Introduction
Popular culture in America has undergone myriads of changes. However, the definition of popular culture is ambiguous. As has been pointed out by Cusic and Faulk (2009) the definition of popular culture is “kaleidoscopic” (p. 458). Popular culture cannot be strictly associated with “mass” culture or economic commercialization or believed to be an ideological phenomenon with an underlying social and political underpinning. So one may take it to be a mixture of all these instead of one of them singularly defining popular culture. The easy is an endeavor to trace the current trend of popular culture in America and its evolution. The essay will view the trend through different lenses viz. social, political, and religious.
American history
Ashby (2006) has portrayed the trend of the American popular culture from blackface in the 19th century to the movie productions during the Great Depression to the rise of sports and MTV to the evolution of the popular culture in post-9/11 America. He posits that American history can be understood through the lenses of American popular culture.
Post-70s America saw an upheaval of the social, political, and religious depictions through productions of Hollywood as well as the publications of the time. American popular culture has traced the stories behind slavery and reformation. Through famous novels like Gone with the Wind and Uncle Tom’s Cabin American popular culture has brought about a social and political ideology that was demonstrated through the American popular culture.
The role of politics
Lane Crothers (2007) has described a popular culture in its anthropological/ideological perspective to describe the idea of American popular culture. According to him, American popular cultural notion is created through the consumption of popular media. Popular culture through television has been demonstrating the social life of Americans largely. The media has largely depicted the power relations in society and how they can be toppled. One such example is that of Tom and Jerry where tom the cat always the bully is usually defeated in a game of wit by the small mouse. This discursive narration of American popular culture shows how power and politics play an ideal role in American society. Then there is a representation of American politics through media and music. Music especially hip-hop and rock had represented the political sentiments of the youth and the African Americans. The genre of power and politics being demonstrated through popular culture is also reminiscent of these musical forms.
Political propaganda has been a molder of American popular culture as it had taken the form of ideological myth in the country. The American Dream has been typically portrayed through the coverage of presidential campaigns and speeches. Then American political propaganda during the Cold War and that of terror after 9/11 has achieved a new height in popular culture. Movies like James Bond or Rambo in the years of the cold war were reminiscent of the political propaganda that the American government undertook to represent the popular beliefs of the people. During this era, the villains were the communist who was the source of evil in society. The religious popular culture could be traced through the teachings of the American puritans who believed that personal leisure must be consumed through an implicit guideline. Popular amusements during the puritans were cockfighting or fistfighting against which the Puritans condemned through sermons and relating these with hell. This violent and tantalizing attractiveness of these sermons was acquainted with the masses through the movies by Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ (2004) or Apocalypto (2006).
Conclusion
American popular culture is brewed from a saga of political and social upheaval, which can be traced through the ever-changing popular cultural landscape in the country. Popular culture through the ages has shown the right social, political, and religious trends in the society and brings forth the changes that mold the society.
References
- Ashby, L. (2006). With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture since 1830. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
- Crothers., L. (2007). Globalization & American Popular Culture. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc.
- Cusic, D., & Faulk, G. K. (2009). Popular Culture and the Economy. The Journal of Popular Culture Vol. 42 No. 3 , 458-479.