Are the Masses Really Idiots?
In our study of critical theory, I've found myself most fascinated by the school of thought from the Frankfurt School, which essentially sees entertainment as a tool controlled by the elites, with a goal of dumbing the public to the point where they can't differentiate what's real and what's fake. This philosophy, while initially developed nearly a century ago, seems to continue to be a widely held belief among many of those who study pop culture and its effect on us. But is the general public really that dumb, or are we not giving them enough credit?
One of the biggest pieces of evidence given by those who hold the general public in low regard is the consistently high sales of what I've heard so lovingly called "regurgitory content," or content that is pumped out year after year with little change. In the video game sphere, we've seen this type of content from franchises such as Call of Duty and Madden. For movies, people often point to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Fast & Furious franchise.
With franchises such as Call of Duty bringing in millions of dollars every year, it's easy to understand this school of thought. However, when looking at the Marvel sphere over the last couple of years and superhero movies as a whole, it seems that fans are starting to grow bored of the same old superhero tropes. While the Fast & Furious movies continue to make money, you can argue it's due to the filmmakers pushing the idea to its absolute limit (I still can't believe they decided to put a car in space) rather than because the fans are dumb enough to watch street racing for ten straight movies.
What do you all think? Are general audiences actually dumb, or are we not giving them enough credit?
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog post! I agree when you describe the “regurgitory content” which is a content that published year after year with little updates. When you clarify the video game sphere and mention Madden, it is also the same with other sports games such as NBA 2K, NHL, and EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA) because they always release the same game year after year with only changing the year itself on the title. I notice many people do not realize they have been purchasing and playing the same video game but only different years and probably team rosters.
To answer the question, are general audiences actually dumb, or are we not giving them enough credit? I would say that not all general audiences are dumb because some audiences are carefully understanding the content they consume. We might not giving them enough credit due to lack of understanding how the general public consume the content that video game developers and filmmakers create.
If video game developers and filmmakers give the general public enough credit, they would create another content that is updated and unique storytelling. My example of this is the video game, Pokemon, they create another game content year after year or 2 to 3 years after but with different game region map, Pokemon characters, and story.
Overall, I believe that the Frankfurt School clarifies how people consume pop culture content.