Thursday, January 29, 2009

Ohman vs. Adorno/Horkheimer Response

Ohman's essay "Selling Culture" is very similar but also different at the same time as Adorno/Horkheimer's essay "The Culture Industry." Both essays talk about the same topics: American culture, advertising, and capitalism. On one side, Ohman is pretty accepting with the idea of capitalism and it's structure, and how it affects the culture. On the other hand, Adorno and Horkheimer completely object to the idea of capitalism as a whole.
Adorno and Horkheimer express their opinions very strongly about capitalism and how against it they really are. Throughout their essay they address many issues in today's society that is affected by the way our culture is shaped. They state how the mass culture is negatively affecting the culture and today's society. They warn us that if things keep going the way they are, that bad things are going to happen in the future. What they fail to mention is an alternative to the capitalism that exists today. In other words, they complain about the problems that are at hand, but they don't suggest a solution. I find that to be a little shady.
In Ohman's essay, "Selling Culture" he talks about the same things as Adorno and Horkheimer do in regards to some of the issues that capitalism is causing on today's culture, but he also states many things that our culture benefits from capitalism. All three authors believe that capitalism is a process that is interested in making money through advertisement, the main difference between the authors is that Ohman saw the advantages that were being created through capitalism. For example, even though advertising is just a major way of making profit, it also helps contribute to the cycle that allows our society to be "continuously moving." If people didn't buy things, then the economy would basically stand still. Advertising helps push people to buy things, and keep the market and economy moving. At the same time, advertising for smoking, for instance, is not necessarily beneficial to humans nor their health.

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