Homogenized Culture

Homogenized - to make uniform or similar, as in composition or function.

I'm not so sure I believe homogenization of a culture is possible.  Yes, you can target an audience by making generalizations towards the majority of a class.  We saw evidence of this in the Toyota commercials we watched in class.  We agreed that the main character of the commercials was someone we've all met in real life.  However.  That girl who worried about her parents not having a life because they didn't have many friends on Facebook and who did nothing but sit around on the computer or watching TV is just a generalization of Generation Y.  Certainly some people do behave just like this, I know a few for sure, but the entire culture does not act this way.  It's impossible to homogenize a complete culture.  Within this class alone we have people of different backgrounds who have different behaviors, interests, majors, and tastes.  It's impossible to lump everyone into one common list of characteristics.

[Mass Culture]... it thus destroys all values, since value judgements imply discrimination.  Mass Culture is very, very democratic:  it absolutely refuses to discriminate against, or between, anything or anybody.

When reading this statement, I found myself getting confused.  The first statement implies that Mass Culture destroys values and makes everything the same.  The second statement, however, says Mass Culture is democratic, which by definition would mean all cultures and values are represented.  The second statement then goes on to repeat that Mass Culture doesn't discriminate against or between anything.  That's a contradiction.  After reading Chapters 2 and 3, I'd have to agree with the portion of the statement that says Mass Culture makes everything the same.  It's a generalization of the majority of a culture.  Think about the advertising for an election.  The majority of the United States is Middle Class, so the advertisements and speeches are primarily about what the candidate will do for the Middle Class.  If you're watching a JCPenny commercial, you'll see colorful shirts and skinny jeans.  This is what most people are wearing today, so that's what they want to advertise.  You won't see the baggy black pants with the chains or the hippie-esque shirts that you'll see some people wearing.  The minority of people wear that type of clothes, so advertising that wouldn't get them the sales they're looking for.  The minority is lost in Mass Culture.  They're appealing to the masses, not the individuals who stand apart from the masses.