HTH 1002 History of Thought II Spring 2017

1. Theodor Adorno
HTH 1002 History of Thought II
Kara Heitz

2. The Frankfurt School
• Institute for Social Research
• Marxist changing Marxism
• Critique of economic determinism
• Critique of capitalism, fascism, and
Soviet communism
• Why did capitalism endure?
• Part of the answer: look at culture
Affiliated Thinkers:
Max Horkheimer
Theodor Adorno
Herbert Marcuse
Friedrich Pollock
Erich Fromm
Leo Löwenthal
Siegfried Kracauer
Walter Benjamin

3. Theodor Adorno (1903-1969)
• Marx underestimated power of
culture
• Freud and desire/pleasure
• Negative Dialectics
• Culture Industry

5. GROUP QUESTIONS
1. What happens to cultural products under the Culture Industry?
What examples do A&H cite to make their point?
2. What do happens to individual consumers under the Culture
Industry? And what is the role of advertising in this process?
3. What is the function of pleasure and amusement in the
consumption of Culture Industry products? How does pleasure help
quiet dissent?

6. The Culture Industry:
Enlightenment as Mass Deception
• What happens to cultural products
produced by the Culture Industry?
• Increasing uniformity and
standardization of mass culture
• Only an appearance of diversity

7. The Culture Industry
• What happens to individuals under
the Culture Industry?
• Passivity
• “Conformity has replaced consciousness”
• Creates fake psychological needs that
can only be satisfied by more CI
products
• Illusion of individuality
• Role of advertising

8. The Culture Industry
• What role does pleasure play in
the reinforcing of the capitalist
system?
• Pleasure makes us forget reality
• Misery & violence seen as
individual not structural
• Desire for political change stifled

9. The Culture Industry
• Some “departures from the
norm” allowed
• Resistance co-opted by CI
• Pleasures stronger than desire
for resistance
• Are we cultural dupes or are
we complicit in our own
manipulation?

10. The “Culture Industry” Today?
Highest Grossing Films of 2016:
1. Captain America: Civil War (Disney)
$1,153,304,495
2. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Disney)
$1,052,312,126
3. Finding Dory (Disney) $1,028,213,633
4. Zootopia (Disney) $1,023,784,195
5. The Jungle Book (Disney) $966,550,600
6. The Secret Life of Pets (Universal) $875,457,937
7. Batman v Superman (Warner Bros.)
$873,260,194
8. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
(Warner Bros.) $812,000,090
9. Deadpool (20th Century Fox) $783,112,979
10. Suicide Squad (Warner Bros.) $745,600,054
Highest Rated TV Shows of 2016:
1. The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 19.94
million viewers
2. NCIS (CBS) 19.65 million viewers
3. The Walking Dead (AMC) 17.89
million viewers
4. Bull (CBS) 16.69 million viewers
5. NCIS: New Orleans (CBS) 15.17
million viewers
6. This Is Us (NBC) 14.63 million
viewers
7. Blue Bloods (CBS) 14.43 million
viewers
8. America’s Got Talent - Tues. (NBC)
14.20 million viewers
9. The X-Files (FOX) 13.60 million
viewers
10. Empire (FOX) 13.48 million viewers
11. Designated Survivor (ABC) 13.46
million viewers
12. America’s Got Talent –Wed. (NBC)
13.46 million viewers
13. Dancing With the Stars (ABC) 13.07
million viewers
14. Little Big Shots (NBC) 13.05 million
viewers
15. The Voice – Tuesday (NBC) 12.77
million viewers
16. NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) 12.77
million viewers
17. The Voice – Mon. (NBC) 12.76
million viewers
18. Criminal Minds (CBS) 12.35 million
viewers
19. Hawaii Five-0 (CBS) 11.97 million
viewers
20. Madam Secretary (CBS) 11.93
million viewers

11. Culture Industry Today - Superhero Movies

12. Culture Industry Today – Social Problem Films