Pop Culture or How the World is Fascinated by Nothing

For all we know, pop culture aka the culture of the people consists of a mainstream form of entertainment, of popular art and lifestyle that have appeared along with mass media and mass consumption in Western civilization and across the world for now over a century. Pop culture is the equivalent of the ancient folklores, which before mass media appeared, were specific to the people and their respective region and differentiated from elitist ''high culture" reserved for the privileged classes of society.

A notable aspect in the evolution of pop culture over the years is how it has been vulgarized greatly over the past century, from a higher quality stream of creative flow towards something much more superficial and only instinctively appealing. At the start of mass media for example, the movies were focused on the quality of narrative, on character and relationships, and on the quality of writing and dialog. When we watch some of the new commercial movies, sometimes we wonder where this has gone. To some at least, it can be a complete world of instant gratification but longer term boredom.

Music is an obvious example for this. Not that long ago, when records were first manufactured, Classical music used to form the bulk of the music industry. Records were reserved to an educated elite, who recognized the genius of its creators and performers and who understood the value of pieces and their performance and was therefore willing to spend their money on it. When rock music appeared, music consumption evolved and music as an art was suddenly vulgarized to a lower type of consumption good, still respectably valuable, but not as intellectual, not as elitist. Demand increased and prices dropped. The whole western population would buy records and the people saw the value in the genius of rock and pop idols. This pop phenomenon has endured strongly and has amplified itself over time and throughout all forms of art and media until our age.

We all know that mass media has changed the face of culture, worldwide, probably for the good since overall, the cultural intellect has spread to the global population and on average, the human spirit has probably elevated itself to a high level of cultural awareness. Since the dawn of the twenty-first century however, a further kind of vulgarization has appeared. The new generation, roughly 25 year olds and below, are now not even interested in specific icons of a particular form of art or entertainment. We don't see the value in talent in as a logical way as it used to be seen and recognized. What we see today is the quality of an approach to an audience, the context of culture. Stars are blind and don't necessarily have a link to their art. It's all down the how they are marketed, and they may be eligible to be on our playlists.

Examples are numerous and there is no need to mention this or that, it's obvious that music is now perceived as a consumption good among many, and that the magic and idolatry of rock is now far gone. For better of for worse, brands and labels have taken over geniuses and icons.

Some refer to this as dumbing down or the age of the Post-Intellectual era. Clearly, there's a great need for education, if not, awareness in terms of culture. While we have never been so spoiled, we have never been so bright either, and so quickly able to learn, progress and to act. Additionally, we have never had suck an easy access to information and to immediate production of cultural goods.

In fact, in the same way mass media initially vulgarized the idea of consuming art, listening to music, watching TV or going to the movies, the web aka the new generation in mass media has vulgarized even the concept of creating art. Also, the value is briefly transferring itself from artists to products. When the artist, and the medium are becoming commodities, what's left is the result of those commodities: the product, whether it is a track, a film, an article, a book, a concert, anything you may think of... What's more is that we have direct access to all of the above. Slowly, art itself is becoming a commodity. It is free, it is simple, it is direct.

Pop culture is everywhere, from its creation to its consumption, it has overtaken every home in the world, and the world itself has become a spoiled audience, hungry for cheap commodities, passionate about nothing.

Sounds new? It is. What's next? What's after the vulgarization and demystification of anything creative? Other forms of creativity... Forms that will not be seen as commodities and with which people will be surprised again, start dreaming again from a deeply rooted standpoint, rather than an instinctive envy. Most certainly... in the meantime, we are here today and waiting, creating, diversifying, experimenting, exchanging, consuming, flying, knowing that most of all, what matters is the necessity to realize that what's there cannot be taken for granted, has infinite potential and is all the reasons to remain positive.