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... would have a liberating and democratising effect on society thus politicising art. His theory supposed that such consequences would free people from the 'Capitalist Culture Industry'. Today, Benjamin can be credited with laying down the foundations for modern theorists, such as Marshall McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard and Paul Virilio. In short, Benjamin's essay first attempts to define the 'aura' surrounding art until 20th Century and then analyse how this 'aura' crumbles due to new technologies. Alongside this, he believed the 20th Century had turned culture into an industry and therefore art had become a commodity. He declares each stage of art reproduction equates to another stage in its loss of aura. Since mechanical reproduction allows art to be criticised and interpreted by diverse cultures Benjamin concludes that mass reproduction results in changing attitudes towards art. "That which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of ...