The Culture Industry is an abstract concept that describes how media and entertainment industries shape people’s wants and needs through advertising, algorithms, storytelling, and a range of other mechanisms, including social influence, emotional manipulation, and the reinforcement of cultural norms and ideologies. These forces work in subtle ways, often shaping what people value and desire without them even realising it.
Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer introduced the concept of the ‘culture industry’, describing it as the mass production and commercialisation of cultural content. They argued that this process shapes society’s values and norms through mass media, ultimately influencing how people think and behave. They proclaim in their book The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception that “all mass culture under monopoly is identical […] films and radio no longer need to present themselves as art” (p. 42), revealing how cultural products are treated as commercial goods rather than creative expressions. In doing so, it creates and reinforces ‘false needs’, such as leisure and consumerism, encouraging individuals to desire things that serve the interests of capitalism rather than their own genuine well-being, distracting them from their real needs, such ,’ such as leisure and consumerism, encouraging individuals to desire things that serve the interests of capitalism rather than their own genuine well-being, thereby distracting them from their real needs, including as freedom and critical thinking.
In their 1947 work Dialectic of Enlightenment, they argued that cultural products such as films, music, and art are produced in a style similar to industrial goods, leading to a standardisation of culture. They suggest that the culture industry is driven by the capitalist motive, where the primary goal is profit rather than genuine artistic expression.
An example of the culture industry can be seen in anime. Originally a distinctly Japanese art form, anime has been transformed into a global commodity that reaches audiences far beyond its cultural origins. Series such as Hunter x Hunter, Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, and Jujutsu Kaisen are all produced or distributed by major studios and platforms, including Madhouse, Wit Studio, MAPPA, Crunchyroll, and Netflix. This illustrates how visionary stories with themes of morality, power, and human emotion are commercialised for mass consumption. As someone who watches and loves anime, I’ve noticed that many popular series follow similar storylines and visual styles, likely designed to appeal to a broad international audience. Their success is reinforced through streaming services, merchandise, and video games, demonstrating how cultural products become part of a worldwide industry that blends entertainment, profit, and global reach. As Adorno and Horkheimer (1944) observe, “culture today is infecting everything with sameness” (p. 41), a sentiment that resonates with my own experience as a fan. Even a creative medium like anime can begin to lose some of its originality and ‘quality’ as it becomes absorbed into the global culture industry, compared to the peak of anime before the 2000s.
In addition, in Walter Benjamin’s book The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, he states that “the presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity” (p. 3), meaning that something is only viewed as genuine when an original version exists to give it meaning. In the culture industry, this authenticity is weakened as art becomes something easily reproduced and sold. In relation to anime, the constant cycles of remakes and sequels blur what counts as the ‘real’ version, showing what used to be a unique “aura” fade when it becomes a global, mass-produced product.
To conclude, even though anime is losing some of the qualities that made it so distinctive all over the world, such as its diverse genres and distinctive art styles, it cannot be denied that “anime franchises have become powerful cultural ambassadors, influencing fashion, music, and art across diverse societies”, and that the community itself is an important factor in the “evolution of the art form”.
References:
Adorno, Th. & Horkheimer, M. (2006). ‘The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception’. iIn: Durham, M.G. & D. Kellner (2006), Media and Cultural Studies:Key Work, Malden, MA: Blackwell, [pp.41-72]
View Posts (2023). Why Anime Is Boring Now: Exploring the Decline in Creativity. [online] Epic Dope. Available at: https://www.epicdope.com/hy-anime-is-boring-now-exploring-the-decline-in-creativity/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2025].
Benjamin, W. (1935). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. [online] Available at: https://www.litandwriting.umb.edu/engl380-1/spg09/documents/WalterBenjaminTheWorkofArt.pdf [Accessed 6 Jul. 2025].
Walker, A. (2024). Beyond the Screen: The Cultural Impact of Anime on Global Society – Iniative Network. [online] Iniative Network. Available at: https://initiativenetwork.org/beyond-the-screen-the-cultural-impact/
