Supply Entertainment or Oppress Thoughts

While reading through the two schools' perceptions of popular culture, Frankfurt School and Birmingham School, I was fortunate to go to Universal Studios in Hollywood California. Seeing how pop culture in film drives people to visit one of the studios and get excited to see all the objects from previous films. The main thing that my boys were excited to see was Nintendo World which opened up recently. My daughter was mostly excited to see The Voice sound stage. I'm not going to lie, I was excited to see the city hall from Back to the Future movie. 

Family at Universal Studios Hollywood

Stage 30 where The Voice is recordedFamily in front of city hall

During our visit, I realized that the whole area was just one big product or commodity. Not only taking our money for visiting them but also for keeping us excited about the areas of interest that my family had. The studio had things for all ages and what people liked. That became my question that I felt does need to be answered: Do studios make movies of what people like or do they make movies that oppress actions?

Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer said, "for culture now impresses the same stamp on everything. Films, radio, and magazines make up a system which is uniform as a whole and in every part. Even the aesthetic activities of political opposites are one in their enthusiastic obedience to the rhythm of the iron system." And that sums up the Frankfurt School of thought with pop culture. It has become a commodity that can be industrialized and produced en masse to suppress any type of discord. 

However, the Birmingham School shows that just because studios produce something, doesn't mean it will do well. People still have a choice in the popular culture that they enjoy. John Fiske pointed this out in his work "Popular Discrimination" where several products do fail even though they follow the same mold as previous films. This is because pop culture is a commodity but one that is overproduced. Leading the populace to decide what they want to watch, listen, or read. 

In my opinion, the Birmingham School of thought seems to align with my own. Though I can see that some of the Frankfurt School does have merit, I think that their arguments support more of a "Magic Bullet" theory rather than the more complex world of popular culture. I saw it while at Universal. They know that their business is to please the audience and thus the audience has more power to determine what is shown. Even if that means the culture is suppressive in nature.

What are your thoughts? Do studios make movies based on the audience's interests or what they want to tell the audience how to think and act?

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 27, 2024 at 3:33 PM

    The ideas you shared about the Frankfurt and Birmingham schools of thought while at Universal Studios were really compelling. I had similar thoughts during a recent visit to Disneyland. On one hand, the entire experience can feel very commercialized and focused on Disney making money. On the other hand, the experience is immersive and allows for guests to have choice in what they want to do based on their interests or level of fandom for a particular segment of the culture (i.e. Marvel or Star Wars). You summed it up well -- they know their business is to please their audience, leading to the audience having more choice in what they want to see. I think studios making films and TV shows have diversified the breadth and depth of their content because there are more platforms and ways to share that content with their audience. This has led to audiences having more choices than ever before. Although it can be overwhelming to have that many choices, I agree that it ultimately gives more power to the viewers in shaping what entertainment they want to pursue rather than suppressing their thoughts or telling them how to think, act, or feel.

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  2. Jean Noel MugaboJanuary 27, 2024 at 10:22 PM

    It is insightful to read from someone who has been at the center of the pop culture industry. In your writing, you skillfully weave together Frankfurt and Birmingham School theories, incorporating your own experiences in the field, which adds a valuable perspective.

    A brief and quick exploration of this blog reveals that some of us align more with the Birmingham School of thought than with the Frankfurt School. Personally, I find the Frankfurt School's conclusion that Popular Culture regards the masses as stupid and is superficial without any value, as outlined by Adorno and Horkheimer, to be questionable. I've encountered middle school kids in Africa who planned and executed a library computer theft at their school inspired by the movie 'Italian Job.' They succeeded, at least for a few days, until they were caught and put in jail. What if they could retain the expertise and daring spirit from the movie and channel it into something more positive?

    In response to your question, I believe studios, in their expertise, blend what the audience wants to see with what they want to convey, resulting in the content we see on screens.

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