Theme 2: Critical media studies

Enlightenment 

I started reading the chapter "The concept of enlightenment" thinking I already had a vague idea of what it meant. The age of Enlightenment was when people broke free from fear, religion, myths and the unknown. It was when people  started to believing in science and knowledge instead of fantasy. While reading Adorno and Horkheimer’s text I found that the concept of enlightenment wasn't a bit different from what Kant is describing.  The Enlightenment according to Adorno and Horkheimer is far more negative and darker. If the Age of enlightenment was suppose to exceed our limits and let go of our fear of the unknown it has failed in their opinion.  The Enlightenment has gone out of control and instead of releasing people it has done the opposite. The following quote summarizes the negative thoughts Adorno and Horkheimer has about enlightenment: 

“Enlightenment, understood in the widest sense as the advance of thought, has always aimed at liberating human beings from fear and installing them as masters. Yet the wholly enlightened earth is radiant with triumphant calamity. Enlightenment’s programs was the disenchantment of the world. It wanted to dispel myths, to overthrow fantasy with knowledge” (Adorno, Horkheimer)

Myths

Myths is what we use to explain things we don't understand or the unknown. When something happens and we can't understand why, we use our imagination to get it to make sense. Myths deceives us and keeps us from knowing the truths. Myths is what the Age of Enlightenment tried to get ride of by replacing it with knowledge but according to Adorno and Horkheimer the myths that the Enlightenment tried to remove were actually products of the Enlightenment. The science became mystified and replaced the religion, people started to worship the science and therefore it lost it's purpose to make a change. The science it self became mythology. 

New and old media, the culture industry and mass media/mass deception

Adorno and Horkheimer describes old media as a book or a painting while new media are things like TV, film  and radio. Adorno and Horkheimer seem to be pretty skeptical to the new media. They seem to be even more concerned about what was produced and how the media was consumed. Their opinion was that media only strived to generate money and that the mass-production of media such as TV-shows made the media impersonal. The new media wasn't good for the humans, it  didn't make her think and left no room for critical thinking. Adorno and Horkheimer states that the media made the humans passive observers that consumed what the media served. In difference to old media for example a book or a painting that made the humans think. The new media made the culture industry change, the culture industry fooled people to think media was a good way to relax and get entertained but it actually brainwashes people. For example the increasing numbers of "special effects" and the faster speed in movies is suppose to make people get used to the increased pace in the labour market. 

Interesting concepts

What really interested me was the part about image of the product and the brand. How important the image of a certain product is and how market is filled with something for everyone. Adorno and Horkheimer divides a product value in to two pieces, the use value and  the exchange value. The use value is what the product is actually worth and the exchange value is what the product is worth on the market and for the consumer. These two doesn't have to correlate, the brand it self can be more important than the product itself. A good example is designer clothes. The market value is high compared to what what it actually cost to produce them.