How Does Popular Culture Affect American Culture

The media of communication used by a culture greatly influences their intellectual presuppositions. From the seventeenth to eighteenth century, books and pamphlets were the main for of communication in America where intellectuals could openly receive other ideas and express their own. With the inventions of the telegraph and photograph, Americans from opposite sides of the country could communicate in minutes, and they had the privilege of matching faces to the many books they read. While the Age of Television revolutionized the nation’s communication system, it negatively affected the American culture by broadcasting poor standards for American living. Today’s popular culture best reflects society’s values in the areas of politics, news, and

When “Sesame Street” was introduced in 1969, it was to serve as “an imaginative aid in…teaching American how to read [and] encouraging children to love school” (Postman 143). With fun characters like Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch, “’Sesame Street’ [compromised] what the traditional idea of schooling [represented]” (Postman 143). Preschool and early primary children will only like school if it is similar to the school they watched on television. The basis of educational television programs lies in these three rules, “[have] no prerequisites, no perplexity, or any exposition of any kind” (Postman 147-48). By taking away the fundamentals of education, “the educational programs become entertainment. With many youth watching such shows, teachers have to change the classroom into a place where both teaching and learning are amusing activities” (Postman 148). To change the environment of the classroom shows how difficult it is becoming for students to distinguish entertainment from education. As classrooms continue to follow the educational standards set by the media, the possibility of learning becoming entertainment steadily