"pop Culture!"
In today’s society mostly all we can think about is what “the rich and the famous” are up too, why is that so? We are so caught up with latest fashion trends that all we can think about is who is wearing this?, Who is eating this?, and Who is buying this? Why do most of us spend a majority of our free time looking up what Paris Hilton had for lunch today? In comparing popular culture in Western Civilizations in the eighteenth century to popular culture in America during the twenty-first century, popular culture in America during the twenty-first century is far more eccentric in daily life style .Pop culture in America focuses mainly on gossip .On the other hand, Pop culture in western civilization in the eighteenth century proved to revolve solely around social stature. The development of Media and television highly motivated this pop culture’s eccentricity in America.
In almost any house in America it is very common to come across some form of popular media that is linked directly into a life of a well-known celebrity. The paparazzi generally make the process easy for the average middle-class citizen to become exposed to depths of the life of a celebrity’s life. But how is it that easy? In reference to Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, “television is our cultures principal mode of knowing about itself. Therefore -and this is the critical point- how television stages the world becomes the model for how the world is properly to be staged.” This quote clearly illustrates how television sets the bar for the meaning of our existence. Because of television our general attention span for knowledge has gone down, and as a result our need for entertainment has gone up. Therefore, we constantly thrive for gossip on the celebrities that entertain us. Take the infamous Britney Spears for example. It is very likely that in asking someone on the street “Who is Britney Spears?” they will not only look at you funny but, they will more than likely tell you everything that they know (which is probably everything you can find on the internet).
In looking at the eighteenth century culture of western civilization, as a culture, their lifestyles were not as advanced in the media area as we are today. The most they had for entertainment was probably the local play on a Sunday afternoon. This provided the social interaction and enough entertainment to assist in establishing relationships amongst aristocrats and commoners. This proved to be an opportunity for lower class citizens (also known as commoners) to socialize in hopes of raising their social status. In reference to Marie Antoinette and her world famous parties, these so –called commoners will receive an opportunity to engage in social interaction with the elites by working as an ushers and servers.
In looking at current American culture, a local play on a Sunday afternoon in today’s society would be considered boring, as opposed to television that is “entertaining” in our living rooms. The way that images are expresses through means of communication directly impacts the American culture today. Which is why our culture is the way it is. As a society we spend too much idolizing these people, which is part of the reason for them being so famous. We would look at them and try to assimilate our lives to be somewhat like theirs. It is because of television that we are constantly bombarded with images of these celebrities. Some of us end up going to the extremes just so they can look like these “so called” celebrity idols. They have themselves poked and probed as if they are some sort of a science experiment. It has become an obsession.
Are we doing all of this as a sign of attention? Or do some of us just need to be put into a straight jacket? The answer is no. Television sets up an unrealistic standard of society. Changing one’s entire lifestyle just so that they can be mistaken for a certain celebrity is a bit outrageous. It is because of that same unrealistic standard that we are taking these insane measures to assimilate celebrities. It is actually a sign of insanity, maybe those who go to the extremes are needed somewhere which involves a straight jacket.
The popular culture of the western civilization in the eighteenth century was a very restricted culture. As a result, not everyone had much of a chance to enjoy it. Whereas popular culture today in America is known to everyone, but just like the eighteenth century, not everyone likes it. It was mainly about the Aristocratic culture in the eighteenth century and not everyone had the chance to be born in a family of stature. Some were peasants and were treated horribly; ergo I am pretty sure they didn’t prefer the popular side of their culture. Today in America, although we may look up to these celebrity idols, we tend to let jealousy come over us. This is where obsessions seem to begin (for some).
As it has been made clear, in Western civilization, many of the events were centered on social engagements, which started what is known as pop culture today. Which really brings up the question, who should we, as a society, really blame for all the insanity? Should we take it out on the past, or blame what is now known as entertainment. Maybe we should just take it out on the guy who invented the television, but wait, he is no longer with us. Which brings me to my last point, we have no one to blame but ourselves. The twenty-first century is a vain one, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it from spiraling out of control.
Candyce Bailey, aspiring political journalist, 20 yrs old, currently attending law school.
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