Essay on early pop culture
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These days, pop culture refers to anything that exists within mainstream entertainment. It includes popular music, trends, books, and ideas. In the past, pop culture was associated with common society and was considered as something that only held appeal to the uneducated masses. It referred to things that were produced for the people instead of by the people, and it became a source of disdain for the educated elite. This attitude continues today, being carried forwards by religious groups and those who form their identity based on an alternative view of the ideals presented by the demands of popular society. This paper will explore current attitudes towards pop culture, as well as what pop culture really means in today’s world.
With the advent of social media, it would seem that pop culture had gotten a little out of hand these days. Marketing schemes geared towards attracting potential consumers to a product make easy use of pop culture references and icons to sell both items and ideas. This not only uses the culture—it changes and actively creates it as well. This carries forward the original view of pop culture as a manufactured set of ideals being created for people by an outside agency. Whereas every locality tends to create its own culture, pop culture tends to homogenize the differences between localities. This contributes to a growing global culture, which is simultaneously advantageous and detrimental.
It is advantageous in that it creates a common ground for people from vastly different backgrounds. People from different continents can discuss popular movies, games, books, and other forms of entertainment. This creates a better sense of community worldwide. However, this could also present the potential to lose distinguishing characteristics of local forms of creation as people compete to become more like pop culture icons. It creates a unified measure of success that currently revolves around the continued obtainment of material wealth—an idea that cannot feasibly be practiced on a global scale for lack of resources. As such, what pop culture becomes is largely up to those who take part in it. Can one consume pop culture without making his or her happiness dependent on living up to the standards it creates? Those who argue that this is impossible have actually established a counter-culture that is, in and of itself, another form of pop culture that exists as a counterpoint to the iconic representations of mainstream entertainment.
In summation, while the content that comprises pop culture may have changed, the idea of it has not. It is still a collection of iconic ideals and ideas that are created for a body of consumers. Counter-culture, established as a means of escaping this trend, has become its own form of pop culture which caters to a different sector of society.
Answer:
The term ‘popular culture’ holds different meanings depending on who’s defining it and the context of use. It is generally recognized as the vernacular or people’s culture that predominates in a society at a point in time. As Brummett explains in Rhetorical Dimensions of Popular Culture, pop culture involves the aspects of social life most actively involved in by the public. As the ‘culture of the people’, popular culture is determined by the interactions between people in their everyday activities: styles of dress, the use of slang, greeting rituals and the foods that people eat are all examples of popular culture. Popular culture is also informed by the mass media.
There are a number of generally agreed elements comprising popular culture. For example, popular culture encompasses the most immediate and contemporary aspects of our lives. These aspects are often subject to rapid change, especially in a highly technological world in which people are brought closer and closer by omnipresent media. Certain standards and commonly held beliefs are reflected in pop culture. Because of its commonality, pop culture both reflects and influences people’s everyday life (see eg Petracca and Sorapure, Common Culture). Furthermore, brands can attain pop iconic status (eg the Nike swoosh or McDonald’s golden arches). However, iconic brands, as other aspects of popular culture, may rise and fall
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