Pop Culture [CR]
by Calvin Seng on Apr.22, 2009, under Media Culture
From what I could see now, and based on what I had been experiencing since I was a kid, since the day I was exposed to radio, and also since the day I was exposed to television, the culture that has been evolving from time to time is Popular Culture, or rather known as Pop Culture.
Here’s a short description about Pop Culture from wikipedia : -
“Popular culture (commonly abbreviated as pop culture) is the totality of distinct memes, ideas, perspectives and attitudes that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture. Heavily influenced by mass media (at least from the early 20th century onward) and perpetuated by that culture’s vernacular language, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of the society. Popular culture is often viewed as being trivial and “dumbed-down” in order to find consensual acceptance throughout the mainstream. As a result of this perception, it comes under heavy criticism from various scientific and non-mainstream sources (most notably religious groups and countercultural groups) which deem it superficial, consumerist, sensationalist and corrupted.
It is manifest in preferences and acceptance or rejection of features in such various subjects as cooking, clothing, consumption, and the many facets of entertainment such as sports, music, film and literature. Popular culture often contrasts with a more exclusive, even elitist “high culture”, that is, the culture of ruling social groups. The earliest use of “popular” in English was during the fifteenth century in law and politics, meaning “low”, “base”, “vulgar”, and “of the common people”; from the late eighteenth century it began to mean “widespread” and gain in positive connotation. (Williams 1985). “Culture” has been used since the 1950s to refer to various subgroups of society, with emphasis on cultural differences.”‘
In fact, people recently are being shaped from the mass media, that gradually transforming one culture to the other, up-to-date culture. I think it’s a good thing to being up-to-date. However, excessively, and too fond of the culture might not be something good. It’s still best for people to be moderate all the time.
