Popular culture conference paper

Conference paper:

In this paper I will be analysing the definition of popular culture with reference to the company Disney. Before I explain this topic, one must understand the concept of ideology, with is crucial in the research of popular culture. John Storey has described ideology as "a systematic body of ideas articulated by a particular group of people"1, and as a "false consciousness"2, which is thrusted upon the public by the dominant social class. Marx also saw ideology as a distortion of reality3, thus contributing to his well known papers and views against the upper class members of society. There are many alternative views on the definition of ideology, however for the purpose of this paper ideology will be determined as a body of ideas forced upon the mass public by dominant members of society. Another definition which needs to be stated is that of the term culture. This is mainly defined as "signifying practises"4, "a particular way of life"5, and "a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development"6. Once again, for the purpose of this paper, culture will be referred to with the definition of signifying practises.

Popular culture can be summarised in various ways. These consist of; culture that is preferred, the remainder of culture which cannot be defined as high culture (this theory can also be extended from a postmodernism perspective through not recognising a distinction between the two) , mass culture, culture that originated from the mass public and exchange and negotiation. I have briefly concluded arguments both for and against these theories, to begin the idea that popular culture is that of which is preferred by the general public. In basic terminology through definition this is an summarisation, however it is subject to the theorists approach. For example my views, being similar to that of Karl Marx, mean that I cannot accept this due to my beliefs that what the working class consumes is dictated by people of higher power with a larger income. These beliefs also mean that I do not agree with the idea that culture originates from the people, even though one could argue there is not possibly any other point of origin. The term mass culture, refers to culture which is mass produced. All though some theorists may argue that items are marketed and mass produced due to the demand, one could counter argue that this is a case of priming and therefore the constant presence of something, will lead to curiosity and in tern consumption. The theory that popular culture is that which cannot be determined as high culture has more holes than it does positives. For example, it cannot apply from a post modernism perspective, as this would suggest there is no distinction between high and low culture. To conclude this short portion, for the purpose of this paper, popular culture will be defined as mass consumed culture.

Story telling has existed in various forms since humans could communicate. Traditionally children are read bed time stories from birth, often of which have roots of origin from texts written hundreds of years ago. An example of this is The little mermaid. Most people will recognise this as the famous Disney movie created in 1989, however its origins can be sourced to a lot further back. Hans Christian Anderson wrote the fairy tale in 1837 and it has since had multiple adaptions. These adaptions made the story a lot more "family friendly", for example, as where in the tale Ariel is dissolved into sea foam for failing to hold up her side of the bargain with Ursula, in the movie Ariel and Prince Eric get their happily ever after. As this opened up the marketing to a wider consumer audience, it contributed to the mass production of memorabilia thus resulting in the tale becoming part of popular culture. Story telling as a general term can be argued as popular culture, as it is mass consumed, receives a mainly positive reception, and the roots can often be traced to higher members of society whom distribute it to the working class.

Disney is a media conglomerate, whom owns a majority of media related companies world wide. "Built from a few cartoon characters first drawn in the early twentieth century, by 2000 the company had grown to have $25 billion in revenues derives from entertainment resources – animated movies, music, cable, and satellite channels, radio stations and internet access (Crothers, 2007: 33)"7. In the 21st century, this puts them at the heart of distribution and creation of stories consumed by the mass public, therefore putting them as one of few soul contributors to media popular culture. This has its positives and negatives. For the company and its share holders this is positive as financially it is an ever growing source of income, however the negatives from a social stance are strong. This puts a lot of pressure on the creators to make products which do not offend in any way. For example despite the fact that both Pocahontas (1995) and Mulan (1998) had been created as none white Disney princesses, the producers received criticism due to the lack of diversity in the protagonists heritage, thus leading to The princess and the frog (2009) which featured the first African American lead (Tiana). In recent years feminism has become a larger problem for company due to the way its female characters are drawn. Traditionally, Disney princesses have flawless hair, small waists and can only be saved via a male. To combat this the conglomerate created Brave (2012), which featured a wild and young female lead, Beauty and the beast (Live action, 2017), which featured Emma Watson as the first live action princess to not wear a corset, and Frozen (2013), where the two protagonists are both female and save each other through sisterly love. To give one company the power to influence so many young minds is dangerous dependant on their motives. Fortunately, they appear to mainly innocent, removing support from people such as PewDiePie for anti-Semitic comments (2017).

Since the success of the live action remake of Cinderella (2015), Disney have released a statement briefly discussing various other remakes in production. The most recent is Beauty and the Beast which was released in March 2017. The true popularity around the idea began in January 2015 when Emma Watson announced that she would be playing Belle in the remake. Since assuming the role of UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in 2014, her favour amongst female audiences had grown, and suspicions that this would be a feminist based role began. The most acknowledged alteration Watson made to the character was giving her a more realistic figure, through not wearing a corset during filming, unlike Lily James who played the protagonist in Cinderella 2015. This created some controversy online amongst fans, debating over the positives of not presenting an unrealistic female figure to an impressionable young audience, against staying true to the original (1991) drawing. This controversy lead to increased advertisement for the film, thus contributing to the $174.75 million profit for the opening week in the box office.8 However one must acknowledge that this isn't the only form of profit for the production, there is also various memorabilia available in stores and online, including figures, toys, posters, and collectables which can cost up to £30,000. The mass consumption from audiences to purchasing movie related items has lead to this becoming part of 2017 popular culture. These prices also mean that this is not confined to purely the working class, and it must also include a fan base of people with a higher income.

In conclusion popular culture does not have a set definition, however somethings can quite openly be described as being a part of it. Disney as a conglomerate has big influence on young audiences and many examples of movies becoming instantly popular culture, for example Beauty and the Beast (2017).

Reading diary:

Week1- Storey, John (2009) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture (5th Edition). London: Pearson, pp.1-15: The definition of Popular Culture is not a simple one. Throughout history several theories surrounding the concept have emerged which all offer a different insight into the meaning of the term. According to Storey, there are six main definitions for Popular Culture, which he explores briefly in the chapter, whilst constantly referring to his initial statements about ideology.

To begin ideology is described as a 'crucial concept' when researching into Popular Culture. This term is also one with several definitions. These include, "a systematic body of ideas articulated by a particular group pf people", "false consciousness", ideas caused and thrusted upon the public by the dominant class, and that ideology is not a theoretical practice but instead a practical one. All though this could be explained in more depth, this response will be more focused on Storeys work on Popular Culture.

Culture is initially referred to as a word "used to refer to 'a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development'", "a particular way of life, whether of a people, period or a group", or "signifying practices". These may all seem similar, however there are slight differences in the definitions, which again would be explored in more depth if this was the element I was focusing on, be as that may it seemed worth touching on to help with an overall insight into the subject.

Storey summarizes Popular culture in six key ways; "culture that is widely favoured", "culture that is left over after we have decided what is high culture", "mass culture", "culture that originates from 'the people'", "exchange and negotiation", and postmodernism which "no longer recognises the distinction between high and popular culture." Personally, I cannot fully agree with any of these theories.

The first explanation for Popular Culture is meaningless. The concept that it is "favoured" isn't worth anything when it is imposed on the mass public, AKA the working class. Many theorist have a Marxist approach when studying Popular Culture, as do I, which simply means that the public is told what to like by people in higher power with more money. This can be done through many ways, a strong example being marketing. For example, Walt Disney spent $2.1 million on advertising in 20141, which led to the success of the movie Frozen. The trailers for this film where everywhere along with posters and merchandise, thus contributing to this being a case of priming causing a text to become Popular Culture. There are more examples of this in music. One direction came third in the Xfactor in the seventh series, thus suggesting they were less popular than the winner, who was Matt Cardle. Today they have a combine net worth of $150 million, whilst Cardle is only worth $3 million. It could be argued that this is due to marketing after the competition. For example, the winner was quoted saying "I would just have been left to get on with it while One Direction ruled the planet"2, thus implying substance behind my previous point. Larger companies thrust what they want to be Popular Culture on the masses.

A quantitate approach can also not be used in my explanation. This is because consummation doesn’t necessarily mean the reaction to a product is positive. This is shown through Donald Trump at the present moment. As he has been elected, it cannot be disputed that the majority of the voting public in America favoured him. Using PR and the destruction of Hillary Clinton through the media over the email scandal, Trump closed the gap between the two rivals. However now due to his policies coming into actions there has been protests world wide. Using the concepts raised by Storey, these would not have happened as Popular Culture is "passive". You may be questioning how a president could be described as a text of Popular Culture, well in its simplest form this example fits into the key theories on a hegemonic level. One theory is that hegemony has to be in place for Popular Culture to work, however the discourse caused by a seemingly positive welcome connotes that this decision is not "liked" globally. This also raises questions on how far Popular Culture ranges. Is it different dependant on the area the public live in?

In summery, despite Storey suggesting many different theories for Popular Culture, many of which have references to ideology, I believe that none of them are entirely accurate, as many link to the idea of the public consuming media texts etc in question, however the term 'popular' in its basic form is defined as a concept "liked"3, and consummation does not necessarily mean this. I also want to clarify I do believe that the public have texts forced upon them which leads passive audiences to contribute to things becoming Popular Culture without intention.

1 http://uk.businessinsider.com/10-biggest-advertising-spenders-in-the-us-2015-7/#10-walt-disney-company-ad-spend-up-74-to-21-billion-the-company-spent-big-on-marketing-its-box-office-phenomenon-frozen-with-fresh-content-and-merchandise-long-after-its-2013-opening-1 Last accessed on 31.01.17

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Cardle last accessed on 31.01.17

4 http://www.bing.com/search?q=what+does+popular+mean&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid= last accessed on 31.01.17

Week 2- Strinati, Dominic (2000) An Introduction to Studying Popular Culture. London: Routledge, pp.1-45: Traditionally, high culture is usually centred around activities such as going to the theatre and enjoying art as were low culture was whatever was left over. As time went on low culture became enjoying folk culture or visiting a cinema. In post-modernism, the boundaries between the two are not recognised, however in other theoretical arguments surrounding popular culture it is argued that mass culture, which is often commercialised, is a threat to the elite. In this short essay I am going to briefly explore various theoriests ideas on the topic which were discussed in Dominic Strinatis chapter on mass and popular culture.

MacDonald argues that "mass culture is a threat because it is a homogeneous culture which levels down or debases all culture." He goes onto suggest that in the 1920's the mass culture of Hollywood cinema and the high culture of Broadway theatre have distinctive differences, however "with the arrival of the sound film these distinctions began to break down", which furthers his point and brings an element of post modernism to his discussion. Moving on from him, the chapter also mentions Orwell. He argued that "intellectuals, unlike the 'common people', had by then got used to reading 'serious novels' which no longer dealt in the 'world of absolute good and evil', and which provided a clear division 'between right and wrong'"1 This is another example of the distinction between high and low culture, however this one could be argued as being threatened during the period of Americanisation.

Stritini states "elitism, like mass culture theory, tends to ignore the range and diversity of popular culture". This is due to the fact mass culture is viewed as being homogeneous, as where popular culture is open to interpretation by various social groups. As elitism is previously described as "ignorance", one could presume that biased arguments are raised. This is contradicted by a similarly negative view on mass by suggesting that the culture is harmful by creating passive audiences open to manipulation.

I found the way that this chapter was written excessively pretentious, with the author using terminology without justification. With this said, it did provide a deep insight into supporting arguments to confirm the differences between high and low culture. In summery, high and low culture cannot be directly defined as they alter throughout time. Traditionally high culture is associated with theatre as where low culture included silent film at cinemas and mass produced and commercialised entertainment. All though this is the written explanation of the differences, theoretically, I believe in more of a post-modernist society and therefore the contrast is irrelevant as it is not recognised.

1 ibid 77-78

Week 3- Hebdige, Dick (1979) Subculture in Guins, Raiford and Cruz, Omayra (2005) Popular Culture: A Reader. London: Sage, pp.355-371: Subculture is defined as a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture. Hebdige states "Subcultures represent 'noise': interference in the orderly sequence which leads from real events and phenomena to their representation in the media." Often with the emergence of a new subculture there is a "wave of hysteria in the press"1, thus contributing to ridicule by the public. The way this is usually controlled is through the conversion of subcultural symbols into mass produced objects. This could be seen very clearly in 2016, with the popularisation of the choker, a more commonly symbol of the gothic subculture. It is also seen through the high ratings of the US show Supernatural as the obsession with the supernatural is also a connotation of the gothic subculture.

The chapter in question mainly focuses on the emersion of the punk subculture. It does emphasise the manipulation by the media which is common in these events, such as "punk can be a family affair", in order to restore calm to a potentially explosive situation. Failing this the media appear to attempt to turn the public on the minority by referring to them as "a threat to the family". This then differs people from joining groups thus diminishing the threat to our societies structure.

The most obvious way to identify if someone is a part of a subculture is through their clothing. The punk style was described by Vivien Westwood as being "confrontation dressing", therefore suggesting that the aim was to appear aggressive. For first generation punks this was not the aim. The idea of "chaos" wasn’t to be violent, more to be different and a challenge to conformation. This was due to the time they began. This generation were the first to have no connection with war time Britain, as well as being the first 'teenagers' to have their own incomes, therefore it was an opportunity to challenge this countries ideals.

In conclusion, subcultures are variant, however the main are known for challenging the ideals of the larger community. Often these subcultures are looked down upon by the upper class, which is then reflected in the media, as they disturb the balance in society. Subcultures are a statement, a belief system, an image, which either hope to influence a change where they live, or are just a way for people with similar views which differ from those of the masses to gather and communicate.

1 Dick Hebdige Subculture: The Unnatural Break

Week 4- Storey, John (2009) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture (Fifth Edition). London: Pearson, pp.167-180.

Van Dijk, Teun (2000) ‘New(s) Racism: A Discourse Analytical Approach’ in Simon Cottle (ed) (2000) in Ethnic Minorities and the Media. Milton Keynes: Open University Press, pp. 33-49: These pieces focus on the way that race being represented through the media can impact on the publics view on that race.

Week 5- Stibbe, Aaron (2004) ‘Health and the Social Construction of Masculinity in Men’s Health Magazine,’ Men and Masculinities 7(1), pp.31-51: There are many arguments surrounding the concept of women being objectified in the media, through intensive manipulation of images on magazine covers and in films, however I do also want to acknowledge a counter point. Women who take part in the photoshoots required for these images to surface must be aware of how their photograph will be used in a modern society. Therefore with this in mind, one cant merely argue that men objectify women, when these models are taking part willingly.

Modleski 1986 argues that "women have been held responsible for mass culture and its harmful effects, while men are privileged to have the responsibility for high culture or art." All though this is a valid point for her example, Harriet Beecher Stowes novel 'Uncle Tom's cabin', it is out dated due to the source been created in 1852. Culturally, I am arguing that it would be difficult to find media text examples which have negative views purely due to the fact they were created by women, from the 21st century.

Our society teaches us that women need to be beautiful and slender, whilst males need to be strong and successful. These are traditional values, which are subtly enforced by older members of communities on the younger generations, however cannot be enforced without the participation of the women involved. Modleski argues "consumption should be the concern of women", and with her feminist views I believe this point was made to encourage women to promote media texts to more direct people whose consumption will churn out positive results, however in order for pieces to appear successful the masses have to purchase it. All though this was initially focused on written texts, I believe it could also apply to photographic images of women on the covers of said texts, such as male health magazines.

In conclusion women are usually objectified in the media, however to argue that this is without ambition from both genders would be ignorant.

Week 7- I. Tyler & B. Bennett (2010) 'Celebrity Chav': Fame, Femininity and Social Class, in: European Journal of Cultural Studies, 13 (3) pp. 375-393: This article argues that celebrity is a culture which has become increasingly judged. It focuses on the impact that their influence has on an impressionable public and how blame can be transferred to them.

Week 8- Nissim Kadosh Otmazgin (2011) “Commodifying Asian-ness: entrepreneurship and the making of East Asian popular culture” Media, Culture & Society, Volume 33, Issue 2, 259-274: This article focuses on how East Asia culture is becoming part of all popular culture through forms such as anime. It researches into how this spread of culture makes it less significant to East Asia as far as traditionalism is concerned.

Week 9- Miroslaw, Filiciak (2003) ‘Hyperidentities: Postmodern Identity Patterns in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games’ in Wolf, Mark J.P and Perron, Bernard (eds.)The Video Game Theory Reader. New York: Routledge, pp.87-102: This piece focuses on how peoples personalities appear to change through the idea of online personalities in role play games. It looks into how people represent themselves online and escape through these CGI characters.

1 John Storey: Cultural theory and popular culture 1996

2 John Storey: Cultural theory and popular culture 1996

3 Ian Adams: Political Ideology Today 2001

4 John Storey: Cultural theory and popular culture 1996

5 John Storey: Cultural theory and popular culture 1996

6 John Storey: Cultural theory and popular culture 1996

7 Isnawati Lydia Wantasen: Walt Disney as the icon of American popular culture

8 http://deadline.com/2017/03/beauty-and-the-beast-weekend-box-office-selling-out-1202045224/ last accessed on 13/04/2017