. He depicted that this raised moral as well as social problems that were significantly aggravated in the society due to increased consumerist traits depicted by it. Others working in the field sought to highlight these issues from the point of view of sexual and racial factors and how they influence the society through popular culture, Adorno instead sought to highlight the same issues through the analysis of the social, the historical as well as the economic and the political environment surrounding the society and its effects derived in regards to the popular culture9. In short the theory of culture industries as proposed by Adorno provides that the people are manipulated significantly through the mass media that they become docile and passive. This makes them not realize their actual economic position and makes them crave and want more consumerist products. In order to satisfy their cravings the society tends to disregard the severity of their economic positions thus operating to the capitalistic manipulation by the few in power and control. The theory makes use of human psychology as part of a society or in a group and how the collective psychology is affected through mass media. This depicts that it impossible to create false needs in people which are inherently psychological in nature and do not have any context in terms of them being real emergent or actual needs that actually need fulfillment for mortality of a person or a society. Instead these artificial needs are raised simply so that they can be satisfied again by companies that sell products of to the society for personal profit making the manipulation of human psychology for capitalist or personal gain and not a basis of enlightenment of the society as a whole. Adorno and the 1940s Hollywood Films are in general considered a cinematic medium of mass communication that is controlled by the capitalistic societies10. Idea generation through these cinematic experiences as well as the technology involved in the production of these experiences makes them a significant element of control specifically for public perception and the development of organizations on a social level. The Hollywood industry in the 1940s enjoyed a monopolistic environment with large companies like Metro Goldwyn Mayer and the Warner Brothers Company enjoying a monopolistic rule. The giants of the industry had the creative power and access to the resources to churn out movies that were made to appeal to the masses and provide profits through mass sales of tickets for the production houses as economic gains. However what makes the Hollywood industry in the 1940s as specially applicable for the theory of Culture Industry put forward by Adorno is how the industry made use of its available resources to provide a low art form which was diluted in terms of its intellectuality in order to cater a to a larger mass audience, all for capitalistic economic gains on a large scale for the monopolistic production houses in the industry. The 1940s was a period of economic development with increased consumerism as well as the presence of the prevalent world war. The influence of the world war was much apparent in the media with the depiction of patriotism in the art forms including music, theatre and movies. Specific to the film industry, this element was largely exploited with almost all films released and presented in the decade having a war theme or in some way or the other associated with the Second World War. The art movies, the critically acclaimed movies as well as those that charted on the box office as block busters all contained this theme exploiting the patriotic nature of the then society to attain capitalistic gains for the production houses through mass sales being made. Instead of actually highlighting critical thinking and enlightening the audience, these movies aimed at exploiting the anti Nazi sentiment and the pro American patriotism in the audience to make the films appeal to the general public. Films ranging from Casablanca (1942), one of the most famous movies of the period which has its relevance in the audience and impact visible till date, to others including One of Aircraft is Missing (1941) and 49th Parallel (1941) all catered to this theme and provided justification of Adorno’s theory of Culture Industry. Adorno’s theory of Culture Industry provides that when a person watches a movie the person sees the outside world through the lens of the camera as direct by the movie makers. The perceptions of the audience as a result are formed in the manner that is wanted by the movie director and there for more illusionary rather than actual fact. However the reception of the films on a large scale makes the society perceive the outside world as it’s depicted in the movies, thus creating a large scale illusion11. The perceptions of the society are therefore altered and the society starts to perceive their real life akin to the movies they patron12. Adorno argued in this regard that the imagination of the individual is in this way stifled and restricted as opposed to his proposed high art form which encourages freedom of thought. In addition to this the development of the film making technology available to the production houses enabled them to make movies that engross the audience into the movie while simultaneously stifling their cognitive ability to do little else but follow the fast paced action packed movie with their observation tools in an automatic fashion13. This behavior can be regarded to one who is more robotic than a cognitive being that has freedom of thought and the ability to develop independent perceptions available to it. As mentioned earlier, the Hollywood industry in the 1940s was instrumental in forming public opinion in the masses by proposing perceptions through films like Casablanca, where their logical thinking was neutralized, and instead of seeing thing in shades of grey; the mass audience saw things as black and white with pro American being good and anything anti American as bad. This was specifically true for the film industry in the United States which was ruled by monopolistic giants the likes Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Warner Brothers. The affiliation between politics and mass communication has always been strong and specific to the Hollywood industry in the United States in the 1940s this was the case as well. With significant control over the mass population through the medium of culture industries like films and music, politics was much played in the favor of the ruling parties. The Hollywood industry was used as a tool to promote a sentiment in the people, to which even the industry could not stand up as a result of the significant political pressure imparted on it. This was evident in the films like High Noon being blacklisted in the 1940s and late 50s a period where the political influence on the industry was at a significant level14. A prominent film critic J. Hoberman depicted this through his work titled the Chronicle of American Politics and explained that the movie makers and the production houses that made the movies in the late 40s and 50s were actually well informed culture workers who knew what they were doing and were competent in their work15. His work supported the work of Adorno relating to his theory of culture theories and how it is applied to the Hollywood in the 1940s. Adorno’s culture industry theory specific to how the low art forms like movies make the audience passive can also be applied to the role played by the politics of the United States of America specific to how the politics was represented through a highlighted influenced portrayal in the movies, through hard handed control of the culture workers in the Hollywood industry of that era. This further depicts the applicability of the Culture Industries theory on not just consumerism, but as a method through which the society can be controlled and manipulated. In politics as well the control and, manipulation was for capitalistic gains which further support Adorno’s theory. Adorno and the Relevance of the Culture Industry in 1940s The culture theory of specifically derived by Adorno and its application to the society can be depicted as a perspective of prejudice as well. In the 1920 much work on this was done, more specially pertaining to the race theories of America and Europe where the supremacy and the priority of the white raced over the colored and the negroids was explored in literature applied to the development and conception of prejudice16. This perception towards prejudice however significantly changed in the 1930s and 1940s. The focus now became on civil rights, the colonialism process, the challenges presented by it, and the developing anti-semitism. Specific to this especially in the event of the Second World War, in lieu of the Holocaust and its pathological and psychological effects, the element of prejudice was judged from the perspective of the authoritarian personality17. In this regard, Adorno’s theories are much applicable, with his book on the same subject. The basis of Adorno’s culture theory is set upon a number of different things. The most paramount of these being the environment in which the theory was developed. The Culture Industry theory was developed in the light of the sociological and the political development that took place in the 1940s18. As Adorno and his co-author of the essay were both emigrants from the war torn Germany, their thinking and perspective was influenced by the related happenings as well. The elements of the politics in Europe and on going Second World War as a result significantly influenced the development of the theory and the perspectives through which Adorno presented it to the public19. Similarly, the theories of alienation as presented by Marx, the theory of instrumental reason by Weber and reification theory specific to consciousness as presented by Lukacs were significant in their contribution to the development of Adorno’s culture industry theory20. A note to be made is that all these theories were derivatives of the capitalism theory, therefore signifying the stance by Adorno on how the enlightenment in the society is falsely made to promote consumerism for capitalistic gains by those in authority. The period of 1940s was an environment for much change and development in the United States and Europe, and the backbone for this was the ongoing Second World War. The Second World War required significant resources for the development of ammunition for battle as well as human resource to be recruited. The recruitment of the men into the armies left the economies stunted with women having to take the bread earning role of men21. This created for a massive change through which the women joined the workforce and actively contributed to the productivity in the economy22. The increased income earned as a result of the participation of the females in the workforce created for an excess of spend able income available to the families. This became further aggravated when the war ended with the men coming back to join the workforce, in conjunction to the inclusion of the women as active members of the workforce. The availability of extra funds as expendable income created a pool of resources that were at the disposal of the families23. The reserves were tapped into by the individuals in the society in order to attain consumerist pleasure. Adorno’s culture industry theory is largely influenced by these changes in the socio-economic environment and provides how these needs were rather created to for profiting by those in authority by increasing the needs in the society for spending on items which were not really required or needed by them. The increasingly developing consumerist nature of the society in the 1940s and in the following years is accurately depicted by Adorno. He through his culture industries theory depicted how the low arts in the forms of films further increased the consumerist nature of the society by making them passive to their economic positions and crave for consumerist products that were previously of no significance of importance in their lives. However through social conditioning of the psychology of the society as a whole these needs were created and then transformed into actionable purchases that supported the capitalistic gains theory and its application on the people in authority which included the political parties as well as the large companies that sold their products to the mass market for profit. Critique of Adorno’s Theory Even though the theory of Culture Industry put forward by Adorno is of significant relevance in the study of social behavior and psychology of society, their exist a large number of critics of the theory as well. The criticism is mostly formed on the theory as the theory directly targets capitalistic movies and initiatives taken by those in authority to promote pseudo enlightenment which actually only tends to increase the desire for consumption in people and society as a whole24. The way the theory targets capitalism and consumerism makes it liable to significant criticism. The stance taken by the critics is to target the theory by stating that popular culture is not simply a pseudo culture that does not have a basis on which to ground it. Critics claim that the popular culture is actually made popular as it tends to satisfy the needs and the requirements of the people who have seek such elements in their culture as depicted by the popular culture. Moreover they claim that culture is actually created by people, so if the people change or are influenced to change their culture and orientation, that should be accounted for as a new culture. The self administrative nature of culture as proposed by critics tends to challenge the theory of Adorno that emphasizes the politics involved in the manipulation of culture and the psychology of the society in order to attain capitalistic gains25. A critique presented by Wiggershaus highlights that while the theory of culture industry as presented by Adorno, it is not well received by the new theorists working in the field26. He proposes that this trend is mainly because of the inconclusiveness of the theories presented by Adrono and in terms of how they can be linked cohesively to conclude argumentative practicalities of politics involved. Another reason that is present for the criticism of Adorno’s work on Culture Industry is that Adorno depicts an inconsistent method through which he basis his theories on the pre-existing theories of capitalism. As mentioned earlier, a lot of Adorno’s work in based on the work of Karl Marx and related capitalism theory. However when the theories of Adorno are analyzed, they depict that he implements some Marxist elements of capitalism while deviates from other. The way in which certain classes in a society dominate over other existing classes in the society as presented by Karl Marx is highlighted by Adorno as well, however critics present that Adorno does not apply Marxist theories that are in conjunction with dialectic, specifically where proposition for change are to be made27. Another deviation from Marxism as highlighted by the critics is that the theory proposed by Adorno provides the revolutionary trait in the society becomes diluted while Marx based his theories on the proposition that the working class has the tendency and the willingness to actively revolt against the upper classes whereby overruling them28. The differentiation made by Adorno between high culture and low culture is that low culture is a form of standardized culture for the masses, which undermines intellectualism, while high culture encourages freedom and enlightenment. However critics claim that it is possible for not just the low culture to be a contributor towards the passivity of the society. Instead the high cultures can also instill capitalism in the society29. In practicality as well this can be observed as a flaw in Adorno’s theory as high culture does breed elitism in society which is a form of capitalism. These traits are most evident in the art industries specific to music in terms of Opera and Ballet. Conclusion Conclusively it can be depicted that despite the criticism present pertaining to the theory of Culture Industry as proposed by Theodor Adorno, the theory remains applicable to the Hollywood Industry of the 1940s. The kind of manipulation enacted by the production houses on the audience in order to form, control and charge social perceptions regarding the good and the bad with the prevalent patriotic and war themed movies is clearly evident. Moreover the large scale monopolistic nature of the production houses in the 1940s and their control on operations in the industry made individual sentiment and perception restricted with no freedom of portrayal through movies. Moreover the amount of political influence in the Hollywood industry in the era also contributed significantly towards a restrictive, influential and conforming environment. This therefore depicts that the Culture Industry theory proposed by Adorno specific to the increase in consumerism with an aim towards increase in capitalistic gains and objective stands true specifically for the 1940s and 50s Hollywood industry. References Adorno, T.W., (1993), Theory of pseudo-culture, Telos, 95, 15-27 Adorno, T.W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D.J., and Sanford, R.N., (1950), The authoritarian personality. New York: Harper & Brothers Adorno, T.W., Horkheimer, M., (1947), Dialect of Enlightenment, London: Verso 1979 Durham, J.P., (2003), The Subtlety of Horkheimer and Adorno, Cambridge: Polity Press Cook, D., (1996), The culture industry revisited: Theodor W. Adorno on mass culture, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Garth, T.R., (1925), A review of racial psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 22, 343-364. 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