The cultural industry within streaming series based on studies at the Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School was formed by acclaimed philosopher professors, such as Max Horkheimer and the economist Friedrich Pollock, who founded the “Institute for Social Research”, affiliated with the same “Frankfurt School”. This institution is the first with an openly Marxist orientation, at that time its initial studies focused on the capitalist economy of the time (1920s); at first, they began to focus on the criticism of political practice, specifically on the communist and social democratic oppositions, attacking all their economic perceptions. In the series streaming Nowadays, you can see different sectors of society divided because of culture; not only because of economic, communist, social or democratic perceptions, but also because of the way advertising and different media announce and propose different concepts and new ideologies day by day. These same series of streaming They are a modern example of what is creating today’s cultural industry, expanding and reiterating many of these principles that the authors researched at this institution.
Adorno expresses that today’s culture, instead of favoring resistance, favors, on the contrary, the integration of status quoIn the mid-forties he created together with Horkheimer this concept of “cultural industry”, in which culture made up of practically pure globalized products is used as a commodity. In series such as Gossip Girl You can clearly see this concept. The series takes place in Manhattan, there are characters belonging to the Elite and there are others who live in Brooklyn or in less prestigious cities. Depending on the city of origin of each character, it is the way they are treated when they go to high school.
Another example of how this cultural industry is formed is the “control of cultural production.” For these same two authors, large companies are the ones that control cultural production; they are the ones that decide what kind of stories are told in the series, what topics are dealt with and how they are presented; these companies prioritize subscriptions and being able to make the highest possible profits: “The field in which technology acquires its power over society is the field of those who dominate economically.” [Adorno y Horkheimer, 1947].
Consumer society today
Adorno and Horkheimer argue that cultural products are standardized in order to be predictable and easy to consume, in accordance with the changing tastes and expectations of the public. To date, many platforms of streaming They follow certain narrative formulas that allow them to better analyze the audience’s response to different content. These studies allow them to maximize profits and offer content that is consumed quickly and can be easily replicated.
Through projects and studies by this school, specifically one by Adorno in collaboration with Horkheimer, they arrived at the concept that there is a “passivity in the spectator” in consumer culture. That is, people consume the cultural products that are put in front of them, without thinking critically about what they are about. In this way, the status quo social. Again as an example, platforms facilitate uninterrupted viewing by automatically playing episodes in series, thus allowing viewers to move from one content to another without really thinking about what they are watching.
In the reading, the example they give is the mass production of cars, it is the same organisation and planning scheme, and this can happen both in the content and the products offered, as well as in the different urban planning projects. “Something has been planned for everyone, so that no one can escape” [Armand y Michéle Matterlart, 1997]. Each industry is governed by a global method of cultural production which in turn is related to the other industries.
Works of art in entertainment products
Adorno was once involved in a study of the cultural effects of radio music programmes, and was tempted by this to “measure culture”. He realised: “the need (that exists) to limit oneself to safe and certain data” [Horkheimer, 1972]. He criticized the status of music, and denounced the “fraudulent happiness of affirmative art,” that is, an art that is automatically integrated into the system, in other words “not genuine.” Adorno and Horkheimer’s perspective on this issue is: a product that is commodified and destined to be consumed by the masses, losing its critical function and the true capacity to generate social change.
According to the Frankfurt School, a repetitive formula is followed in order to guarantee commercial success, removing all originality and individual expression that characterizes true art in each work. “It shows very well that an art like cinema only has reason to exist at the stage of reproduction and not of unique production (…) it makes obsolete an old conception of art that is called “cult” [Armand y Michele Matterlart, 1997]These authors undoubtedly express a total bewilderment at their nostalgia caused by the lack of cultural experiences free from the constraints of technology.
Exemplification in Streaming Series
A series that can support the above could perfectly be “Emily in Paris”, since in terms of the effect that is proposed by the Frankfurt School in this series, the standardization of the content is reflected in such a way that entertainment ends up being more than anything superficial. This romantic comedy has the plot about a young American woman who travels to Paris for work, but instead of staying just a week she ends up staying to live since the company notices her great business skills and ends up hiring her permanently. The famous characters stand out in the story clichés
and many situations (mostly romantic and work-related) are idealized, which seek to satisfy the expectations of the target audience. The protagonist’s life is also shown as “glamorous”, full of fashion and luxury events and with very funny situations along the way. It does not address conflictive issues or those that require deeper analysis, it simply entertains.
In conclusion…
The theories of the Frankfurt School, by Adorno and Horkheimer, focus on the superficial and idealistic part of entertainment products and how the cultural industry has been dominated by the world’s business/economic powers. Is the world dominated by material things rather than by art and genuine products or those with sentimental and true value? Well, these philosophers would come to the conclusion that this thought is affirmative.
by Fernanda Castillo
16/September/2024
