In his 1954 essay ‘How to Look at Television’, the German critical theorist Theodor Adorno examined the layers of oppression at work in television, then a novel artform. Meant to entertain, evoke, and, perhaps most importantly, to liberate, Adorno argued that television instead hypnotized humanity as the charlatan herald of a new Golden Age. An inconspicuous medium, television established itself as the newest and perhaps most intimate form of domination. Watched in our living rooms and bedrooms, the earliest programming was, on a conscious level, relatable, heartfelt, at times absurd, but enjoyable. Maybe its role as a simple diversion – after the work day, much easier to engage with than the tiny font of a paperback – amplified its appeal. On a subconscious level, however, Adorno argued, television had a…
