Popular culture never seemed particularly interesting or important to me. It wasn't that I wasn't aware of it, but I didn't think it influenced the world so much and encompassed such a wide variety of things (sports, logos, etc.). However, once class started I did gain an appreciation of popular culture. Although I might not like or agree with some aspects of popular culture I do enjoy analyzing it.
The Rising of Popular Culture: A Historiographical Sketch provided a brief but concise overview of the rise and study of popular culture through the twentieth century. Robert G. Toll's section on minstrel shows provided a fresh look at a form of contemporary entertainment. He described the "racist appeal and its role in shaping white audience members' misunderstandings of black life" (The Rising of Popular Culture: A Historiographical Sketch 12). Toll showed how a form of entertainment popular among the masses could shape their misconceptions of a group of people and reinforce values already present in their society. It was interesting to learn that there were even black actors taking part in minstrel shows.
I particularly enjoyed near the end of the reading where David Suisman described the paradoxical nature of the music industry. The music industry "could not create a market... without the active approval and participation of consumers." (The Rising of Popular Culture: A Historiographical Sketch 13) I agree with his conclusion as popular culture can be created and contributed to by the general public. Without the public's participation popular culture would wane and might return to the traditional definition of "culture" (the classical literature and arts).
Insia Ali
ReplyDeleteJocelyn I do agree that what remains of popular culture is mainly due to the public's participation. The audience’s reaction to the music, advertisements, and movies can determine future popular culture. It keeps track of what is or is not “popular.” Popular culture can also can make us re-evaluate certain aspects of what we believe. And because popular culture has a tendency to change, the values that people hold also change as well.
I myself never really thought od pop culture too much. I didn't like to be like everyone else, and I almost never like what's popular. I too found it interesting that African Americans were in menstrual shows, I first saw it in fried green tomatoes which is a good example of how they were treated by everyone else. And how not everyone was influenced by society and what they thought. Things influence us all the time, without our knowledge as well. But we have the ability to put things in prospective and make up our own minds as well.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your comment regarding the necessity of mass approval for the music industry to start. The laws of supply and demand are economical in nature yet they still apply to popular culture. We have paparazzi who follow celebrities every movements due to the low supply of personal information on that celebrity thus increasing the demand. We see a rise in "underground" or "alternative" music as the demand for pop music goes down do it its own large supply. We are still a people who wants what everyone else can't. Pop culture reflects that.
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