this video is intended to be an
introduction to the
academic study of popular culture. It is a
brief overview of what popular culture
is
along with some hints and explanations about how we're going to approach
our study. When figuring out what popular
culture
is it's important to look at the words
themselves
to begin finding our answer. The word
popular comes from the Latin word
populus which means simply people.
popular culture is something that is always
most importantly related to everyday
average people and their experiences
of the world.  It is the culture that is meant
for the general population
and that is intended for their tastes and
understanding
rather than just a select few. This word
popular
describes a type of culture. Culture
is a term that is used in all sorts of
different studies from
anthropology to sociology and history. For our purposes
we're using a fairly broad definition of
culture. Culture
is a way that people are grouped
together based on their common behaviors
beliefs
and structures. The culture that you were
born into has a lot of
influence on your beliefs and things
that you look forward to
throughout your life. Often a person's
culture is determined by their
geographical region
such as America or Japan or Brazil.
However there's a wide variation of culture
within a geographical region
so that cultures can be broken down into
even smaller groups that are connected
by their social lives and outlook on the
world
when you put these two words together
you get popular culture
a culture that is intended to represent
the common and
everyday experiences of a people. When
it comes to the type to things we will
be studying
we will be focusing on things that most
people will be familiar with and have
some
experience of.  On this list those would be the things that are generally
considered middle
and low culture.  Though there is  absolutely nothing wrong with the things that are
considered high culture
and I enjoy many those a great deal
we're not going to be spending much time
with the things in the
high culture category.  Often those are
things that education covers in much
greater detail than the things we will
focus on in
popular culture.  The judgment that has
been made in creating the chart that you
see here
is a judgment of quality and importance
rather than popularity.
Often the things considered high culture
are things that important people consider to be of high-quality
and that have a lasting impact on our culture. These things are wonderful
but few of us really experience them
every day.  However
things in the middle and low categories
are the types of things we do have daily
experience with
even though we might not usually make the case that they have important lasting
cultural
impact. Instead in popular culture we'll
see that these things still have value
even if they're destined to be forgotten as new things become popular and
tastes change.
Popular culture is important to study
because whenever you want to know more
about a group of people
you need to look closely at how they act
and what things they surround themselves
with every day.
This reveals what they care about and
how they think
even if they don't realize it at the
time.  In our own popular culture
our values are shown by what we buy how
we entertain ourselves
and what we spend our time doing. However
because we're going about our lives
every day we don't even realize how much
of our
inner thoughts and beliefs are revealed
in our everyday choices.
For example when looking at this picture of 
Pilgrim Barbie
a person might say that it's just a toy so
it doesn't really matter
however when it comes to studying
popular culture
there is no such thing as just a toy
or just
entertainment.  Everything matters and
everything
asks us to look deeper into it as an
artifact
of our culture.  So, rather than say that
this Barbie is just a toy
we will ask questions about what this
toy says
about the culture from which it comes.  For example
why would we make a toy to represent a
historical period
when that toy is so historically
inaccurate?  Is it because we don't really
know history
or because we wish to represent our
history
incorrectly?  Why is a woman made to look
this way
when it is proportionally inaccurate to how
a woman
actually appears.  Often, it is
is a discussion we're after rather than a
concrete answer
there is no clearance and obvious answer
as to why pilgrim Barbie exists. However
by asking the questions we force our
minds to really focus on this
object and think deeply about our
culture.  Often
this process of thinking and asking
questions can be difficult
because it asks that everybody take
everyday life seriously
which we're often too busy and
preoccupied to do
the quotation you see here is from the book
Rethinking Popular Culture and Media, and it explains that everybody
is connected to popular culture.  It reads
in many ways popular culture is the
Polaroid snapshot or Facebook photo
page the documents our lives in the
social world.
It is a backdrop of day to day life.
And its power is both diffuse
and indisputable. From Disney to Barbie to
Myspace
youth today navigate a range of popular
culture and media.
The authors of Rethinking Popular Culture
want to really make sure that everybody
understands
that popular culture is powerful though that
power is diffuse.
That means that the power isn't the
kind we even notice
We notice the power that politicians
have and the decisions they make because
that power is centralized and overt
but the power that popular culture wields 
is spread out
and mostly hidden from our sight. However
that power is still very real and effects
everybody. This quotation specifically
mentions youth culture
there is no age group isn't deeply
connected with popular culture
even the youngest babies watch
television and play with toys that are
licensed products
of film companies and even the oldest of  our citizens watch television and
read magazines
We're using popular culture to consume
information that we use to guide our
lives
and we use popular culture to express
those lives and what we wish people to
know about us
Though we're going to be studying
popular culture
throughout this semester there are a few
things to keep in mind about popular
culture
no matter what the topic is that we will
be studying.  Number one
everything matters. Popular culture focuses on artifacts that may
sometimes be called trivial or simply
entertainment
but when studying popular culture those kinds of distinctions
aren't our main concern. Number two
everything changes. What was once
considered popular
is now often considered high culture. For
example
in the day of Shakespeare people flocked to his plays because they were
violent sexy and fun. Today we often
consider Shakespeare plays to be fancy
affairs that we get
dressed up to go see. Number three
power. The artifacts of popular culture
often ultimately show you what the most
powerful forces in your lives are
often these are forces that you have no
control over and are largely strangers
to
for example corporate boards of very
wealthy people make decisions that
affect you every day
and you don't even know who those people
are
And number four.  Popular culture is a
business
popular culture is often concerned with
products and
economics. For example Coca-Cola and
Pepsi are
artifacts of popular culture and they are
products that are trying to sell
themselves through advertising and
social media
Which are strong conduits of pop culture
Now that we've mostly gotten through what popular culture is and what sorts of things we're
going to study
we need to think about our own approach
and what sorts of things we're going to
do as a group
and as a class. These are ways to get the
most
out of your learning out at the readings
for this semester
first always keep an open mind
even if the thing we're reading about or discussing is something that really
gets you emotionally engaged, try not to 
either shut
out what the article says or get so
worked up that you can't really follow
the argument
I haven't selected articles specifically
for shock value
but I know that some of them come
from perspectives that might cause
strong reactions
next try to think about the big
picture
sometimes an article will focus on a really
particular object or idea
but our job as readers is to think about
what the big picture is that this small
idea really connects to
For example if we look closely at a
Barbie doll as we did a few slides ago
we know that it's a doll, but in the big
picture of things it connects with
patriotism and femininity and selling products to children
which are all very large and important
ideas
also try to focus on the central idea
of the reading. The main thesis is important to keep in mind
what is the very basic idea that the author's
trying to convey to you
as a reader? After you've really focused on
the main ideas
think about how well the ideas are
presented.
What kind of explanation or evidence is
being offered?
Does the author give lots of examples
of the idea and the conclusions that the
writer has come to?
When possible try to connect the ideas
to your own life.
You may have a very different approach
than the author does and that is really
valuable.
Think about how with the author writes
about or says
is relevant your own experience.  This
makes the ideas they're sharing
really resonate with us. Finally
don't demand scientific proof
this is a class of the humanities, so it is
not concerned with quantifying evidence.
The lack of scientific studies does not
mean that evidence is
absent. In most of the articles we are
reading the evidence presented for the
author's claim is qualitative.
There aren't statistics and percentages. Don't feel that this means the ideas are
any less
valid, though. There are different ways of
presenting information in the sciences
compared with the humanities. In this
class
things are bound to get a little sticky. That is,
a bit uncomfortable. This is because
we're talking about things that people
spend a lot of time with
and often connect with in a very strong
way
For example, if you are somebody who is
deeply emotionally connected with sports
you might feel uncomfortable looking at
the ways that sports have negative influences in
our society
Please keep in mind when you feel
uncomfortable that's often a sign that the
discussion is getting close to your own
experience and you're afraid of looking too
closely because you don't want to change
your own beliefs or behaviors.
Fear can often be a powerful motivator
but if this happens to you please
remember
you have choice. The articles that we
read may
influence you and they may not. That
choice is entirely up to you
and the power is ultimately your own.  I do, however, request
you keep an open mind so that you can really think about what's important
or at least central in each article. As
you keep an open mind
you will have the experience to really
learn from what other people say and
other people's experience of popular
culture and that often
helps us to enrich our own.
