When we think of heroes we often think of a masked vigilanty or a cape crusader swooping down from the heavens and saving the day. Although heroes come in many shapes and sizes, they also tend to come from different backgrounds. The people of the United States pride themselves with freedom and equality. However, still to this day there is a struggle with discrimination. Matt Zoller Seitz’s article “The Offensive Movie Cliché That Won’t Die” definitely sparked some interest and was definitely right when it came to the offensive issue most people do not see.
He includes allusions to pop culture event that many people are familiar with. These allusions, such as Paris Hilton's arrest, famous quotes from movies, and a reference to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's relationship, act as examples of the effect of pop culture on the American public as readers are more likely to recognize these references. (Suver, 2011) The readers familiarity with the allusions gives more to the main argument of Suver's essay. Suver also maintains an informative tone for readers who may not get many of the references or fully understand the point Suver is trying to make, such as the moment where he explains high and low culture.
Culture is the defining aspect of an entire society. Throughout America's history, each decade has displayed its own unique take on culture, through the arts, fashion, and pastimes. The 1950's were a time of bright colors, household gadgets and many of the shows and movies that are currently deemed 'classic' were originated in this era. Technology and household items Americans use every day were invented and have evolved since the 1950's. The 1950's were the beginning of an innovative time in American culture and included the creation of television, the growing popularity of movies, music and brand new inventions, however, unexpectedly conformity and consumerism resulted as well.
"It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and sex on TV. " This is the opening line in the theme song to Seth McFarlane's "Family Guy", which rings true thanks in no small part to the impact the show had on the industry. "Family Guy" is a show that continues to push what can be shown on cable television. It is filled to the brim with raunchy jokes and dark humor aimed to make adults laugh. Believe it or not, another show that had a very similar impact on television was a kids' show.
Michael Omi argues that popular culture is shaping America’s attitude towards race and says, “Since popular culture deals with the symbolic realm of social life, the images which it creates, represents, and disseminates contribute to the overall racial climate.” (540). Popular culture shapes how society views people of other races through, music, movies, the media and in print ads. These stereotypical images that we see of other races on a daily basis have an enormous influence on racism. For example, if we were to turn on the radio and hear a rap song, most people would assume that the rapper is black, and when you think of a gardener the majority of people would assume that they are Hispanic.
The stereotypes depicted makes it hard for groups of the subculture to value themselves. In this day and time, we have come to a new era where representing false stereotypes of different subcultures is okay to produce on media. The first TV show that comes to mind that comes across unethical is the Jersey Shore. This show is about 8 stereotypical Italian American 20-25 year olds which they have never met each other prior to moving into the beach house.
We live in a Brave New World, time like absolutely no other; a time when we are desensitized and overstimulated all at once. We celebrate the athlete as a hero instead of the soldier fighting on the battle fields. Kids are growing up with television characters instead of characters in classic novels. And Hollywood actors have traded their scripts for political soap boxes. The royals of the entertainment world have chosen to use acceptance speeches, concerts and talk shows as their personal lobbying headquarters.
The year is 2016 and American society is open-minded to so many issues, except televised stereotypes. Racial and gender stereotypes are continually reinforced by social media and television, it has played a major role in the way society views one another. Enabling stereotypes that have been associated with a person of specific race or gender in the media promotes prejudice. Meaning society expects that person to act a certain way based on what they have witnessed on television or social media. . A perfect example of how television shows incorporate stereotypes based on ethnicity is the tv show “Everybody Hates Chris “which is about a working class African-American family that lives in a poor urban neighborhood in New York.
Every day over 352,000 babies are born. The second these babies enter the world, the opportunities and privileges given to them vary but are set at their birth. Privilege constantly determines opportunities whether the individual can help it or not, and it is revealed constantly throughout our country's history. In the past privilege has affected minorities lives and their opportunities in careers, freedom of speech, and much more. Unconscious biases and privileges are still very well present today but not as obvious.
Still, it appears to be clear to me that today 's Americans commit additional time, cash and vitality in quest for insignificant popular culture than any time in recent memory. Whole TV stations are dedicated to one of my most loved inconsistent expressions, diversion news. A word from a talk show host can and inspires a large number of individuals to purchase a book that the greater part of them presumably will never read. Genuine magazines battle to discover new perusers, however magazines gave to the lives of motion picture stars make their owners rich, if not well known. Furthermore, obviously, there is this business of what makes an American Idol.
Nowdays in an era of technological advancements, such as TV, smartphones, tablets, etc. All of this has made a huge a impact on media, and marketing, and social interactions. In movies, specifically in the genre of comedies, certain stereotypes about races and cultures are exploited for the sole purpose of laughter. There are some truths on which these movies are based on yet they are taken to the expreme and lose a lot of truth as well. For example, the blacks are the ones that can sing and dance, the white girls are the ones that are always drunk and at a party, and the hispanic girls are the ones who are the maids.
Between films, television, novels, and the Internet, there are many different types of popular culture in which society is immerged. One might argue that studying pop culture is shallow and worthless, but this is debatable because most of what we do is shaped by pop culture in some way. Studying pop culture may allow us to understand trends in culture that can aid in other society-based careers, as well as study societal and power constructs with greater accuracy. As technology and media develops further and further, pop culture should be studied in academia, as it is a relevant way to examine the moral constructs of the society and understand trends in culture. In the future, if pop culture is included in academia with the same importance as other subjects, future graduates may be more in tune with society than ever
There are many controversial topics that we see on a daily basis through the media. Some of the topics that we are exposed to are race, stereotypes, sexism and sex. These things seem to be a key factor in how media makes its presence felt. Whether it is through T.V. shows, how stereotypes and race are still a common trend in present day movies. I believe that stereotyping is everywhere you look movies and T.V. in particular but also music.
The content of popular culture is favorably determined by industries that disseminate cultural material, for example publishing industries, as well as mass media that greatly influences the people (Wilson, 2014). In spite of this, popular culture is not only the collective product imposed by industries and media, rather, it is the result of the continuing interaction between those industries and media and the people of the society who consume their products (Wilson, 2014). Masses decide and consume what is popular. With all of these things taken into consideration, what role does pop culture play in education? Since pop culture permeates the everyday lives of the people in the society, teachers have to be innovative in a way that they will take into account integrating or using pop culture as their teaching material because they see it as an opportunity for students to become more interested, further engaged, and actively involved in the classroom for the reason that students play an important role in determining what’s pop culture or not thereby making themselves consumers of pop
People are immersed in popular culture during most of our waking hours. It is on radio, television, and our computers when we access the Internet, in newspapers, on streets and highways in the form of advertisements and billboards, in movie theaters, at music concerts and sports events, in supermarkets and shopping malls, and at religious festivals and celebrations (Tatum,
