The Real vs. The Imaginary

Horkheimer and Adorno’s essay “Culture Industry” re-affirm the ideas presented by Karl Marx. Adorno’s thesis extends Marx’s vision, of society being controlled by capitalist values and confining our various culture into a single culture industry which serving a mass market. As a result, man looses the ability to distinguish the real from the un-real. This idea of reality and representation of reality was explored by Plato, and references to this idea can been seen in Adorno’s writings. Adorno believes that the only way to tackle this vigorous process is through enlightenment, a painstaking process, because capitalist industry holds a strong grip on society, constantly brainwashing it and leading it astray.