To Be Aware or Not To Be

Phoebe Marie Knox
Blog 4
At the end of my ideal work day, I come home and kick off my shoes. I aimlessly search my bed for the remote; I turn on the TV, get in the shower, bathe then relax on my bed. That is my idea of free time, doing absolutely nothing and procrastinating on the things I need to do. What I actually do in my free time is laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping and going to the gym. My free time is spent organizing my life for work and school.
In the essay Free Time by Theodor W. Adorno, Adorno explains that “free time” is socially constructed and that it doesn’t truly exist. Free time is an illusion created by mass society. It is the “word” used to identify individuals when they are not in a professional setting. Free time is supposed to be the time used for individuals to recuperate before they return to work. Free time can be occupied by reading, sports, and/or hobbies. “Free time” is not really leisure time because society is not free, only followers of mass society. According to Adorno, a mass society is suppose to have a real culture and is autonomous. However, in reality mass society is dead, repetitive, and has no value- autonomy is lost.
Adorno explains, “Unfreedom is expanding within free time, and most of the unfree people are as unconscious of the process as they are of their own freedom.” (168) Adorno discusses that individuals can be set free if they are aware that they are captives of mass society. By becoming aware of their limitations people can attempt to make un-coerced decisions, or live a more self governed life. Although I understand the concept; I disagree, ignorance is bliss. If an individual is not aware that they are a socially constructed zombie, they will think they are an individual and in control of their idea of free time. Adorno’s idea of freedom only reveals a mental prison.
Adorno’s idea of unfreedom is similar to the theme of the major motion picture the Matrix. The Matrix is about a man being exposed and fighting for freedom and control from a computer generated society. Neo, the lead character, has an option to be part of the real world or remain in the computer generated society. Neo is propositioned my Morpheus, the leader of the unplugged, to either take a red pill or a blue pill. The red pill will awake Neo from the computer generated world that he thinks is reality. The blue pill will have Neo remain in his current reality and unaware of the truth around him. This is an excerpt from the movie between Neo and Morpheus,
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere, it is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, or when go to church or when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. (long pause, sighs) Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.
(In his left hand, Morpheus shows a blue pill.)
Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. (a red pill is shown in his other hand) You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Long pause; Neo begins to reach for the red pill) Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.
(Neo takes the red pill and swallows it with a glass of water)
The rest of the movie consists of Neo and the crew of unplugged fighting for freedom from the computer generated world. The revelation of the truth becomes its own prison and fight. The Alice in Wonderland world that Neo opened himself to is autonomous because it is opposite from the mass society that are controlled. However, Neo was not aware that he was not in control until it was revealed to him that it wasn’t. Neo may be aware to the truth, but his new reality has its own limitations and poverty.
The concepts that are in the mass society: “the pursuit of happiness,” “life is what you make it,” “be all you can be” ECT. make individuals feel although they are in control. Adorno’s idea explains that those with money are more privileged and that concepts of mass society are socially constructed.
To become aware will only make apparent the cages mass society is constrained to.