Adorno and Horkheimer
Adorno and Horkheimer’s Dialectic of Enlightenment left me with a pessimistic view of the culture industry. ... Although Adorno and Horkheimer wrote this paper amidst the historical context of Nazi Germany, in response to Nazi propaganda, it seems to have an alarmingly accurate relevance to today’s industry in Hollywood. Adorno/Horkheimer applied their concepts in a more neutral way to the Hollywood industry. ... Finally, after reviewing the Adorno/Horkheimer paper in the context of present day America, it becomes clear that the cultural industries of these two time periods are surprisingly similar. ... Adorno and Horkeimer’s predictions were made in the historical context of the 1940’s.