A Culture Industry

The Cultural Industry and Changes Since Marcuse’s Time

The paper discusses working within the critical theorist’s understanding of the cultural industry, as well as changes that have occurred in the industry since Marcuse’s time, and the consequences these changes have on the validity of the theorist’s initial statements. The cultural industry is akin to a company that produces standardized social commodities such as radio broadcasts, periodicals, and films. Notably, industrial items are utilized to lure the masses into passivity, and cultural pleasures are made available by the mass media, and regardless of economic situations, modern culture has the impact of rendering people passive (Bolao, Bolao, & Bolao, 2015).

Changes in the Culture Industry

The culture industry has undergone several significant changes since the times of the German-American sociologist and philosopher Herbert Marcuse. The current culture industry is developing and produced in a cultural context of capitalist societies. Notably, it thrives in cultural economies whose nature is usually supply-driven, and the results of the industry represent inferior products of the system.

The Shift Towards Mass-Produced Entertainment

Unlike in the times of Marcuse, the modern culture industry is concentrated towards mass-produced entertainment, and the main goal is to appeal to the majority of the audiences and thus losing the intellectual stimulation that used to exist there before together with the essential releases of cheap art (Keltie, 2014). However, not all forms products of the redefined culture industry are inferior; the only element is that they have replaced the older forms of entertainment, but they have not been able to play the part that was performed by the defunct foundations of art.

The Effects of Changes on the Validity of the Theorist’s Claims

There are limited effects of the changes that have occurred in the culture industry on the validity of the theorist’s original claims. The current mass media produced culture is disseminated and created by selected institutions and is consumed by a homogenized audience that is usually passive. Notably, the capitalist monopoly has dominated modern society, and in the process, the values of reason and order that define the power of an individual are demoralized.

References

Bolaño, C., Bolaño, C., & Bolaño, C. (2015). The culture industry, information and capitalism.

Keltie, E. (2014). The culture industry and participatory audiences.