art is a commodity. artists are locked in a market. the world is full of fascists. there is no hope. movie goers suck even though they are doing some good by trying to become aware although they are stuck in the ideology of the culture that has them involved in entertainment with little or no intellectual activity. this was the 1940's. a German living in Los Angeles. and a tragedy in its cultural wherewithal. still, worth a read or two (the third time to actually understand it). ( )

Adorno belonged to the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory in the 1920s. He died in 1969. His criticism of the standardization and commodification of art applies even more today. Read this book together with Tolstoy's "What is Art", but try not to get too depressed. It is a must read for anyone interested in "art" and entertainment (today almost inseparable) in the digital world. It is remarkable because Adorno died before the YouTube / Big Brother phenomena. Yet, you find yourself agreeing with him on almost every point.

I bought it. Haven't read it yet.

An intense writer, who gives brilliant insights into the relations of culture to its means of production. The essay on administration, as well as freud and fascist idelogy are both really strong. Adorno though is quite pessimistic about the possibilities of culture, though at the end of his career he begins to see the possibility of alternative readings in audience studies. I think what takes away from reading Adorno is his innability to imagine what other people might see in activities or cultural objects he doesn't like (sun tanning for example). Nonetheless the he has stunning range, able to move from general sociological analysis, to media specific, and individual cultural products. While 'the culture industry' doesn't exactly seduce me as a conceptual schema, many of the arguments do. ( )