[Rhiannon]

James, I think you misunderstand what I mean when I argue that popular culture should be understood as more than ‘just entertainment.’ I do not mean that people should regard pop culture as educational (although it’s nice in the instances when it is.) What I mean is that popular culture is one of the primary places where people learn about the ideology of their culture – our cultural values, our hierarchies of race, class, and gender, our views on capitalism and materialism, etc. These lessons are rarely intended and rarely thought of consciously by the viewer, but cumulatively are powerful. Pop culture may not have an immediate, powerful effect on individuals, but it has a huge effect on culture as a whole. So when I say that pop culture is not ‘just entertainment,’ I mean that we ought to think seriously about how pop culture messages influence our culture and ideology.

User Detail :  

Name : Rhiannon, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 28, City : Minneapolis, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Media studies graduate student,