Culture Industry Thesis

The Culture Industry Thesis, proposed by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer, suggests that popular culture—like movies, TV, music, and other entertainment—is produced by large corporations to manipulate and standardize public tastes. This mass production creates uniform cultural products that promote passive consumption, reducing diversity of thought and critical thinking. Essentially, it argues that the culture we consume is shaped to serve commercial interests, leading to a form of cultural control that dulls individuality and critical awareness, reinforcing existing social and economic power structures.