Background
Human beings thrive because we can learn patterns of behavior from each other, and most of these patterns function to keep us healthy and well fed, to order our communities, to prevent us from harming each other, and to give us the sense that we are each part of something larger than ourselves. These patterns--such as traditional values, dance, music, commerce, language, religion, our expectations of ourselves, and even such customs as the use of underarm deodorant--together make up our individual cultures. We learn many of our cultural patterns when we are children, rapidly and unconsciously, and, as we grow older and leave the immediate sphere of our families, our relationship to culture grows more complex because our social circles grow larger, our circumstances shift due to events or emigration, or the culture itself evolves around us.
Culture is dynamic, always on the move, and so is our individual relationship to it; we each follow the culture that will determine the kind of lives we will live, though this is mostly unconscious, for no mind is capable of actually choosing from all of the infinitely complex patterns we might learn to follow. Culture is our teacher and most of us are its eager, if uncritical students.
American popular culture is perhaps the worldÕs most influential teacher: more powerful than (most) parents, more powerful than most traditional cultures--even the most ancient ones--more powerful than almost any other set of human patterns except for those determined by poverty (for a lack of money restricts access to American culture) and, sometimes, religion. While one can, with consciousness and clear vision, resist its influence, there is no denying pop cultureÕs seductiveness: conspicuous consumption, immediate gratification, and near constant distraction from the worldÕs painful realities.
Yet when does popular culture teach you ways of being and doing that are not what you would consciously choose for yourself? When does it pull your attention away from things you know you should keep your attention on? When does it give you only brief satisfaction followed by costly consequences?
How much can you trust this "teacher" to give you sound lessons and to educate you about patterns that will help you thrive, be creative yourself, promote justice and equality, strengthen your community, preserve the environment, or encourage peace? How much does this teacher pull you away from the culture you were born into or that you aspire to?
What To Do
For your second essay, think critically about something in popular culture that you think is cool. Begin by prewriting in the following areas.
A) What is "cool"? Make specific reference to our readings in class, the documentary, and/or our lecture to define this.
B) Focus on something in pop culture you think is cool: a recording artist, a brand of clothing, a television show or genre of shows, a sports team, a technology, a special interest group, a gym you belong to, a genre of video games, a popular brand of fast food, a car, a chain of restaurants, a particular slang, or even a particular celebrity.
C) Describe what specific qualities it has that you find appealing.
D) Then, analyze how and why you came to appreciate it. The analysis must get under the surface. If your answer for why your are obsessed with BeyoncŽ is because you "like her" or you think "her music is cool" or because "she's hot" then you haven't really explained your reasons. This will require deeper analysis. Why do you like her? What qualities do you like about her and why? What IS "cool" and why do YOU find her to be cool? What about her makes her attractive to you and what does that say about you?
E) Finally, what other pattern(s) of behavior is this one distracting you from, is replacing, or has replaced?
This might be your ethnic culture, your progress in school, your family life, staying healthy, succeeding in school, social relationships, your creativity, your career ambitions, your etc.
Write an analytical essay about something in pop culture you think is "cool," why (really) you think it is cool, and what other cultural patterns it distracts you from.
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