"Art for the masses has destroyed the dream"

on Western Marxism & Culture Industries

(blog title "Art for the masses has destroyed the dream" taken from video below)

It was once said that religion was the "opium of the masses", and i just recently realized that the same analogy can be applied to the media. the idea that the media reaffirms the dominance of the status quo, the picture of the "good society" that the media paints and all the perception that comes with the implications of a barely educated audience (especially in the Philippine setting) whose past time is the television, the commodification of culture used for culture industries and capitalism, the "bahala na" and "crab mentality" message of Philippine soap operas are all manifestations and CONFIRMATIONS of the frankfurt school theories of Adorno, Gramsci, Lukas, Marcuse. etc.

In my pursuit to understand more about this theory and its manifestations, i came across a video about culture industries in the form of a music video with very interesting lyrics:

"love reduced to romance in the culture industry..."

"happiness reduced to laughter...in the culture industry..."

"through the filter of the Culture Industry, the only thing acceptable is meaninglessness"

"the consciousness of God is replaced by the production team"

personally, i though the video was very peculiar, but there are certain things to be reflected on when i first heard the lyrics: does commodifying culture reduce its meaning? this brought me back to the idea of being "indie" and "hipster", where urban dictionary defines them as:

Indie

"By this definition, indie is any business or designer that is not associated with a large company. Indie can also define the consumer who chooses to support small business, independent record labels and handmade items rather than shopping at big-box stores." (urbandictionary.com)

Hipster

"Hipsters reject "mainstream" culture and embrace and contribute to independent culture, and prides him/herself on this...  Usually has some degree of monetary conformability, although sometimes only because of their parents, due to cost of living in these areas... Has "elitist" taste.. walks among the masses in daily life but is not a part of them and shuns or reduces to kitsch anything held dear by the mainstream.." (urbandictionary.com)

these words are usually related to the feelings of being "above the mainstream" or the common norm, those who have the time and resources to gain access to films, music, art, literature and etc that are not readily available to the public. this reminded me of Mr. Contreras' argument in class of how the socio-economic elite are those who tend to stray away from the culture of the masses, as they have more resources to spend on other hobbies and past times which they can readily afford (e.g. the opera, museums, equestrian, cable TV and many more). 

i can cite more contemporary examples and manifestations of this theory, but at the end of the day it is up to you (readers out there, if there are any) to decide whether or not society (Philippine society to be more specific) is conditioned and bound by such theoretical claims.

Good night, all! till my next blog post.