false truths/loner

So, I think I gathered that Adorno and Horkheimer believe the culture industry cultivates false needs. These needs which are reinforces are those paralleling hegemonic ideologies. Therefore, the “sameness” of culture bombards us with hegemonic ways of thinking. The idea that “the more easily it [film] creates the illusion that the world outside is a seamless extension of the one which has been revealed in the cinema” is interesting (45). With films their intent is to mirror life, the aim is recognition, and for the viewer to see himself/herself in the fantastical film world. In Zizek’s article, he talked a lot about how the images on September 11th mirrored those we see in catastrophe movies. We had seen the images of September 11th on screens before the attack. Culture and reality collided. And with Adorno and Horkheimer, they also examine the friction between reality and illusion. Is this a life of illusion?
Within the culture industry, A & H state the ruler will say “you are free not to think as I do; your life, your property- all that you shall keep. But from this day on you will be a stranger among us” (49). This systematic Othering of those not shaping to the hegemonic ideology of society means “anyone who does not conform is condemned to an economic impotence which is prolonged in the intellectual powerlessness of the eccentric loner” (49). Those whose ideas are outside the hegemonic realm are chastised and their ideas frowned upon. Absolutely no merit could stem from this loner’s ideas. Lyotard expressed a similar idea stating, “artists who question the rules ‘are destined to have little credibility…they have no guarantee of an audience” (41). Those who throw conventions out the window have no guarantee of receptivity in the public. And most likely, those stemming beyond hegemonic standards, will receive no audience. Like A & H mentioned the best selling book made into a movie holds the most credibility. Everyone is afraid of this elusive loner-ness they may be labeled with. Rarely do people explore beyond hegemonic confines. And these confines/culture industry is what A & H revolt against for the production of sameness and false truths.

Kelsey. Adorno/horkheimer