Influence of Popular Culture

Instructions:

Please post 2 peer responses.

In the response post, include the following:

· Respectfully share your own perspectives and ideas with classmates you may disagree with.

· Add new ideas to the discussion instead of just agreeing that something in the reading was interesting or reiterating what others said in the discussion.

· Find an additional source online or in the library that adds a new perspective to what has already been said.

· Offer an opposing viewpoint that is supported by facts and research.

Please be sure to validate your opinions and ideas with citations and references in APA format.

Estimated time to complete response posts: 2 hours

·
 What are the main ideas of the theory you find most plausible? Define and discuss the theory in your own words. 

I think Critical Theory holds the most fundamental grasp on modern pop culture. Like many social and political movement in the past and present day, many offer counterculture sentiments and antiestablishment ideologies.  During the great depression, post WWII era, anti capitalist support grew as many of the economic hardships at the time reflected poorly on establishment systems.  Marxism and communism grew in popularity and seeded many other anti establishment movements such as Critical Theory.  Critical theory viewed capitalism as the over-shining component of Enlightenment.  Revolutions in science, philosophy, politics and art were no longer propelled by the ideas of reason and rational thought, but rather for profit.  People no longer created out of curiosity but rather who could amass the most funds the quickest.  Standardization and manufacturing efficiency over shadowed originality and creativeness, effectively creating  monopoly capitalism. Cultural ingenuity went by the way side to give way to trendy motifs.  Every cultural contribution was designed to appeal to the most amount of people in any given demographic to garner in the most financial returns.

·
What examples from popular culture can you find to support your theory? Critical Theory believes that the productions of the culture industry are devoid of creativity, and its beliefs that the values associated with popular culture do not arises spontaneously from the masses but are imposed on them by the culture industry. The way movies are created nowadays seem to reflect the most obvious form of this trend.  Disneys many profitable assets include Star Wars and Marvel.  These movies are so widely known that it touches nearly every demographic on the planet.  While in the right creative hands, the creation of an interesting, dynamic story, could be possible but there is too much investment risk so companies choose to cater to every demographic in shallow superficial ways.  Having many minority actors peppered throughout the story seek to create an inclusive atmosphere but this weak attempt at inclusion simply comes off as empty and corporate.  Many recent Marvel and Star Wars movies have suffered for the sake of inclusion as the inclusion often becomes the over arching theme rather than a well developed supporting concept.  

Thank you

Royce

References: Rangwala S. Aug 2022, Liberal Containment in Marvel Movies of the Trump Era, UTP University of Toronto Press, https://doi.org/10.3138/cras-2021-010