>[!abstract] >The **culture industry**, a concept developed by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer in _Dialectic of Enlightenment_ (1944), critiques the mass production of culture under capitalism. They argue that films, music, and media become standardized commodities designed to manipulate emotions, reinforce conformity, and sustain the economic and ideological status quo. Rather than fostering critical thought or genuine art, the culture industry pacifies audiences through predictable pleasure and distraction, turning consumers into passive participants. The term encapsulates a Marxist and Frankfurt School critique of how cultural production, once a potential site of emancipation, becomes an instrument of social control through commodification and repetition. >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): [[Critical theory]], [[Frankfurt School]] >- **West** (similar): [[Mass culture]] >- **East** (different): [[Avant-garde art]] >- **South** (downstream): [[Media commodification]]