This question is an interesting one to try and tackle as it seemed too natural for me to quickly retort “of course it matters!” without fully understanding the reasons why I was so quick to defend popular culture.
Having given this a lot of thought I realised that it’s due
to the fact that popular culture is all around us. It would be near impossible
to live a singular day of our lives without experiencing some form of popular
culture or media texts, short of retiring to live in a cave, that is... We encounter popular culture in various different ways and
we consume them almost subliminally as they have become such a normal part of
our every-day routines.
For me personally I will start my day by turning on my radio in order to hear Chris Moyles or Fearne Cotton’s voice (depending on what time of the day I wake up.) I will then drive to work or university with the radio on, or a particular CD on. I will then pick up a newspaper or magazine to flick through during breaks or browse 'The Gaurdian' app on my phone. I then go home and watch a film or read a book, in order to have 'me time' away from work or unviersity. Popular culture will always be a large part of my day and without it I would have no means of identifying myself, learning about the world or connecting with others.
What is one of the first things you ask somebody you’ve just
met? “What type of music/films do you like?” That’s how we first start a connection
with other people.We identify ourselves as individuals through the music we listen to, the films we watch, the newspapers we read. It all totals up in order to say something about the type of person you are.
Popular culture, although sometimes mass produced enables us
to connect with each other, educates us and guides us. Without it our lives
would merely become a routine of: wake up, go to work, come home, sleep, repeat.
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