Introduction
There has been a great change in most of cultures since technology came into being. These changes have had both good and bad effects on people’s lifestyles. According to Adorno and Horkheimer, the changes have gradually led to the erosion of the traditional religions in the society bringing in new ways of approaching things in life.
Through embracing these technologies, usually associated with western culture, there has been substantial erosion of traditional religious aspects but still there has been improvement on the people’s living standards. To Adorno and Horkheimer, the culture industry is a problem.
The culture industry
According to Adorno and Horkheimer, the culture industry refers to the collection of all the aspects of technology in the modern society that brings change in the lifestyles of many. This majorly includes the systems that provide information to the society leading to a change of their perspectives about several issues in life.
As in the text, the culture industry of the modern society revolves around issues that are pleasurable to many like posh houses, source of entertainment and stylish ways of living.
The culture industry as brought out by Adorno and Horkheimer has led to lose of value of the traditional religious beliefs. The two compare the morals of the modern society and the religious one.
It is evident that the modern society has not incorporated most of the religious aspects that were highly regarded in the past. This is because the people that are involved in production of most materials in the culture industry are driven by the desire for money.
They do not care about the age differences of their consumers. Adorno and Horkheimer argue that, “consumers appear as statistics on research organization charts and are divided by income groups into red, green, and blue areas” (499). This propagates the lack of good morals to many young ones.
Another factor that makes Adorno and Horkheimer to see the culture industry as a problem is its inability to uphold the religious values of most societies. This is mostly in the words, art, and the music associated with westernization. For instance, the movies that are on most screens only tempt people to equate movies to real life.
This leads to the propagation of immoral behavior such as prostitution. “By repeatedly exposing the objects of desire, breasts in the clinging sweater or the naked torso of the athletic hero, it only stimulates…fore pleasure which habitual deprivation has long since reduced to a masochistic semblance” (Adorno and Horkheimer 504).
They also say that works of art are unashamed, as they have turned the culture industry to pornography and love to romance. It is thus evident that the two believe that the culture industry has some aspects that have eroded the morals of many in the society.
The social industry has not completely resorted to enhancing bad behaviors in the name of pleasure in the society. The technological advancements in the modern world have also helped in passing religious aspects and beliefs to the society.
For instance, the upcoming artists in the modern world usually emphasize on the embracing of good morals and there are media shows by religious practitioners that instill religious norms and values to many, giving them advice on how to deal with various life issues from a holistic view.
It is important to note that, the modern cultural industry has also helped in improving the lifestyles of many people. Therefore, all is not lost for there are some remnants in the media industry who propagate positive information
Conclusion
The culture industry has gone through many changes in order to cater for the lifestyle of people in a changing world. To Adorno and Horkheimer, the culture industry has led to total erosion of traditional religious beliefs. Well, this has happened to some extent but not in the entire industry.
As aforementioned, the modern cultural industry has in its own way helped to improve the lifestyles of the people since much information is available.
Works Cited
Adorno, Theodor, and Horkheimer, Max. The culture industry: enlightenment as mass Deception, 1944. Web.