Is Pop Culture Good For You?

The answer to the question: "Is pop culture good for you?" can go any way one wants to argue it. We could argue that it is toxic as it perpetuates harmful stereotypes, sets unrealistic standards and expectations, and reinforces negative ideals. On the other side, pop culture creates a sense of community, and is a source of education, entertainment, and inspiration for those involved. It can provide young people with role models and set examples of positive behavior. Pop culture shapes our outlook, attitudes, and values within our lives. There is no clear answer as to whether pop culture is good for you, as we can see time and time again cases where it proves to be more of a hindrance than a help. 

Christina Grimmie was an American singer and YouTuber who was shot and killed by a fan at the age of 22. She was murdered at her own concert in Orlando, Florida after getting a fan with open arms who decided to shoot her as his obsession had gone too far.   

                        

Pop culture puts people/things on pedestals, creating a hierarchy where the "uninteresting" discussions are placed at the bottom. Things that people may be less interested in are brushed to the side, to be talked about at a later date. The rapid pace of pop culture does not allow time for other topics to be discussed, as by that time the public will have already moved on to something else. People's attention spans are getting shorter and shorter with the implementation of short-term media such as TikTok and Instagram Reels. There simply is not enough time to have a conversation, we are always looking for the next best thing and everything else after that. Celebrities get their "5 seconds of fame" and are generally discarded unless they do something else to stay in the spotlight. The rapid rise of social media has made it easier for word to spread and taste to change.

Pop culture creates a sense of community, allowing us to escape from the boredom and stress of everyday life. With the authentic portrayals of lively events, we see things from a broader perspective as we consider different opinions and ideals. People can connect worldwide, acknowledging and understanding different cultures. Artists also often create content from whatever pop culture piece they are interested in at the time, inspiring them to branch out and explore something new or to stick with the same comfort. Exploring and validating our identity via discovery of style, or interests is another positive that comes out of pop culture.

 

The release of Marvel's Black Panther in 2018 sparked a massive movement in representation and diversity by showing filmmakers that audiences want to see themselves on the big screen. The massive monetary gain proved that minority casts are profitable and that representation matters as young kids saw those who looked like them as an empowering inspiration. 

Pop culture can be empowering. It can create community, it can tear the community apart. There is a thin line between what is good and bad. Sexualization of the female body and predatory ideations are slowly becoming more and more prominent in spaces dedicated to pop culture with the rise of "brain rot culture", however, it is unfair to generalize an entire movement because of a few bad apples. Pop culture will continue to grow at a rapid pace, more and more things will be placed onto the trending page and more and more people will consume. It is up to the viewer to decide how they want to take in the information and what they want to do with it. As someone who engages in pop culture almost daily, I say it is good in moderation. Devoting your life to consuming the media is detrimental in itself, though as long as you are aware of the potential repercussions of absorbing the information altogether.