Episode 136: Adorno on the Culture Industry
The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast
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The Purpose of Catharsis
Like style, catharsis is defined by the culture industry as something that's being sold to you as just another experience. Films can show tragedy, but they have to show compassionate people making it remediable. Tragedy in this kind of altered form becomes a way of amplifying satisfaction we get out of mass culture. It imparts an element of interest, the insipidity of censored happiness and makes that interest manageable.
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