Pop culture,
persuasion and propaganda
See
Persuasion:
Messages, Receivers, and Contexts, by William Rogers, Rowman
& Littlefield, 2007 Book's home page
Pop culture has been around for a very long time, even in
ancient Rome, Greece, and Egypt.
But, pop culture became a huge thing because of the Industrial
Revolution when poorer people began to earn money at factory jobs. The
jobs were boring, but the amusement industry rose to provide relief
from the boring hours.
The rise of electronic media gave pop culture an even larger base of
operations. Today we are a media-immersed society where pop culture has
tremendous influences.
If you think Buzz Lightyear was one of the Apollo 11 astronaughts, you
have been spending too much time with pop culture. Buzz Aldrin went to
the moon.
Pop
culture, of course,
differs from higher culture, which includes the classic works of drama
and comedy, fiction and nonfiction, and the arts. Understanding higher
culture requires effort and an educated background, including keeping
up with the news and learning the basics of science and history. Pop
culture, on the other hand, is the residue or byproduct of what stays
with us after we consume—mass-produced entertainment, branded
mass-produced products or services, and a variety of other items from
ads, news stories, and common activities in public view.
For many especially younger people, pop culture can be a potent force
because it is everywhere, easy to understand, and pleasurable. Many
spend more time with pop-culture associated experiences than with
education or other worthy pursuits. As social or political “doctrines”
today’s pop cultures have unprecedented power to influence how people
(especially younger people) think and act.
One very cute example of a pop culture icon is Elmo. Elmo has become an
immensely
popular icon. There is "Elmo's World" "Elmo for president!" and "Elmo
testifies before Congress." 
According to Wikipedia, Elmo,
of course, is a Muppet. He is a
furry red monster with googly eyes and an orange nose. He currently
hosts a program segment on Sesame Street, titled Elmo's
World, which is aimed at toddlers (and adults?). He is accompanied by
his goldfish
Dorothy, and by silent Charlie Chaplin—like characters named Mr.
Noodle, Mr. Noodle's Brother, and sometimes Mr. Noodle's Sister Miss
Noodle.
Elmo has been a guest on nighttime television shows, appeared on
Martha Stewart, the Tony Danza Show, The West Wing, Emeril (also a pop
culture
icon) and in several feature films.
Thus, in many ways Elmo has transcended the children's
show
where he lives on public television. Almost everyone knows about him;
he is a "branded" icon who advertises to the world: what he is like,
where he
can be found, what he does, what he looks like, who he associates with,
and what his general life goals are. He enjoys a great deal of
credibility
and can obviously be persuasive.
Fortunately, Elmo is a pop culture icon
with a positive role to play in our world, unlike other pop culture
icons such as Grand
Theft Auto, Gangsta Rap, or the code of the street, with its
dysfunctional collective attitudes about drugs, education, law
enforcement, and sex.
The competing pop cultures can influence for better or worse a variety
of
things in mass production oriented and media-saturated societies. In
particular, pop culture can affect a society's:
moral
doings
cultural doings
political doings h
social doings
psychological doings
biologcial doings
material-world doings
For example, we rely on pop culture for psychological gratifications
such as for having fun or defining who we are when we are young.
Biologically, pop culture influences what we eat, who we have children
with, and how we take care of our bodies. It also affects the
architecture and general appearance of the land. We rely on pop culture
for helping grease the wheels of our social lives. Pop
culture generates lots of money economically; it can affect
politics or even be intentionally used by people with political
motives. Pop culture probably influences the values that lay at the
base of our culture. Perhaps our moral attitudes too are affected by
pop culture. In any case, pop culture involves lots of "social"
performers and lots of money.
Today's contributors to pop culture
include:
| Standup comedians |
Soap opera stars |
Radio talkshow hosts |
Television talkshow hosts |
| Popular music performers |
Advertisers |
Cartoonists, comic books |
Toymakers |
| Clothing designers |
Pornographers |
Fast-food chains
|
Computer-game programmers |
| Hip-hop entertainers |
Tabloid headline writers |
Commercial web services |
Blogosphere denizens |
Poster-art makers
|
Prostitutes & escorts |
Hollywood movie makers |
Graffiti vandals
|
| Mass producers of products |
Children’s television |
Well-known politicians
|
Consumers and their
feedback to pop
"actors"
|
The world of pop culture conists of branded icons. These real or
imaginary places, personalities, activites, forces, or objects/processes
See slide presentation on pop culture Presentation