First off.....Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!
In “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” written by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, the case is made that our traditional art forms of media aren't cutting it as art anymore. “Culture today is infecting everything with sameness. Film, radio, and magazines form a system. Each branch of culture is unanimous within itself and all are unanimous together....Films and radio no longer need to present themselves as art… They call themselves industries…” (53). This is true. Today, television networks and film producers aim to make the big bucks and sell whatever will sell in the current market. Writers and cinematographers typically care more about the art perspective of these things, but they're typically not the one's in charge, unless a producer recognizes that an Academy Award promises a sellout. Films in particular have transformed, I'd say. Films that are considered art by the majority of society are seldom, and those that are are usually in a small group and up for awards. Film as art has become a niche subculture. There are those that are called film or movie buffs, people who see films for their production technique and the stories that they tell as opposed to cheap and fast satisfactory entertainment. Nowadays, it's all about getting the product the consumer as fast and as cheaply as possible. The more accessible the product is to the public, the more money the producer can make off of it. On the other hand, Netflix particularly values exclusivity. But this is done for the sake of justifying the quantity of price with the quality of the service- think, "I have to pay eight bucks a month for this streaming service, but it's also the ONLY place that I can watch Chilling Adventures of Sabrina!!" The art has once again been commodified, and the true meaning forced into a subculture.
In “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” written by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, the case is made that our traditional art forms of media aren't cutting it as art anymore. “Culture today is infecting everything with sameness. Film, radio, and magazines form a system. Each branch of culture is unanimous within itself and all are unanimous together....Films and radio no longer need to present themselves as art… They call themselves industries…” (53). This is true. Today, television networks and film producers aim to make the big bucks and sell whatever will sell in the current market. Writers and cinematographers typically care more about the art perspective of these things, but they're typically not the one's in charge, unless a producer recognizes that an Academy Award promises a sellout. Films in particular have transformed, I'd say. Films that are considered art by the majority of society are seldom, and those that are are usually in a small group and up for awards. Film as art has become a niche subculture. There are those that are called film or movie buffs, people who see films for their production technique and the stories that they tell as opposed to cheap and fast satisfactory entertainment. Nowadays, it's all about getting the product the consumer as fast and as cheaply as possible. The more accessible the product is to the public, the more money the producer can make off of it. On the other hand, Netflix particularly values exclusivity. But this is done for the sake of justifying the quantity of price with the quality of the service- think, "I have to pay eight bucks a month for this streaming service, but it's also the ONLY place that I can watch Chilling Adventures of Sabrina!!" The art has once again been commodified, and the true meaning forced into a subculture.
Post-Class Blog- 10/31
ReplyDeleteGi,
I really liked your post and I cannot have picked a more spot-on example of loss of art in the 'film industry' than pointing out that the amount of movies that popular culture considers 'art' every year during award ceremonies can practically be listed off on our right hand. Another example that could be added to your argument about the amount of sameness that is affecting our society is the plethora of cliche TV shows such as: cop shows, hospital shows, and reality shows that we see flooding TV right now. You started talking about this when you mentioned Netflix and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The example of cliche TV shows follows the trend of creating a lack of ‘art’, as if there are no other ideas out there waiting to be produced.
Just off the top of my head, I can name almost a dozen:
Law & Order: SVU
The Good Doctor
Grey's Anatomy
Private Practice (off-air, but successful and on Hulu now)
Chicago Fire
Chicago PD
Red Band Society (off-air, but it was so cliche)
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
John & Kate Plus 8 (off-air, but it was a classic)
Married at First Sight
Bachelor in Paradise
I cannot think of any Netflix original or Amazon Prime Original TV shows that use these same cliche premises. I have heard people say that the real artists are producing on streaming services because there are not as many restrictions and they have more freedom to create.
For example, while TV networks aim to make whatever is selling in the industry/business, like you mentioned in your blog post, Netflix and other shows on streaming services seem to care more about relevant social issues ( ex. Transparent on Amazon Video, Orange is the New Black on Netflix). Film and TV 'industries' are based on gaining the most profit and not talent or even entertainment necessarily. We do not realize how commodified our entertainment culture has become until we read theorists like this who point out the absurdities in this industry.
I think it’s really clever how you identified film that is considered art as a subculture. I never thought about it that way before, but you’re right. The film industry is so focused on producing movies that will make a lot of money and win awards. This leads to sequels and a lot of films being very similar to each other or having the same actors to appeal to the masses and insure a good rating. As a result, films that are focused on creating art and putting something different out there that wouldn’t appeal to everyone aren’t as common. You also noted that even exclusivity is done for the sake of profit because it means increasing prices can be justified. This creates the illusion that we have more choice than we actually do.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that the more accessible a product is to the public, the more money producers can make off of it. I think this could connect to Walter Benjamin’s criticism of the film industry in “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” When I first read Benjamin, I thought he was elitist. I viewed accessibility as a good thing because it meant that art and entertainment could be more easily reached from people of different socioeconomic classes and backgrounds, regardless of where they lived. There are different ways in which entertainment has become more accessible though, and as you noted, the predominant way to do that is by trying to appeal to everyone instead of creating art or something that makes a statement. If art produced by a subculture does become popular and build a following, it risks being appropriated by mainstream culture and losing its meaning or “becoming frozen” as Hebdige refers to it.
We seem to be overwhelmed with choices and barely have any choices at all because everything is the same.