Avatares da indústria cultural hipermoderna: reflexões psicossociais frankfurtianas

Abstract

In the Hypermodern era, the consumer culture regards body image as a fundamental element in subjectivity and social links, leading to an ideal of “sensorial happiness”. The environment of the game Second Life represents the apex of this idealization, where one can create an Avatar – a virtual body that represents oneself in cyberspace. This article discusses, based on Frank-furt School’s theories, the psychosocial phenomena involved in this creation, considering the Culture Industry’s ideals of consumption and new ways of control, in a theoretical study, with Frankfurtian concepts linked to testimonies from users of the aforementioned game. Our final reflections point to a search for compensation and/or negation of the body/subjectivity’s shortcomings and interpersonal relations, recreated virtually from the same instrumental rationality of modern consumer society.