This text to us was like all the previous texts combined. It contained all the elements of the other texts. Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer explain how the media is like poison to our society and that all that it is now is somewhat of a fetish, because of its controlling nature. People, without realising it, are sucked into it and continue to be while constantly being bombarded with advertisements. That’s not exactly what was said, but that is what was implied, that media is business, that it all revolves around money and that art has lost its integrity and has sold out.
It has become unbearable due to the fact that these advertisements have spread like a virus and are now found practically anywhere and everywhere. Television probably being the biggest source around followed by film and videogames, magazines and billboards and even on the packaging of food products. Television can’t be viewed without seeing a ton of advertisements repeatedly. Films used to be about performing and telling a story in a very artistic and emotional manner and now it can only be viewed as a product, a form of entertainment which is primarily used for advertisers and placeholders to invest upon. The same can be said about videogames these days. They contain cinematic attributes and compelling storylines, yet they have the same business elements as films but with far more ways to expand. It’s no wonder that games like halo 3 are raking in more money than big Hollywood hits. It’s inevitable and it can’t be stopped because society has grown accustomed to it and it seems as though people thrive for it more and more. It appears somewhat comical that people are probably aware of all this by now but no one really cares; they enjoy the way things are and continue to feed the industries. That been said, we agree that media is in a way a huge and very profitable industry but then again this is a capitalist society, and obviously entertainment will generate an industry at its backbone. Of course some of the artistic integrity could get lost when thinking of profits, but that is natural, and it is possible to find a middle ground. Independent films do exist and so does independent music, which means that not all media is intended for the sole purpose of creating industries and generating money.
Can there be art or entertainment in a society without an industry evolving around it, which suppresses artistic integrity for profit? And was this ever the case?
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