The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception By the end of the lecture you should have some idea about the following: What are the ideas of the ruling class? What is ideology? What is the culture industry and how does it work?

Marx and Engles the dominant ideology of a society reflects the interests of those with the most power those who have the most power are those who have access to the system of production. Those without access to the system of production are left to accept the images, ideas, and objects of the dominant class as normal

Gramsci in its original form ideology referred to the science of ideas, the analysis of ides and the origin of ideas In its current form it refers to “a system of ideas” ideology has meant different things at different moments in history it can refer both to the overarching system as a whole or to the particular works of particular individuals

Gramsci cont Because of this people often mis-talk about ideology (or talk about it in the wrong way). So that part of the problem then is that when people are talking about ideology: –1) Ideology is seen as something different from the structure of society. –2) It gets dismissed as powerless, stupid or useless. –3) AND then passes to the assertion that every ideology is “pure” appearance, useless, stupid, etc.

Gramsci 3 we have to look at ideologies to decide, which ones are “organic” and which ones are arbitrary ideologies are not bad, but all ideologies hold a lot of power we need to be aware of that power especially in “normal” parts of our life: –Religion, school, architecture, etc.

The Culture Industry Sameness in everything Products are all the same: –ie/ the movie- we know the plot before the movie begins, we know the villain, the ending, the love interest etc. Identities are all the same: –This of course is pseudoindividuality Lifestyles are all the same: –“Do as I do or die” is replaced by “the outsider” Industries are all the same: –film, print, TV, radio, etc. are all selling the same thing: –false happines6s, false individualities, surrogate identities

The culture industry with promises of stardom and leisure worked to turn off the brains of the masses and occupy their thoughts with shinny objects instead of political activism

5 points to rememeber The culture industry endlessly cheats its consumers out of what it endlessly promises The diner must be satisfied with the menu. The incurable sickness of entertainment. They (masses) insist unwaveringly on the ideology by which they are enslaved The whole world is passed through the filter of the CI.