Mainstream Culture and Media after the World War II

After the Second World War, America experienced an economic boom, which has taken the country a step further towards the ideal capitalistic society. In its early developmental stages, the capitalist mode of production prolonged the Marxist discourse on constant class struggle as it was primarily criticized in terms of social inequalities. During post-war years, the initial focus of the discourse has shifted to Frankfurt School criticism of culture industry, where the standardization and commodification of cultural spheres became one of the major defects of the capitalistic system. The notion of class struggle shifted as well, to the clash of high and low cultural forms. Also known as authentic expression versus standardized product of cultural industry. Most recently, the discourse has gone through another important metamorphosis that has made advertising industry and consumerism the main forces, shaping hegemonic culture of mainstream media. The good old notion of the class struggl e is currently regarded as the battle between corporate businesses and rebel oppositional forces. However, even though the subject matter of the Marxist struggle has changed through time, the very quintessential nature of capitalistic mode of production remained unchanged, for it is profit-driven and turns all cultural spheres into mass marketed commodities. Within the domain of cultural industry, the notions of authenticity and resistance become utopian, illusionary and fake; socialShow MoreRelatedTelevision As A Dominant Theme On Mass Sitcoms990 Words   |  4 Pageschange in American culture and also stood out that a culture where the image of youth has become dominant. The prior sitcoms were aiming to focus on the live of nuclear families that father and mother were the center and knew the best, which represented the generation of Baby Boomer. 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