On Mass Culture

Popular culture is more often than not described as being "lowly" or "fluff." And I also agree with a previous post that popular culture can serve as a social currency with which people can find common ground for discussion and self-identification (or even a sense of nationalism).

However, I think we need to be cautious of the differences between what we consider high culture, folk culture, popular culture, and mass culture.

Matthew Arnold describes (high) culture as being "the best that has been thought and said in the world." (Storey 14) In essence, it is the collection of texts that exemplifies the best of us. Later on, MacDonald mentions, “Folk art grew from below. It was a spontaneous, autochthonous expression of the people shaped by themselves…” (22) To take the example of Shakespeare, during his time he could be described as being folk culture before becoming popular culture as his works garnered more notice and popularity. Now his works are considered high culture. This is probably one of the most interesting and infuriating things I find about (popular) culture - it's often mutable.

On the flip side, Storey's discussion warns us through Van den Haag and MacDonald about the diluting of high culture and folk culture into a form of mass culture where it "must aim at an average of tastes. In satisfying all (or at least many) individual tastes in some respects, it violates each in other respects." (Storey 23)

Too often, critics and "industry insiders" have bemoaned the lack of creativity in their related field - whether it be the movies, music, or even video games. In an effort to gain maximum profits, many companies have attempt to create products with mass appeal. In doing so, innovation and creative risk-taking often fall to the wayside. Rather than creating something interesting and unique, they create something so generic it actually comes out bland and devoid of cultural value. It is here where I think popular culture gets a bum rap.

One prime example is the rise of hip-hop into the mainstream. This following article from Akilah N. Folami (Associate Professor of Legal Writing at St. John’s University School of Law) illustrates the point of how folk culture can become popular culture and then be diluted into a harmful mass culture.

Historically, young urban Black men, through Hip Hop and Rap’s radio air play, attained visibility from an otherwise marginalized existence in America. Hip Hop arose, in the late 1970’s, out of the ruins of a post-industrial and ravaged South Bronx, as a cultural expression of urban Black and Latino youth, who were primarily male and who politicians and the dominant public and political discourse had written off, and, for all intent and purposes, abandoned. Rendered invisible by both White and Black politicians alike, and isolated and ignored, in what was categorized by most as a dying city, these youth decided to celebrate and live through Hip Hop and Rap.

Soon Rap would be proclaimed by some as the Black CNN, with many different Rappers, giving voice to what would have otherwise remained unseen by the larger dominant American public, such as police brutality, poverty, and the conditions in America’s urban centers. Moreover, some scholars contend that rap would successfully form new allegiances with counter-culture white youth who found genuine pleasure in Rap, as a forbidden narrative and a symbol of rebellion, much like punk rock. Rap would defy both Black and White middle class norms with its confrontational style. Rappers, who were primarily urban Black male youth, would speak in their own voice and on their own terms, as members of a historically marginalized segment of America’s population living in America’s blighted urban areas.

Today, Gangsta Rap currently dominates the nation’s radio airwaves with messages of misogyny, violence, and excessive consumer consumption. It is largely corporate driven, heavily marketed, and commercialized by corporate media in a way that more socially conscious Rap cannot be. Gangster Rappers promote anything from sneakers, jeans, iPods, cellphones, colognes, and sports drinks. By solidifying corporate control of the nation’s radio air waves, the Telecommunications Act has stifled the social commentary and diverse views in Rap that were once heard over the radio, and has encouraged the proliferation of Gangsta Rap and the creation of the Gangsta image that has become the defacto voice of contemporary Hip Hop culture. The image and the message are clear: consume, consume, consume! Overlooked for radio air play, are female rappers, and non-Gangsta Rap songs that might appeal to niche audiences or to audiences with smaller buying power.

(Taken from http://www.freepress.net/news/19925)