Signs: A Pop Culture Invasion

SIGNS: A POP CULTURE INVASION

We know popular culture impacts us and how we live our daily lives, but just exactly how much? Some would go as far to say it affects EVERYTHING we do, and others would limit it to clothing and trends. I never thought I was heavily impacted by T.V., radio, social networking, movies, music, video games, and internet. After introducing myself to various Communication courses and the reading material provided, I began to think otherwise.
In this week's reading assignment, Sellnow starts to explain how we can understand popular culture. She states that "culture" is often defined with elitism and diversity in mind, such as the desire to "improve one's station in life" and the diversities of various demographics. However, these common descriptions are noted by Sellnow as "insufficient" in determining a definition for popular culture.
On the contrary, popular culture is comprised of hundreds of signs, or "everyday objects, actions, and events that influence people to believe and behave in certain ways". These signs tell us of what is to be thought of as "good" and "bad" or "appropriate" or "inappropriate".
Whether we realize it or not, I think we pick up on these signs and engrave them in our subconscious. Important issues like sex, marriage, illegal activities, drugs and alcohol are all very much influenced by the media and the culture surrounding it. Critics interpret the material presented by authors and artists and try to distinguish the subtle signs that the author himself might not have noticed.
Popular Culture is filled with an ever growing amount of signs that are used to express proper behaviors, ideologies, and etiquette. Whether we realize it or not, every time we are exposed to any form of popular culture we are influenced on how we should think and act. This reveals questions like: Is anything we do actually original? Can we leave the house without acting out of influence by a show we've seen or song we've heard? Do we even have any control over how we think? I suppose these are questions to be answered in another post!

-Stuart Cowen