“The whole world is passed through the filter of the culture industry. The familiar experience of the moviegoer, who perceives the street outside as a continuation of the film he has just left, because the film seeks strictly to reproduce the world of everyday perception, has become the guideline of production.” (56)

            In this quote, Max Horkenheimer and Theodor W. Adorno are assessing the complications of capitalism’s hyper-commodification of reality and how the blending of fiction with reality poses significant consequences. The text uses the example of the moviegoer and I would like to piggy-back off of this example to further discern the omnipresence the filter of the cultural industry has over our society. Blending reality and fiction is incredibly dangerous because as previous theorists Pierre Macherey and Walter Benjamin have noted, reproduction of the image without a fixed referent produces a distinct entity. This distinct entity and its lost referent create a disjuncture between true knowledge and knowledge equivalent to simple hot-air.

            Moreover, once the filter of the culture industry is applied, the referent is further convoluted. To express just how extensive the filter of the culture industry can be, I will re-examine Adorno and Horkenheimer’s moviegoer. The moviegoer sees reality and fiction blurred so masterfully that they become one and the same. Thus, blockbusters like Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) can subtly yet repeatedly reproduce commodities within the film and outward to affect reality. For instance, the use of Acura as the only distinct vehicle in the film creates an impression of Acura that has no credible value to its actual cars, however it is depicted as heroic and ideal in the film.

            In addition, the filter of the culture industry is evident in working outward from the film. In particular, the food industry adopts fictional characters to sell their products in a way that paints them as necessity. Considering their global scale, McDonald’s may be the most dangerous of the restaurants to exercise this practice. Not only do they offer toys from films within the kid’s meals, McDonald’s also implements commercials insinuating powerful protagonists from the latest film and superstar athletes alike are fueled by their food. When in actuality, neither the real heroes of sports or the fictional heroes of film partake exclusively in McDonald’s meals. In summation, my analysis shows the extent to which reality and fiction are conflated, as well as the effectiveness and universality of the filter of the culture industry.