Metodo

International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Series | Book | Chapter

220662

The counterculture industry

Gilad Padva

pp. 1-16

Abstract

Whereas Neo Marxist thinkers regularly focus on the hegemonic heterosexual Culture Industry, the idea that a counterculture can constitute and maintain its own profitable Culture Industry is generally unrecognized. This essay problematizes two popular countercultural music videos: the Pet Shop Boysʼ "Go West" which ironizes the Soviet fetishization of muscular male physique, and Lady Gagaʼs "Alejandro" which erotically objectifies the athletic bodies of fascist soldiers and their quasi-Nazi regalia. This essay suggests that the totalitarian male bodies in these music videos, however, are not only commercialized and objectified but are also inverted and subverted.

Publication details

Published in:

Bittlingmayer Uwe H., Demirović Alex, Freytag Tatjana (2019) Handbuch kritische Theorie. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 1-16

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-12707-7_71-1

Full citation:

Padva Gilad (2019) „The counterculture industry“, In: U. H. Bittlingmayer, A. Demirović & T. Freytag (eds.), Handbuch kritische Theorie, Dordrecht, Springer, 1–16.