I have a confession… I am probably the least engaged person in this class when it comes to pop culture, specifically entertainment. As I was reading module one’s materials and my fellow classmates blog posts I became increasingly, somewhat embarrassingly aware of how little thought I have invested in pop culture, and how my taste in entertainment could reflect my identity. I am very much like Chuck Closterman in his article Death by Harry Potter. Chuck states that Harry Potter is the “one phenomenon that I have missed completely (and mostly I suppose, on purpose.)”
Unlike Closterman, who mindfully chooses what he focuses on, I instead passively allow the tastes and interests of those around me to fill my time and focus. I see now how this can be a dangerous way to live. Sellnow’s writings in The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture put it well by stating “popular culture is significant because it has the persuasive power to shape beliefs and behaviors.” Although I am not passionate about the many pop culture “artifacts” swirling around me, I am still deeply influenced by them, whether I like it or not.
As an American child of the 90’s, my exposure to pop-culture was unusually limited. I lived in a rural town with zero businesses or even stoplights. My household was pretty strict. We were not allowed to have video-games only periodically rented movies, couldn’t’ watch PG13 movies until we turned literally 13, and MTV was deemed “dangerous” after me and my siblings began imitating Beavis and Butthead.
The one exception were books, of which I am still voracious reader. In some ways I am grateful we were so protected, but I have also come to realize that I was also somewhat robbed of the opportunity to form my own tastes, thoughts and opinions during a pretty formative age. Once I was finally on my own, I found myself simply going along with the interest of my peers, coworkers and friends and have continued to do so.
It has also been especially easy to be a “passive consumer” of pop culture because I married a man who is probably even more into pop culture than our professor! My husband is obsessed with TV, movies, music, commercials you name it. Here is a pretty funny picture of him that accidentally parodied an episode of the the Simpson's (still shot included) we were watching at the moment.
His favorites are anything 80’s, horror, superheroes, serial killers or spies, and his passion for these things is so huge it has encompassed much of my life as well. Some of his interests I share, and many I do not. After reading Brumett’s writings on the Rhetoric of Popular culture, I have begun to wonder how the cumulative exposure to my husband and other peers pop culture interests have begun to change how I interpret the world around me. I am excited to closer analyze how all this fits together, and also begin mindfully forming my own tastes, interests and thoughts on pop culture as well.
What pop culture “artifacts” influence your life, are you glad that they do, or wish that they didn’t’?
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