Last week in classes, we deep into a particular concept that I believe everyone knew, but in my personal experience, after we explored the idea of Culture Industry and how it shapes the media we consume every day, it made me rethink the way I consume media and how we normalise this; besides, that could be shaping the way we think or it is mainly entretaiment.
Is the media we love truly an escape, or is it another part of a system that dictates how we think and what we buy? Studying the Culture Industry theory challenged my perspective on movies, music, social media, news and even memes.
“In the culture industry, the individual is an illusion. The culture industry as a whole has the function of maintaining the appearance of individuality, but in reality, it is only variety for the sake of methodical uniformity.”
— Theodor Adorno
Media Shaping Our Choices
This concept truly caught my attention. It made me think about what “originality” and “creativity” really mean today. Are we genuinely learning new things, or are we only selecting from pre-fashioned options? Is this influenced by the media, or are we truly selecting it because we like it? Or is this created from preexisting patterns and maintaining our viewpoints?. This helped me realise how crucial it is to consider what, in today’s society, truly constitutes originality and creativity.
What this means is that all the movies, media, shows, and music we enjoy are shaped by larger systems, not just by creativity, but by industrial processes that decide what is popular and what gets made. In class, we discussed how the media doesn’t just reflect today’s world; it also changes how people see the world, making everything fit a specific mould.
Why Critical Thinking Matters Now
I found it surprising how true this feels when I look at streaming platforms. So much content is designed to be easy to watch and quick to forget, and original ideas are sometimes lost to trends. Our discussions made me realise that we need to be aware of what messages we’re receiving and why.
Adorno and Horkheimer’s arguments from decades ago are still relevant today. By looking at media through the lens of the culture industry, we can ask better questions not just about what is entertaining, but about what we’re learning and who is controlling those lessons.
References
- Adorno, T.W. & Horkheimer, M. (2002). Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Stanford University Press. (Original work published 1944)
- Durham, M.G. & Kellner, D.M. (Eds.). (2012). Media and Cultural Studies: KeyWorks (2nd Edition). Wiley-Blackwell.
I really enjoyed your reflection! you captured how Adorno and Horkheimer’s idea of the Culture Industry still applies so powerfully today. Your question about whether media is truly an escape or part of a larger system really stood out to me. It reminds me of Lazarsfeld and Katz’s Two-Step Flow Theory (1955), which shows how media messages are filtered through opinion leaders today’s influencers and creators before reaching us. Even what feels like “personal taste” is often mediated by these cultural gatekeepers.