Mass cultural works are judged on measurable athletic feats rather than dramatic meaning

Evidence

The task of the screen actor breaks down into a set of precisely defined obligatory exercises each of which is compared with the corresponding one in the work of all the other competitors in the same group. And then in the end we have the final spurt, the ultimate exertion which has been kept in reserve all along, the culmination without antecedent intensification isolated from the previous action, the opposite of the dramatic climax. The film is articulated into so many sequences but its total duration, like that of the hit song, is regulated as if by stopwatch. — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 132

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘final spurt without antecedent intensification’ is the modern blockbuster climax structure (CGI set-pieces with no dramatic build) — resonates with contemporary film criticism.
• SEED: Angle: ‘The goalkeeper as jazz musician’ — tracing Adorno’s claim that mass performance models shift from virtuoso-acrobat to team-functionary (undistractability, preparedness, effacement) onto modern athletes, esports, and on-screen talent.

Related

• Mass cultural products come to resemble measurable sporting competitions (similarity 0.84)