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Pop Culture - The Hidden Messages
From its earliest inception, music, television, video games, and eventually the internet have created scandal, news, and intrigue. Lawsuits have been filed, magazines have been created, and websites have been shut down all due to the controversy over popular culture. Pop culture isn’t just fun to watch, apparently it can be dangerous.
Popular culture is loosely defined as the trends and social movements as reported by the media. If it’s happening and people know about it, it’s pop culture. This part of things is relatively simple. Pop culture gets much more complicated when it starts to be dissected by critics, scholars, and elitists.
Music has long held a reputation for danger. From the naughty Charleston to the enraging lyrics of modern day rap artists, music has had its share of battles. Most battles have been won, but some have been lost. After all, there are now advisory stickers on compact disc packages. Some feel that the lyrics of certain songs and artists incite dangerous activities, negative self-esteem, and even criminal activities. Perhaps if delinquents weren’t listening to songs about gang life and murder, they wouldn’t bring guns to school or join gangs themselves.
Although the battles have not been as lengthy, they have been just as fierce in the realms of television, video games, and motion pictures. To see evidence of censorship and concern, it is not necessary to look any farther than the rating system. An R or M rating broadcasts certain messages about potential nudity, concepts, and language to patrons. This is generally understood, but the debate rages on about the impact of the movie or game itself. Popular materials often contain material that is considered offensive, and many question the appropriateness of the surrounding hype. If the media embraces certain slogans or violence sequences, are those items representative of society as a whole? Is this a violent or racist nation? What does it all mean?
The media buzz surrounding certain celebrities also creates great consternation. These celebrities are given role-model status, but often do not act the part. In fact, many of the celebrities today have criminal or at least scandalous histories. Women are obsessed with certain body types and hair styles. Young girls are scantily dressed in the latest styles, and young men are singing along to songs degrading women and their body parts or idolizing stars with rape charges or convictions. Does this truly represent society as a whole?
The answers are not so simple. Media does not create pop culture, it merely reports it. If nobody was watching certain programs or buying magazines about various celebrities, it would all fade away. This is obviously not the case, however. Pop culture is ramping up and the more scandalous it becomes, the more desirable it seems to be. The real hidden message in pop culture is this: While some actively work to downgrade the role of pop culture in our society, enough of us are devouring it with rabid intrigue to make it one of the fastest growing trends of all time. As to what it means to society as a whole – only time will tell.
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