“Truth must lie somewhere else, not in the facts of the given reality, but in the negation or transcendence of those facts. Truth lies in the attempt to go beyond this reality to a better world. Thus, truth lies in our attempt to change the world, in our critique of the established reality.”- Katsiaficas, Kirkpatrick “CRITICAL THEORY AND THE LIMITS OF SOCIOLOGICAL POSITIVISM”
Up until the mid 19th century, social theory, political theory, “scientific” sociology, and classical political economy had been well established and practiced by society. It wasn’t until much later on did these various types of theories combine to become one main theory that would critique and reflect the class struggles and social revolutions that were transforming the Europe in the middle of the 19th century, (Summary on Critical Theory) thus becoming Critical Theory. This theory’s main purpose is to examine, deconstruct, and critique modern society and culture. The focus of this theory is to change and transform society and culture in ways that will help eliminate forms of domination. It seeks emancipation and liberation by focusing on critique and questioning everything. One aspect that I will focus on is the culture industry and the domination it has over our society.
In a world where media has taken reign, our modern society has fallen victim of the dominance of the cultural industry. First, the culture industry produces highly standardized products that manipulate consumers into confusing their needs with their wants. An underlying effect is that there comes a sense of homogenaeity due to the products all being standardized. Second, it creates a lack of choice. Since all the products are standardized, it doesn’t give much leeway into choosing a unique product since they are all the same. Take for example, our generation and the tablet. Everywhere you look, there seems to be a tablet being sold in every corner. Its seductive design as a lighter version of a computer has tempted many into becoming another member of the tablet generation. Also, even with various companies like Apple, Android, Google, Kindle, and etc, making variations of the tablet, it is all pretty much the same thing. The only unique quality that separates these tablets is the brand name. Thus, the lack of choice we have in choosing a tablet. However, do we really need tablets? With the amount of tablets and variations of tablets we have available, it almost seems like we have no choice but to ‘upgrade’ in order to meets society’s standards. We have become a homogenized society of tablet users and those saving up to become one.
Third, it creates a sense of obedience amongst the consumers. The more control and power that the culture industry has, the more “summarily it can deal with consumers’ needs, producing them, controlling them, discipling them, and even withdrawing amusement: no limits are set to cultural progress…” (The Culture Industry 13: 1993). Finally, once it succeeds in full taking full control, it mechanicalizes our society, turning us into robots. Let’s take the example of reality television. Television has now become nothing but reality shows and with its addicting dramas and catfights, it has brainwashed society to become robots that religiously tune in to see what happens next to our favorite “reality stars”. Television has become so powerful that we don’t realize how much control it has over our lives. Since we have become so dependent on watching our favorite reality shows, the industry deals with us the consumers by producing what we want and then disciplining us to anxiously wait until the next episode comes out. This is usually with dramatic cliffhangers or previews of nasty catfights that make us want more. There are even times where they don’t produce the new episode we’ve been waiting a week for making us even more anxious to see the next episode. Eventually, we turn into robots watching t.v. as we religiously wait and watch to see the programs we have anxiously waited for.
In conclusion, the culture industry has definitely overpowered and dominated our modern society. With its seductive and tempting commercials, shows, ads, etc, we have become such submissive higher beings that are at the mercy of the culture industry. Do you agree?
Up until the mid 19th century, social theory, political theory, “scientific” sociology, and classical political economy had been well established and practiced by society. It wasn’t until much later on did these various types of theories combine to become one main theory that would critique and reflect the class struggles and social revolutions that were transforming the Europe in the middle of the 19th century, (Summary on Critical Theory) thus becoming Critical Theory. This theory’s main purpose is to examine, deconstruct, and critique modern society and culture. The focus of this theory is to change and transform society and culture in ways that will help eliminate forms of domination. It seeks emancipation and liberation by focusing on critique and questioning everything. One aspect that I will focus on is the culture industry and the domination it has over our society.
In a world where media has taken reign, our modern society has fallen victim of the dominance of the cultural industry. First, the culture industry produces highly standardized products that manipulate consumers into confusing their needs with their wants. An underlying effect is that there comes a sense of homogenaeity due to the products all being standardized. Second, it creates a lack of choice. Since all the products are standardized, it doesn’t give much leeway into choosing a unique product since they are all the same. Take for example, our generation and the tablet. Everywhere you look, there seems to be a tablet being sold in every corner. Its seductive design as a lighter version of a computer has tempted many into becoming another member of the tablet generation. Also, even with various companies like Apple, Android, Google, Kindle, and etc, making variations of the tablet, it is all pretty much the same thing. The only unique quality that separates these tablets is the brand name. Thus, the lack of choice we have in choosing a tablet. However, do we really need tablets? With the amount of tablets and variations of tablets we have available, it almost seems like we have no choice but to ‘upgrade’ in order to meets society’s standards. We have become a homogenized society of tablet users and those saving up to become one.
Third, it creates a sense of obedience amongst the consumers. The more control and power that the culture industry has, the more “summarily it can deal with consumers’ needs, producing them, controlling them, discipling them, and even withdrawing amusement: no limits are set to cultural progress…” (The Culture Industry 13: 1993). Finally, once it succeeds in full taking full control, it mechanicalizes our society, turning us into robots. Let’s take the example of reality television. Television has now become nothing but reality shows and with its addicting dramas and catfights, it has brainwashed society to become robots that religiously tune in to see what happens next to our favorite “reality stars”. Television has become so powerful that we don’t realize how much control it has over our lives. Since we have become so dependent on watching our favorite reality shows, the industry deals with us the consumers by producing what we want and then disciplining us to anxiously wait until the next episode comes out. This is usually with dramatic cliffhangers or previews of nasty catfights that make us want more. There are even times where they don’t produce the new episode we’ve been waiting a week for making us even more anxious to see the next episode. Eventually, we turn into robots watching t.v. as we religiously wait and watch to see the programs we have anxiously waited for.
In conclusion, the culture industry has definitely overpowered and dominated our modern society. With its seductive and tempting commercials, shows, ads, etc, we have become such submissive higher beings that are at the mercy of the culture industry. Do you agree?