Cultural identity
The imagery that most defines Adorno's point of view is the constant influx of new art. As art is received by a community, the culture transitions into new seasons of cultural identity. This dynamic is explained through essay writing, and then Adorno adds specific factors of political, economic, and social changes that came because of breakthroughs in technology and innovation. There is a certain tipping point, he says, when the homogenizing effect of industrialized life affects art and entertainment.
Art and entertainment
Through imagery, we learn that Adorno sees creation in two categories: there is true are, and there is derivative art created for the explicit purpose of trading entertaining time to an audience for monetary gain. By selling television commercials on programs that are specifically tested and proven to trend well with audiences, entertainment becomes the center of the television culture industry. Adorno says that this is happening in basically every medium, with an adverse effect on art. He says that art has become increasingly rare, underground, and often esoteric.
Technological progress
Adorno is highly concerned with the rapid changes that technology has brought into his society. The forward progress of technology was so unfathomable in his time that his theory was largely overlooked—overshadowed by the ultimate disasters Adorno was hoping to avoid, like war and the nuclear bomb. The questions of modernism simply paled in response to the epidemics of the 20th century, so that Adorno's essays about technology and the human experience seem frantic and urgent.
Economy and money
In addition to the technological aspects of the book, there is also an awareness of the human tendency toward greed and profit. For Adorno, this is a major factor in the changing world. Since the profitability of entertainment industry can be scientifically tested, Adorno correctly predicts the way that testing combined with technological progress could lead to homogenized and derivative entertainment programs that might overtake the zeitgeist, replacing true art. He predicts correctly that true art will be reduced to pretentious, esoteric communities.
