Disposable architecture
For the Frankfurt School of critical theory, of which Adorno was at the vanguard, every public expression is social commentary. This extends beyond art, film and literature to even the more literally concrete forms of artistic expression. “Even now the older houses just outside the concrete city centers look like slums, and the new bungalows on the outskirts are at one with the flimsy structures of world fairs in their praise of technical progress and their built-in demand to be discarded after a short while like empty food cans.” The simile comparing architecture to canned food products which concludes this example becomes a commentary on what seemed inconceivable for almost the entire history of human civilization. The notion that even something as solid and seemingly permanent as urban architecture could be reduced to just another disposable commodity seemed to be an absurdity.
Cartoon as dismissal
That Adorno failed to foresee the future of the medium of animation is instantly clear from his insistence upon using the dismissive term cartoon as a broad stroke covering the entire art form. “Insofar as cartoons do any more than accustom the senses to the new tempo, they hammer into every brain the old lesson that continuous friction, the breaking down of all individual resistance, is the condition of life in this society. Donald Duck in the cartoons and the unfortunate in real life get their thrashing so that the audience can learn to take their own punishment.” The underlying suggestion engendered by the wealth of metaphorical imagery in this passage links victims of cartoon violence with the pounding of subliminal messages into the viewer. The full extent of the metaphorical comparison does not hold up quite as well when applied to animation on a level more challenging than an anthropomorphic duck.
Amusement parks
Adorno’s philosophical views can effectively be described as less than optimistic about the future. Adorno’s relentlessly pessimistic perception of the world around us can be burdensome at times, such as this nihilistic metaphorical comparison: “Amusement under late capitalism is the prolongation of work. It is sought after as an escape from the mechanized work process, and to recruit strength in order to be able to cope with it again.” The burden of facing the darker theories of Adorno is especially true when one attempts to introduce his theoretical ideas into the real world of everyday life.
