Post Blog 10/24

As a class we discussed Adorno and Horkheimer and once again a reading I previously read as gibberish became clear in meaning. We opened with a quote that really summed up the entirety of these two philosophers points, "culture today is infecting everything with sameness". This is an idea that is touched on by many previous philosophers, such as Walter Benjamin with the mechanical reproduction aspect, yet its truly defined within this article.
The store Hot Topic is what really put this idea into action. Think about it… People go to this store to buy clothing in hopes of looking original or having that walking art of individuality. Yet, there's a disconnect in the fact that these clothes that are so "individual" are being mass produced and put into a store that specializes in, so to speak, "gothic and punk" clothing. This of course was just one example, but we see first hand the culture creating sameness, where as gothics can now purchase clothing that "fits the look" along with a million other teens across America.
We then moved on to the quote addressing standardized forms, which is in result of the middle class and their needs. When the middle-class rose in numbers, they became key consumers, which then forced standard forms to arise. When there is a need or a want, someone is going to come out with an object that fits that need/ want in a more reasonable fashion. Take for example Toyota verse BMW. The function is one in the same, get someone from point A to point B. In this case Toyota would be the standardized form while BMW becomes a constructed notion.