Cultural products
The song ‘Born this way’ by Lady Gaga (2011) supports Adorno’s argument that cultural products that are produced by the cultural industry are equivalent as it lives up to the six characteristics, he uses to describe cultural products. The song predictable in that it addresses issues that are relevant in society and is greatly influenced by the artist’s perception. Lady Gaga is renowned for her support of the LGBT community and advocates for people to be themselves, even if it means being different. The song is predictable as it supports the artist’s ideologies as well as current trends that were in the industry when the song was released (Davisson, 2013). Being a song, repetition is common as different scenes recur on stage and lyrics from the chorus are repeated regularly. In addition, the song is a repetition of the opinions that people have in society such as the need to protect people’s rights regardless of their sexual preference.
The song further conforms to Adorno’s classification as the song is formulaic and made to meet a specific standard. Being a superstar, Lady Gaga’s music has a standard that it is expected to meet and the quality of the song and video have to abide to this standard. In addition, the video follows the artist’s formula in regards to choreography, video and makeup (Davisson, 2013). The song portrays a lot of sexuality from both genders and this conforms to the type of songs that were being released during its time. the ubiquitous nature has to do with the topic it covers. People from different parts of the world have different opinions regarding homosexuality. The song is therefore popular not only in the U.S but different parts of the world as it addresses an international issue.
Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s going on’ (1971) on the other hand goes contrary to what Adorno uses to classify cultural products as the song portrayed the ‘real’ American culture during the Vietnam war. Unlike the most of his songs, Marvin Gaye opted to do a different song especially because his brother was a soldier in the Vietnam war during its composition. The deviation from the norm makes the song unpredictable. The song further deviates from repetition as it calls for an end to war during a time where the country was at war with Vietnam. According to Adorno, cultural products are equivalent and mirror what is popular in a community. The song however went against what was popular, which was winning the war, to focusing on the negative impacts of war instead.
The song further breaks from the norm as it fails to gain the ubiquitous nature Adorno talks about. The song focuses on the Vietnam war which mostly affected people in the two countries but not other parts of the world. It also went against the standards associated with music from the artist as it deviated from his common genre which was romance (Barnhill, 2019). Although there are cases of repetition, the song itself is unique in that it talks about the Vietnam war and not any other war.
Adorno’s belief that cultural products are all equivalent is wrong as it treats all cultural products as serving the same purpose. While it is true that most cultural products can be classified to the six characteristics discussed, they are not ideal for making the claim especially because of the products that deviate from these characteristics. All art has the potential to call people to action and bring about change. The art may however have a different impact depending on how it is received. The variations are therefore as a result of how people perceive the cultural product itself.
References
Barnhill J, (2019) "Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and the Civil Rights Movement: A History and Analysis" Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 234. https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/234
Davisson, A. L. (2013). Lady Gaga and the remaking of celebrity culture. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland.
Gaga L, (2011) “Born this way” Interscope Records
Gaye M, (1971) “What’s going on” Tamla
