The concept of “cultural industry” was first proposed by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheim. According to them, the culture industry means the commodification of art forms. Under the rule of capitalism, mass culture tends to be produced in an assembly line, without realizing that it has been spiritually bound. In The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Cultural Deception, Adorno discusses the important features of the modern culture industry. The first is sameness. The culture industry has achieved mass production, and industrialization has given cultural products a single assembly-line character. Second is deception. The culture industry deceives the masses through entertainment. Finally, it is anti-enlightenment. The culture industry provides a kind of false, easily accessible happiness in which the masses are increasingly immersed, losing their ability to question, reflect and criticize, and losing their ability to perceive.To understand this, for example, a star’s persona, the agency, the audience and the star himself work together to shape a star’s persona, and their persona also serves commercial interests. These personas are templated, such as the schoolboy persona, the tough guy persona, etc., and exist only to realize the star’s realization.
图片来源：维基百科
In the era of big data, cultural and industrial products frequently appear in people’s lives. The standardized and systematic short video APP is a contemporary cultural industrial product. Short video APP enters people’s life field, just like the function of TV according to Adorno, “it can form a community, bring together family members and friends who have nothing else to say to each other, and unintentionally satisfy people’s persistent longing for collectivity” (Paul A. Taylor & Jan Ll. Harris, 2008:15). A noteworthy example is the short video platform represented by Tiktok, where the format of the work is video + music. The similarity of the content limits the creativity of the creators and users, and despite the different styles and filming techniques of these videos, they have never been detached from the totality of the cultural industry, which, as Adorno writes, “is characterized by innovations that are nothing more than mass production methods that are constantly being improved.” There are a lot of student bloggers in Jiyin who have millions or tens of millions of followers, which gives young users, especially students, the illusion that they too can become stars. The chances of this are very small for the average person, but those few students who do become internet stars are magnified by the medium of TikTok. As Adorno says, “Those geniuses who are hunted are publicized on a larger scale by the audiovisual media.” These disorienting ideologies in Shakeology disrupt the value judgments of the popular self.
Of course, the theory of cultural industry can not be completely applied to short video apps, nowadays short video platforms as interactive media, the public as consumers have more initiative and selectivity, can express their own comments and views, which means that the subjective consciousness of the public can be reflected.
[1] Adorno, Theodor W., (1997). “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” from Adorno, Theodor W., Dialectic of enlightenment. London: Verso
[2] Taylor, P.A. and Harris, J.L. (2008). Critical Theories of Mass Media: Then & Now.
I agree that under capitalism the culture industry means the commodification of art forms, whether it’s tiktok or any other art business, there is capital that can serve as the basis for the development of art, capital does not only refer to the cost of funds, but also includes connections, the transmission of information needs to be the masses and connections, so the development of a culture and art industry can not be separated from the support of the capital, and the capital also has the right to determine the development of the ideology of the culture industry, our subjective consciousness does not always completely jump out of it and development, as the phrase that you see are what it wants you to see.
I couldn’t agree more with what you’re saying！
Hi Zoe, I love your post and it’s well-organised! I agree with the argument that the culture industry provides a kind of false, easily accessible happiness in that the masses are immersed, losing their ability to question, criticize, reflect, and perceive (I have also mentioned in my post). In the culture industry, we can see many films, TV shows and other works that are formulaic and systematic. They have similar story plots and similar characters but are filmed in different styles and settings because the producers (or the corporations who sponsored these) find it easier to adopt old stories than create new ones. And the audience would still like to pay for those formulaic pieces, which is hilarious and pathetic.
I also love the post you wrote, it has benefited me so much. You are right. I think if you want to make good IP content, you need to start with the emotion and the plot itself in order for consumers to empathise with the IP and identify with the value. Audiences are willing to pay for the emotion of the film, not the film itself.
Yes, the application of digital technology and the development of networks have made it easier for the cultural industries to reach a larger audience, expanding the reach and impact of cultural products and services, and enabling the cultural industries to better serve the public. The changes in technology and network infrastructure brought about by this digitalisation have not only changed the mode of production and the supply structure of the cultural industries, but have also led to changes in the mode of cultural participation and cultural needs of cultural consumers.
You’re absolutely right.Digitalisation brings both advantages and disadvantages to technology.
I think that your post is very well written and organised, outlining all the key aspects that involve culture industry. I also think you made it very easy to understand making it accessible for everyone reading this post. Also using this Tok as an example, being it pretty much an everyday essential for all of us is very smart and easy to understand. Overall, I think this is a very useful and complete post about culture industry.
Thank you for the review~