Popular Culture Notes

What is Popular Culture?

• Popular culture is a multifaceted concept influenced by industrial character and often involves resistance.

Industrial Character of Popular Culture

• Industrial Revolution (1760-1840): This era spurred factory and office work, leading to the rise of the middle class and a new media environment.
• Mass Production:
  • Popular culture items are mass-produced and sold.
  • They must be widely liked to be successful.
  • Media plays a critical role in their dissemination.
  • Examples:
    • Music
    • Visual Art
    • Dance
    • Literature
• Messaging: Popular culture involves messaging "by/for 'the people'," often related to leisure and entertainment, but is subject to corporate control (e.g., Disney).
• Frankfurt School of Critical Theory:
  • Associated with Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) and Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969). They examined the effects of industrialization, fascism and authoritarianism on culture.
• Cultural Production Under Capitalism:
  • Maximizes resources and profits.
  • Uses assembly line techniques for efficiency.
  • Emphasizes standardization, sameness, and repetition.
  • Contrasts with the artisan approach, which values craftsmanship, dedication, and uniqueness over profit.
• Standardization in Film: Evident through sequels, spin-offs, reboots, remakes, and crossovers, indicating the recycling of old ideas.
  • Examples:
    • Highest-grossing films of 2019, such as Avengers: Endgame ($2,797,800,000$), The Lion King ($1,656,940,000$), and Frozen II ($1,450,026,900$).
    • Highest-grossing films of 2022, such as Avatar: The Way of Water ($2,176,229,105$) and Top Gun: Maverick ($1,488,732,821$).
• Television:
  • Examples:
    • Reboots like Fuller House.
    • Reality TV shows such as Real Housewives.
    • Game shows like The Price is Right and American Idol.
• The Millennial Whoop: A common musical phrase used in pop music, exemplified by Katy Perry's "California Gurls" (2010).
• Cultural Hegemony and the Culture Industry: Terms that describe the imposition of culture from above, leading to standardization among audiences.

Messaging By/For

• Leisure
• Entertainment
• Disney

Resistance in Popular Culture

• Popular Culture as Contestation: Stuart Hall (1981) views popular culture as a site of struggle for and against the culture of the powerful. It is a stake to be won or lost, making it a significant area of study.
• Cultural Studies: Culture is ideological, emphasizing the struggle for power and change.
• Political Economy, Gender Studies, Critical Race Studies, Sociology, Media Studies: All play a role in analyzing popular culture.
• Expressions of Resistance: It's crucial to distinguish when resistance is emancipatory versus when it is simply integrated into the established system.
• Protest in Film:
  • Examples: How to Survive a Plague, Gasland, Selma, and Milk.
• Protest in Sport:
  • Athletes using their platforms to address social issues (e.g., Black Lives Matter).
• Protest Music:
  • Examples: Bob Marley and the Wailers - “Get Up, Stand Up” (1973), Dead Prez - “Be Healthy” (2000), Joni Mitchell - “Big Yellow Taxi” (1970).
  • Associated with anti-war and civil rights protests of the 1960s.
  • Includes various artists and genres addressing anti-colonialism, environmentalism, vegetarianism, and animal rights.
• Agency: The ability for self-motivated activity or action, with ideas entering the public realm from the bottom-up.
• Hopeful Popular Culture: Aims for an equitable, egalitarian, and just society, often oppositional to the dominant culture.

Elites

• Aristocracy
• High Culture
• Class, Intellect, and Civility
• Ethnocentric
• Western Classical Tradition
• Examples:
  • English Literature
  • Musicology
  • Art History

Key Factors

• Key to any definition of popular culture is that it's a terrain upon which the struggle for power gets played out.
• Under capitalism, the role of industry is key in determining the products of the culture industry and the cultures that emerge as a result.
• Popular culture isn't solely determined by industry alone: people too can have a say and exercise ideas that can build a better democracy.