The Frankfurd school was created in 1923 in Germany, it consisted of many theorists, some of the more known were Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and Erich Fromm, these men were not keen on Mass Culture, they thought of themselves as an Institute for Social Research. They believed that the Media was a false culture existing primarily for marketing. They also said that power was with the producers, these being people who owned factories, businesses and media companies. Adorno and Horkheimer believed that consumers first created a need and then a product – labelling consumers. They said;
“Real life is becoming indistinguishable from the movies”
This means our expectations of life is the same in the movies, it replaces out ideas of normality e.g. you’ll watch a film about how a young girl leaves her family and friends and runs off to America in search of a career in acting, she falls in love with a model looking perfect man, and she auditions for a big movie and she gets the lead role. Now I know if I know if I left home with the same expectations in mind, I would be very disappointed. Stories are only written and published because they are dreams. There is no book that you will read that will tell you what you can really expect from life, because that book would be boring and most likely pessimistic. Truth is in my opinion, if everyone lived the way they do in the movies then that would be the end of the movie industry. Adorno and Horkheimer also stated that;
“The principle dictates that he should be shown all his needs as capable of fulfilment, but that those needs should be so predetermined that he feels himself to be the eternal consumer, the object of the culture industry”
‘He’ means us, the consumer and the general public. This comes back to the market creating a need and then a product e.g. you state that there’s a gap in the market for fantasy films and then you show them a trailer for a new film, and then the consumers feels the need to buy a ticket to see the film or the DVD. We also see the ‘hop on the bandwagon’ effect, Horkheimer says the public feels ‘fulfilled’ if they keep up with his market e.g. the fashion industry, there’s a new style out which is ‘tartan’ if I don’t buy a tartan clothing then I will be unfashionable, and when I do give in to peer pressure by the industry after seeing celebrities, models and other girls in the street wearing them, I will feel fulfilled and up to date. It’s the same with Pepsi, in the advertisement they buy the best of celebrities like this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfxwXneCtEM
In the video we see the hottest celebrities of that period drinking Pepsi; they are all perfect; slim, beautiful, wealthy, successful and happy. This makes Pepsi look so much better because some people will get the satisfaction of tasting the same thing as these celebrities and being able to afford the same brand of drinks that they drink. But in real life, regular drinkers of Pepsi are most likely to be fat and have health problems –
“The triumph of advertising in the culture industry is that consumers feel compelled to buy and use its product even though they see right through them”
These men were under the impression that Capitalism has caused Media to no longer be art like it used to be, the originals were the classics e.g. Shakespeare, Batheoven, Swan Lake, the first filmmakers etc. These classics were out for human achievement. Now it’s all for money and fame.
So can popular entertainment be art? Well I believe that it can if they make you think twice then its art. Songs like no 1’s lady gaga – truly creative, music videos which are like experimental films that worked great. I think the video to Frank Ferdinand was amazing, no one can tell me that it’s not creative, it even won the Q Award in 2004 for best music video: Have a look and see what you think;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZGcw9HHOkU
Films that are visually stunning, then the special effects which are a piece of art because they have required hours of work and they look so real. I think that is art, take the film ‘300’ directed by Zac Snyder, here’s the trailer for the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDiUG52ZyHQ
In the seminar we were asked to watch a scene from the move ‘Network’ 1976, the character claims that most people watch TV now instead of reading books. Propaganda is in the newspapers without us knowing. He claimed that TV has so much power. That ‘we will tell you any shit you want to hear!”, “you do what the tube tells you what to do, dress your children, live your life!”. And when he screams for everyone to turn their televisions off the audience rise to their feet and clap, because its entertainment and no one will turn down entertainment.
The industrial revolution had the results of mass production, national capitalism, metal, chemistry improvement and a better transport system. In advertising they use simply the ‘sex sells’ method of selling products. It is proven that if companies use sex appeal in their adverts they will see market sales soar, we can see this in products e.g. Lynx attracts sexy women. Music e.g. the sexier the women the more successful the career e.g. see Britney Spears new music videos they are oozing with sex appeal. Films e.g. James Bond, every one of his love interest have been stunning.
Take a look at this website; it contains plenty of other evidence about how sex and advertising hold hands
Adorno and Horkheimer wrote:
“Works of art are ascetic and unashamed; the culture industry is pornographic and prudish”
Would like to apoligize for any inconvinience caused by not being able to upload the video directly onto this blog, I've downloaded the 3 linked videos above but the server wont allow the upload.
Quotations: “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment and Mass Deception” written by Horkheimer and Adorno
Links: http://inventorspot.com/articles/ads_prove_sex_sells_5576
No comments:
Post a Comment