I understood Adorno and Horkheimer to have a dystopian view of life, and a discouraged view of the overwhelming influence they believed the media and culture industry to have over society. They write gloomily about the power of advertising, the influence of corporate power on media, on manufactured demand for inconsequential entertainment. They seem to long for an authentic, in-the-moment artistic expression, something of substance.
Perhaps, after witnessing the power of Fascism, and the manipulation of art and popular culture it undertook to mobilize and influence people, they couldn't see anything but a world in which this kind of influence was prevalent and inevitable. I see their essay as a means of raising awareness to the kind of influence to which consumers of media can unwittingly become subject. Clearly, they're assuming the media and popular culture wield power. I believe they see possibilities for using that power for enlightenment and true freedom of expression. However, I don't believe they're ready to tell us how to get there, but they're certainly nervously warning us about what we've got currently and what could happen again, if we're unaware of the passivity with which many people consume.
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