Individuality is Disappearing: Sequels and the Frankfurt School

    In the views of Adorno and Horkheimer, from the school of Frankfurt, they believe popular culture isn’t driven by public needs and wants, but rather ideologies the elitists want to push onto them. This has led to a belief in the school of Frankfurt that society is unintelligent, followed by the death of imagination and the collapse of individuality.

One way this can be seen is a lesser amount of new ideas for films and TV shows and instead constant sequels, remakes, and spin-offs. Don’t get me wrong, after reading The Hunger Games prequel, The Sunrise on the Reaping, I’m very excited for the movie based on the film.

    However, as time wears on, it’s becoming clear some films are only being made for profit and to push a popular product onto audiences. Disney is a prime example of an industry doing this.

Ever since their first live-action adaptation, Cinderella starring Lily James, was a humongous success, making 543.5 million dollars against a 95 million dollar budget, Disney took to making everything into a live-action adaptation. One adaptation that came out recently was that of Snow White. Unlike the success of the Cinderella adaptation, which had an immense profit, the Snow White adaptation barely reached 200 million dollars on a heavy 270 million dollar budget.

    Disney also has focused most of their attention to making sequels instead of creating new ideas. After their hit trilogy, Toy Story, instead of letting the story stand once Andy left for college, Disney thought it made more sense to reap off of Disney’s popularity and continue creating movies within the series. Nine years after the original trilogy ended, in 2019 they created another movie, continuing the story with Bonnie and eventually splitting the toys up so Woody could be with Bo Peep. Obviously, I have my personal opinions, thinking it goes against Woody’s character to leave, but whether one likes or dislikes the ending of Toy Story 4, Disney announced that in 2026, they will add a fifth film to the story. This reinforces the philosophy that Adorno and Horkheimer are expressing that elitists push onto consumers what they believe that they want.

In the long run, some of these movies are successful financially and do entertain their audiences. However, sequels, spinoffs, and remakes still reinforce how popular culture is used to force specific information and entertainment onto audiences that best benefit the elitists. In the long run, it could harm these industries for not coming up with new ideas, the way it did with Snow White, but until consumers stop absorbing certain popular culture purely because of the title before the number, this trend will continue. Now, how do you think the continuous creation of sequels, spinoffs, and remakes could impact the individuality of our society?