About me.
My name is Tyron Otoo and I am student of the university of Westminster offering digital media production.
CULTURE INDUSTRY AND FILM INDUSTRY
What is culture industry
Culture industry is a term used to describe how entertainment is manufactured from mass modern capitalism for the purposes of standardardized goods like films, radio, music and magazines to gain profit that shapes the society and encourages conformity.
It describes how mass-produced, standardized cultural goods—like films, radio, and magazines—operate like a factory to pacify society and crush independent critical thinking (Theodor Ardorno).
Its effect on the society taking into consideration the film industry.
The main problem with culture industry is the the ability to pre-digest content to the audience without giving them the chance to think on thier own and because of this method it creates a lot of repetitiveness or in other words sameness in thier products like films, music and radio, which in turn strip arts of its unique aesthetic qualities and kills its true emotional resonance.
Haven’t you ever felt like most of the films you watch are mostly repeated, which makes every plot in the movie predictable and ultimately kills the suspense.In these 2 images of 2 films being shown below basically demonstrates how repetitiveness in character development, plot building and story progression is commonly seen in movies.
Dances with wolves is a story of a hearioc Lieutenat named John J. Dunbar , who during the American civil war was remotely posted to an isolated Fort sadgewick in south Dakota and during his time spent there he befriended the nature around him and also in time built trust to it’s neighbours named Lakota Sioux band which earns him the Sioux name Dances with wolves and then eventually falls in love and marries into their royalty as a result when the US army locates him they feel he has committed treason against them.
Avatar 2009 is movie which tells a story of a man named Jake Sully, who falls in love with Na’vi princess named Neytiri who is royalty of a blue-skinned humaniod species and as a result destroys the original purpose for him being in the land Pandora, as the humans where Jake Sully originally comes from feels betrayed by him.
These 2 movies use the same structure though they have completely different stories, “an outsider integrates with a native tribe, falls in love with a local leader’s daughter, and ultimately turns against his own people to defend them.” And this reason also goes to supports Theodor Adorno theory of Culture industry under the Standardization of Art whereby “Cultural goods use predictable formulas and mechanical structures“
References
Adorno, T. and Horkheimer, M. (1947). The culture industry: Enlightenment as Mass deception. [online] Available at: https://monoskop.org/images/9/99/Adorno_Theodor_Horkheimer_Max_1947_2002_The_Culture_Industry_Enlightenment_as_Mass_Deception.pdf [Accessed 19 Oct. 2026].
IMDb (2009). Avatar. [online] IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/ [Accessed 19 Oct. 2026].
Blake, M. (1990). Dances with wolves. [online] IMDb. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099348/ [Accessed 19 Oct. 2026].
