The question is not one of popularity alone – after all, Mozart was popular in his day, and Shakespeare’s plays attracted the poor as well as the rich – but of mass culture’s refusal to challenge and provoke. The result of the failure is a generalized indifference and passivity in audiences.
这一对大众媒体的担忧并非仅仅是精英阶层鄙视流行文化。毕竟，莫扎特在世的时候广受欢迎，而莎士比亚的戏剧既吸引富人也吸引穷人。问题并非在于流行，而是大众文化拒绝挑战和挑衅固有观念。它们做不到这一点的结果就是受众的整体性无动于衷和消极。