Sunday, February 8, 2015
The Rise of Popular Culture
In the article television was a big influence in the rise of popular culture. It was viewed negatively by many and was looked at as a threat to high culture. Reinhold Niebuhr wrote that, "Television may represent a threat to our culture analogous to the threat of atomic weapons to our civilization". I think this was a pretty dramatic comment to make about television. Not everyone thought that television was bad especially when entertainment became more widely exposed on the television. People became more exposed to it and started to accept it more. I think television was a bad impact on African Americans especially in 1958 when public schools were closed down so that they couldn't go to school. Books were also published about what popular culture was and how it influenced society. There were many different theories and arguments about what it was. Even today not everyone agrees with them and choose not to participate in it. My conception of popular culture hasn't changed but I am paying more close attention to it.
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"I think television was a bad impact on African Americans especially in 1958 when public schools were closed down so that they couldn't go to school." How did television affect the schools closing? How was it bad for the African Americans?
ReplyDeleteOnly the upper class actually had a problem with the television which as we all know is only a small portion of the exposed population. Most people loved the use and convenience of the television, it also wasn’t the cause of schools closing in 1958. Which leads to the question why do you think TV (which was not the cause) was a bad influence on African Americans even when schools that were closed effected white kids to. If anything having the TV help students while the schools were closed.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Niebuhr exaggerated with his atomic bomb comment. Television may make us squander our time, but television will never cause certain death like the atomic bomb. Television perhaps opened the flood gates so that common interests however humble could be considered a part of popular culture. Nye said, “popular art confirms the experience of the majority,” this is essentially giving a voice to the common man. Some television programs from the 1960’s are still a staple today. Comic book heroes and talk shows are 2 simple examples. The costumes and sets have been updated but the format remains the same. What this exemplifies is Nye’s observation that “popular culture reinforces the familiar”.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say it was a dramatic comment. I don’t see how television could threaten something so much. People just weren’t used to it and didn’t know much about it so they felt threatened. You said your view on pop culture hasn’t changed much so was it your view on pop culture?
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