COMM notes.docx

"Why pop culture" **The public influence makes it pop culture** 4:55 Why is something popular? The time period the trends, why was she popular What was happening at the time John F kennedy- television (was everywhere on TV family on tv), shocking because we now see it Vietnam war was a lot for...

"Why pop culture" **The public influence makes it pop culture** 4:55 Why is something popular? The time period the trends, why was she popular What was happening at the time John F kennedy- television (was everywhere on TV family on tv), shocking because we now see it Vietnam war was a lot for america because we saw footage of it Why do people have guilty pleasures but won't admit it, We love trash tv Ultimate distraction!! Brandt & Claires (authors) definition of popular culture: **- listed below** - - - - 2 paragraphs per question (3-5 sentences) 8/27 Browne (Bowling Green State) - Study of popular culture includes- - - - - Class def- popular culture isn't always popular - Scholars hated pop culture because they thought it was dumbing down society. "Lowering societie's standards" pg9 Nowdadays movies, tv shows, videogames have more details to keep up with Elite Culture (sophiscated) Mona lisa, inaccessable \* what was once fluff can decades later be elite culture - - \* Represents European roots Ray Browne found study of elite culture limiting (inaccessible to many (pg 8-9) Folk Culture - - Things that folk can later become popular Studied in small groups, based on tradition, not shared through mass media Pop culture is accessible to all Elite- inaccessbale Pop culture (accessable to everyone Folk- Accessible by specific groups word of mouth (maypole tradition) Are protest songs folk? (rural) Folk culture transitioned into popular culture in late 1700s'1800s Transferred word of mouth More industry More jobs More leisure time Disposable income I am very tired Kids were raised in the tv age which meant There is two people Brown- only one or the other Nye Simmons is like it is more complicated Something folk can turn into pop culture Banksy- shredded painting when told to elite culture Pop culture & democracy ======================= - - - Places maintain their power by feeling disconnected from your demographic. FOMO, advertisements Chapter 2: Cultural Myths ========================= Myths - - - - EX american dream Myths are formed through two theories: 1. Large Institutions assemble through social interactions/ cultural practices Structures being schools religious institutions, governments, media Structures forn our cultural myths - Post structuralism- grey area 2. - - Signs:words, images, objects, acts-both denotative and connotative meanings (Barthes) Signifer:form of the sign frog word frog Signified/Referent: the concept the signifier represents (the examples Bringing frog to show There is no natural connection between signifers and referents - The connection is always changing and subject to power relations People in power will assign specific meaning Ex Fuck- hitting a stick- love, sex who knew First order is a signifier of the second order Ex : rose (first order) denotive, meaning behind rose second order connotative Post structuralism (derria) Rom coms can't be catergozed as one Gray area: context matters Signs are polysemic- multiple meanings Discourse, not myth (how we converse about relationship between knowledge and power Pop culture in the cold war - - Being individualistic culture Mulan? **Heroes & Celebrities** - 1. - Call to adventure or Refusal of the call 2. - - - Crossing the physical to metaphysical threshold Supernaturl aid Road of trials Master of two worlds 3. - homecoming Balance between the physical or spiritual/ Philosphical Antihero Protagonists but don\'t possess same qualities as regular heros A natuRAL response to a world in decline Works outside the law Is selfish **Celebrities** "You can make a celebrity, but we can't make a hero" Boorstin - - Studio system VS star system Movie studios had control of all aspects of production Including contracts with actors and directors - - The Supreme Court effectively ended the "studio system" in 1948. - - After the dissolution of the "studio system", actors could negotiate with different film Studios **Rudolph Valentino- first major movie star** Actors' public and private lives became blurred - - **Celebrity "happens**" when fans move past the art and **become interested in the artist's** **personal life** Celebrity ecology" (Nayar)- scholar from india - Celebrity as spectacle (antihero?) Celebrities can't exist without their audience Connection between consumerism, fashion, and celebrity culture Celebrity scandal Celebrity as a social process of power and identity (pg. 112) Creator of the audience's individual identity from the celebrity's **persona** Celetoids (Rojek said)--- \- People who are famous because of "any form of compressed, concentrated, attributed Celebrity" Examples Ie Kadeo- he was a guy who lived in OJ's guest house, and when OJ got on tril he was a witness Then late shows made fun of him Reality stars Friends of celebrities Viral video stars The "para-social" relationship "\[F\]ans investing time, energy and attention to the lives of celebrities who they will never know\..." (pg. 117) Early studies of para-social relationships hypothesized an "abnormal surrogate relationship between fan and star" Most parasocial relationships are rather harmless, though Why do we crave celebrity culture? Audience types (Joshua Gamson said ) Traditional & Second-order Traditional: Celebrity narratives occurring "naturally"; oblivious to the PR machine behind celebrities, The celebrity as a "real person" Second-order traditionals might be "aware" of the PR but still believe in the "real" person (Nas) Postmodern audience type "highly aware of the production of celebrity" (pg. 118) Their interest lies in the "behind the scenes" element of celebrity Game Players type "Medium to high" level of understanding of celebrity/PR Gossipers -- Popular Culture serves as a forum for "circulating, examining, and assessing social norms\..." (pg. 118) - Detective -- "celebrity\...as compensation for the loss of community" (pg. 118) - Knowledge of certain celebrities can unite people who may feel left out of an increasingly mediated and "geographically-dispersed" world The celebrity apology Cliches of "Bad Boys" and "Girls Gone Bad" Narratives of "sin and redemption" Celebrity becomes more "human and identifiable" Helps society gauge which transgressions are "acceptable" he popularity of serial killers and other criminals speaks to society's "attraction and revulsion" to violent criminal acts. Society doesn't "sanction" these crimes We are, however, interested in the psychology of these individuals Individuals who look and act a lot like us Identity & pop culture Selfie, casual - - 2 identities : Online & Offline identity Pop culture allows us to shape our perception of our and others identities Pop culture allows us these different identities Identities are constructed through difference - Ex:; I like all music but country Essialist say our identity is based on Nature Social constructionist nurture Freud psychoanalysis & Human Dev The psyche - mind at the center of though, emotion, behaviot - - -