Kracauer Response

Kracauer’s overall argument is that there is much meaning to be found within the surface level expressions of a society, expressions that generally are disregarded as unimportant and trivial. From this perspective, he looks at the popularity of dancers like the Tiller Girls. The girls look so alike in their matching scanty outfits, that they become one mass, rather than a group of individuals. He argues that it is the current trend in society to become a part of the mass, in which traits that would ordinarily stand out, like the girls immodestly cut clothing, do not. He calls this phenomenon the mass ornament.

Although the entire Kracauer reading was rather unusual and thought provoking, this quote in particular stood out to me. He says that, “The mass ornament is the aesthetic reflex of the rationality to which the prevailing economic system aspires.” Kracauer suggests that the mass ornament, in this case the dancing of the Tiller Girls, is a visual representation of the economic order, which is in itself one of the deepest reflections of society. The Tiller Girls represent capitalism, and he compares their synchronized legs dancing to the gears and levers of a factory machine working. For me this is a fascinating way of looking at modern (and historical) economic systems. As a student of economics, I realize that the function of an economy cannot be understood only in terms of money. It is also a product of the social philosophy and the politics of the time.