Former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said that “to improve is to change: to perfect is to change often.” When Churchill made this claim, no way could he have imagined the state of “change” today – where trends go in-and-out of style faster than can be appreciated. Nonetheless, pop culture can help us understand why and how society is changing. But is it changing for the better?
Pop culture usually references entertainment news and fashion fads, but by definition, pop culture is just that – popular culture. Tim Delaney’s “Pop Culture: An Overview” explains it as “the people’s culture that predominates in a society at a point in time…determined by the interactions between people in their everyday activities.” Pop culture includes societal values, beliefs, and attitudes, as well as choices in food, fashion, and even words. For example, the progression of the LGBT rights movement is a substantial part of modern pop culture that demonstrates the growing global acceptance of LGBT+ people.
However, the key to understanding pop culture is to recognize that it is not permanent. It is one big cycle: as popular trends and ideas begin to affect people’s lives, the more they are integrated into pop culture; and the more they are integrated into pop culture, the further they influence a society.
Proponents of high culture (the bourgeoisie) are quick to criticize pop culture as distasteful, but the truth is that things become popular for a reason. New York Times author Adam Sternbergh writes that “popularity ultimately serves as a form of validation…Things that are good are more likely to be recognized and, on some scale…thrive.” Although popularity cannot guarantee merit or quality, if something becomes popular, there must be some widespread appeal. It is no surprise then that pop culture speaks volumes about our society.
Music, for one, has always given people a voice to be heard. When hip-hop and rap first broke out in the 90s, the older generation was disgusted by its vulgar lyricism and open displays of violence. However, hip hop gave Millennials what rock and roll gave to the Baby Boomers, and what swing jazz gave to African-Americans in the 20s: an opportunity to rebel, be free, and speak out against a system in need of change. In “Hip Hop Planet,” James McBride explains how he grew to appreciate hip-hop after hearing African-American struggles represented in the music: “The rap artists come and go, but the conditions that produced them linger. Forty percent of New York City’s black males are jobless. One in three black males born in 2001 will end up in prison.” Perhaps hip-hop and rap lyrics are often violent and vulgar, but they express the true “racial realities” of the black man in America.
Since then, hip-hop and rap have continued to dominate pop culture, growing to cover more “touchy” subjects in America. Grammy award-winner Macklemore released the song “Same Love” in 2013. It was a tribute to gay rights and same-sex marriage, and spent 30 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 music chart. In 2017, Rapper Logic’s “1-800-273-8255,” an acknowledgement of mental illness and suicide prevention, spent 28 weeks on the same chart. Popular music can thus be more than a good beat or groovy rhythm; it –can have a message – one that people believe is worth hearing.
This is not to say that all aspects of pop culture preach about social issues and the betterment of society. For every popular rap song advocating for human rights and equality, there is another objectifying women and promoting drug abuse. Pop culture also includes the Kardashians, well-known as materialistic and shallow entertainment, and strange but viral trends such as planking, an activity where participants lay face-down on the floor.
Somewhat ironically, pop culture can also critique the society that popularized it. It is a double-edged sword; just as it promotes awareness to important issues, it can highlight those we may not have even known we had. The #MeToo movement compelled thousands of sexual and physical harassment victims to speak out against their abusers, no matter how famous and well-respected they may have been.
And what about teen movies, where portrayals of high-school life are undeniably cliché and overdramatic, with the archetypal villains often fitting society’s standards of beauty? Do the mean blondes or jerky jocks not depict how people truly feel about having those qualities? American journalist David Denby thinks so, claiming that that the “detestation of [these villains] is a veiled strike at…advertising culture.” While society may tell us that beauty is within hair, abs, and makeup, teen movies tend to show the opposite, favouring the average protagonist who makes up for their looks with heart, wit, or humour.
Nevertheless, pop culture is often belittled and reduced to obscure music videos, celebrity drama, and the hottest new Netflix series. There is no doubt that these are key traits of pop culture. However, the belief that pop culture is “inherently linked to mediocrity” is flawed. because at its core, it is a platform that can be used to evoke change. Is the world changing for the better? Yes, if only little by little. Society has yet to address many of pop culture’s demands, such as de-valuing unrealistic beauty standards. However, it has inspired other monumental changes, from hip-hop for African Americans to #MeToo for victimized women. Sophie Gilbert calls this “revolutionary,” and revolutionary is right. Just as Oprah Winfrey proclaimed at the Golden Globes upon accepting her lifetime achievement award, “Time’s up.” Time’s up not only for the taboos of sexual and physical harassment or racial division, but also for pop culture to only be seen as the latest headline on the front page of Seventeen magazine.
Former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said that “to improve is to change: to perfect is to change often.” No way could Churchill have imagined the state of “change” today – where trends go in-and-out of style faster than can be appreciated, and where “week” has become the new “year.” Nonetheless, pop culture can help us understand why and how society is changing. But is it changing for the better?
Pop culture usually references entertainment news and fashion fads, but by definition, pop culture is just that — popular culture. Tim Delaney’s “Pop Culture: An Overview” explains that pop culture denotes “people’s culture that predominates in a society at a point in time,” and that it “is determined by the interactions between people in their everyday activities.” Pop culture includes societal values, beliefs, attitudes, food, fashion, and even words. For example, the progression of the LGBT rights movement is a substantial part of modern pop culture by demonstrating the growing global acceptance of LGBT+ people.
However, the key to understanding pop culture is to recognize that it is not a permanent culture; instead, it “reflects and influences people’s everyday life”. It is one big cycle: as popular trends and ideas begin to affect people’s lives, the more they are integrated into pop culture; and the more they are integrated into pop culture, the further they influence society and reflect its members.
Proponents of high culture often criticize pop culture as distasteful, but the truth is that things become popular for a reason. New York Times author Adam Sternbergh writes, “popularity ultimately serves as a form of validation. […] Good things are more likely to be recognized and, on some scale, to thrive.” Although popularity cannot guarantee merit or quality, if something becomes popular, there must be some appeal. It is no surprise then that pop culture speaks volumes about our society.
Music, for one, has always given all people alike a voice to be heard. When hip-hop and rap first broke out in the 90s, the older generation voiced disgust towards its vulgar lyricism and open displays of violence. However, hip hop gave Millennials what rock and roll gave to the Baby Boomers, and what swing jazz gave to African-Americans in the 20s: an opportunity to rebel, be free and speak out against a system in need of change. In “Hip Hop Planet,” James McBride explains how he grew to appreciate hip-hop after hearing African-American struggles represented in the music: “The rap artists come and go, but the conditions that produced them linger. Forty percent of New York City’s black males are jobless. One in three black males born in 2001 will end up in prison.” Perhaps hip-hop and rap lyrics are violent and vulgar, but they express the true “racial realities” of Black man in America.
Since then, hip-hop and rap continue to dominate pop culture, growing to cover more “touchy” subjects in America. Grammy award-winner Macklemore released “Same Love” in 2013, a tribute to gay rights and same-sex marriage, which spent 30 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 music chart. Rapper Logic’s “1-800-273-8255,” a tribute to mental illness and suicide prevention, spent 28 weeks on the same chart in 2017. Popular music can be more than a good beat or groovy rhythm; it has a message – one that people believe is worth hearing.
This is not to say that all aspects of pop culture preach about social issues and the betterment of society. For every popular rap song advocating human rights and equality, there is another promoting drug abuse and objectifying women. Pop culture must also include the Kardashians, well-known as materialistic and shallow entertainment, and planking, a viral trend where participants lay face-down on the floor.
It is a double-edged sword: just as it promotes awareness of important issues, it can highlight those we may not have even known we had. The #MeToo movement compelled thousands of sexual and physical harassment victims to speak out against their abusers, no matter how famous and well-respected they may be. Political and social movements like #MeToo are not just born within the studio; they manifest themselves in media as well.
And what about teen movies, where portrayals of high-school life are undeniably cliché and overdramatic, but the archetypal villains always fit society’s standards of beauty? Do the mean blondes or jerky jocks not depict how people truly feel about those qualities? American journalist David Denby thinks so, claiming that that the “detestation of [these villains] is a veiled strike at […] advertising culture.” While society tells us that beauty is within the hair, abs, and makeup, teen movies show the opposite, favouring the protagonist who makes up for their looks with heart, wit, or humour.
Pop culture can be belittled and reduced to obscure music videos, celebrity drama, and the hottest new Netflix series. There is no doubt that these are key traits of pop culture. However, believing that pop culture is “inherently linked to mediocrity” is flawed. Because at its core, pop culture is a change-evoking platform.
So, is the world changing for the better? Yes, if only little by little. Society has yet to address many of pop culture’s demands, including de-meriting unrealistic beauty standards. However, pop culture inspired other monumental changes, from hip-hop for African Americans to #MeToo for victimized women. Sophie Gilbert calls this “revolutionary”, and revolutionary is right. Just as Oprah Winfrey proclaimed at the Golden Globes (upon accepting her lifetime achievement award), “time’s up.” Time’s up, not only for the taboos of sexual harassment, physical harassment, or racial division, but for pop culture to be seen merely as the latest headlines on the front page of Seventeen magazine.
By Abitha Suthakaran
Please note that opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views and values of The Blank Page.
