Social Impact of Popular Culture in the UK - Essay Example

?Social Impact of Popular Culture in the UK Rational Population culture cuts across almost all aspects of life in the United Kingdom. The phenomenon of population transcends generations and social status. Due to its vastness and variety, it is practiced in almost every corner of the United Kingdom and extremely difficult to hide or cover it. It is however such popularity that British Popular Culture is gaining that there has been numerous calls into studying the real impact of British popular culture on the social life of the ordinary British. As a medium for addressing the prevailing need for assess the social impact of popular culture, this report seeks to research into how British popular culture affects the UK concept of lifestyle, consumerism, economy and politics. The report will also seek to examine the impact of British popular culture on people outside Britain. The extent to which British popular culture is prevailing in the offshore of Britain, how it is conceived by non-British, the level of influence British popular culture has on strangers and aspects of the phenomenon of popular culture that should be held on to and those that need to be scraped shall all be outlined in this report. The British Popular Culture in the International Status Britain is a highly respectable world force. Britain is also a dominant world force with a lot of influence all over the world. This respect, dominance and respect makes concepts, ideas, and perception that have British origination have a lot of following the world over. The same is true about British culture. Storey (1994) notes that British popular culture have gained international status because it is adhered and practiced by most countries the world over. Prempeh (2005) posits that parts of the international regions where Britain has more following are countries that were once colonised by Britain: thus commonwealth countries. Special mention can be made of countries such as Australia, Ghana, Nigeria, Bahamas, Dominica and Canada. Undeniably, the most common areas of British lifestyle and culture that have so much dominance in international countries and more especially British colonies are education, language, sports, fashion, music and in some cases, governance system. The practice of these systems and culture in international cycles contributes largely to the popularity and dominance of Britain in world politics. The practice of British popular culture in the international arena has in no uncertain terms made Britain popular and worth calling a standard. Even as British popular culture continues to grow in international circles, what needs to be done is a careful scrutiny of how UK as a people can amass deserving profits from the phenomenon. Reports and researches of this kind must continue to show the way worthy of advancing. With such reports and researches, it is also important not to pay attention to popular culture’s positive influence on society but also seek to identify pitfalls, if any so that necessary adjustments can be made on them to make British popular culture all-beneficial. History of popular culture in the UK – The development of popular culture in the UK The Guardian (2000) suggests that Popular Culture had been with Britain long before the term was even espoused. The Guardian notes hat popular culture had been “preserved in the amber of high literature and art are the traces of the lower amusements of the past.” In this direction, special mention is made of “Shakespeare, Hogarth or Dickens and you can see the remnants of popular diversions: ballads and songs, fairs and pantomimes, sports and ingenious forms of cruelty to animals” (The Guardian, 2000). Meyer (2008) adds up to this assertion as she makes reference to the First World War saying “Much of the scholarship examining British culture of the First World War focuses on the 'high' culture of a limited number of novels, memoirs, plays and works of art, and the cultural reaction to them.” These perceptions that popular culture had long lived before the phenomenon actually started gaining prominence in British academic circles is a fact that cannot be denied. With literature works of Shakespeare and others like Dickens leading the crusade as conveyors of popular culture, popular culture has been with the British since time immemorial. It is however worth mentioning that popular has not been static but dynamic and changing. As popular culture existed mainly in writing in the pre-electronic era, Karwowski (2002) pays tribute to the changes that popular culture has experienced fifty years ago since the coming of television. Recollecting the very beginning of television, Karwowski (2002) states the Queen saying “it was the Queen's Coronation, after all, that ushered in the television age, with half the adult population viewing the ceremony 'live'. Most of those watching did not own a television at the time.” Gradually, television gained prominence, growing the popularity of culture sharply. Television, the audio-visual electronic device made it possible for the promotion of culture. With the advent of television, cultures that were known to specific parts of UK became popularised and seen by others elsewhere. This way, popular culture in UK started becoming more and nationalised and integrated. British popular culture became even more popularised with new trends and developments when inventions like video and music recording set in. With video recordings, it was possible to document popular cultures in the circles of drama, humour and even sports. Music recording also made the documentation of popular culture such as songs possible. Today, popular culture has grown to be global phenomenon. UK learns and adds to its culture as other nations also copy and learn from UK popular culture (Guins, R., and Cruz, O.Z., 2005). Aspects of British Popular Culture Donna (2011) categorises aspects of British culture into “imagery, sound and performance” (p.1). He goes on to argue that, in the face of conceptualized Western Hemisphere, popular culture is seen as “products of work carried on in two academic fields which are mass media studies and cultural studies” (p.3). Merging the forms of popular culture discussed by Donna, the NEO Network (2011) mentions among popular cultures, clubs, theatres, cinemas, housing, British humour, pop music, television, fashion and costumes, sports, festivals, food and manner. Undoubtedly, pop music, football, and costumes are worth singling out for discussion. This is because these three areas of popular culture have gained so much prominence over the years as far as British popular cultures are concerned. Commenting on British pop music, the LEO Network (2011) states that “pop music is an important part of British culture, not just as an expression of Englishness, but as an indicator of the multi-cultural nature of Britain today.” Pop music is the source of entertainment for British and other music lovers the world over. The pop music has been modified in different ways to suit the original music form of other cultures. British costume is another excellent part of British popular culture. With notable Irish national dress, Scottish national dress, welsh national and English national dress, the costume and fashion of Britain has become popular the world over and has actually come to be known as the official style of dressing and fashion code in most countries. On football, British Club side and national football teams are globally recognised as one of the most competitive and best. Football history has it that “the game of football generally flourished in England from around the 8th Century onwards” (Football Network, 2002). Around that time, football was not very common but “by 1175 an annual competition had been established in the capital and every Shrove Tuesday the game created huge interest and gained further popularity” (Football Network, 2002). Since then, football in the UK has gained a lot of prominence the world over. Effect in concept of lifestyle The effect of popular culture in the concept of lifestyle is a debatable among most English commentators. Whiles others hold it that indigenous popular culture plays a meritorious role in preserving the identity of the UK citizen through its application in everyday lifestyle, others argue that effects of aspects of popular such as pop music and theatre on the lifestyle of people are highly questionable. To such commentators who argue that the content of UK pop music and storyline of most movies have negative effects on especially the youth. In an argument on the effect of popular culture on lifestyle, Gillespie (1996) posits that there is a “seaming endless attempts to police popular culture.” In his argument, he points out that there should be conscious effect to monitor the trend of modern popular culture so that the youth will not learn bad morals and lifestyle such as violence, robbery, sexual immorality and ‘gangsterism’ from what should otherwise have been source of entertainment and fun. Effect in consumerism and economy When talking about the effect of popular culture on consumerism and economy, most commentators, seem to have a consensus for the fact hat popular culture has impacted positively on the economy of the United Kingdom. The obsession for music, movies, theatre, television, soccer and fashion is the source of profit for most UK citizens. With show business (showbiz) and football leading the park of income earners of popular culture in the UK, UK Showbiz Magazine (2010) states that over a million people benefit directly or indirectly from showbiz in the UK. Pop music has lived to see the rising of so many stars who are acclaimed the world over. The works of these people generate income for the economy as most of these stars have huge following. Through the buying and selling of records, through sponsorship deals and through organised shows, thousands of pounds are raised for the development of UK. Showbiz in UK is also a source of foreign exchange earner as most UK showbiz stars such as musicians and movie makers are known internationally and trade as such. Apart from commercialisation of UK music and movie industry, UK welcomes several employees in the field of showbiz who come to the UK to establish themselves. Taxes paid by such people in showbiz goes a long way to help in the economic growth of UK. Football is another huge area of economic benefit to the UK. UK prides itself of some of the world’s largest football clubs. Names of football clubs that commonly come up when talking of size and following include Manchester United, Chelsea FC, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City. These and most other football clubs in the UK are worth millions of pounds. The Premier League Guide (2011) quotes the annual salary paid to some players to be as high as ?13 million. With such incomes, there is surely a chunk of taxes going to aid in the growth of the UK economy. Week in and out, the Sports Council makes thousands of pounds through the hosting of Premier League matches. As far as consumerism is concerned, the Football Economy (2011) reports that “Fans in the UK spend the most on official football fan merchandise (€58) of the ten countries investigated in the latest Sport + Market report on football merchandising.” In this direction, companies who go into the making of football merchandise gain huge incomes, taxes of which are paid to the UK government. It is therefore surprising to note that most of the money that go into football development in the UK are generated from football (Football Economy, 2011). This means that as long as the culture of football grows in the UK, UK will continue to experience rapid economic growth. Effect in politics Popular culture influences politics in several ways. In the first place, making of laws are done in such a way that accepted trend of lifestyle emanating from popular culture is not infringed upon. This is to say that the practice of culture has become part of the basic civil and human right of people (Amamiampong, 2007). In this direction, legislators are guided in the making of law by the prevailing cultural environment. For instance laws on the importation of certain kinds of clothes that is generally accepted by the current prevailing culture would be extremely difficult to ban by legislators even if it is found that the economic value of the importation does not benefit the country. This way, the government and legislators are forced to find means of making things work, rather than entrusting compliance from the populace. Secondly, the trend of political rule is somehow affected by popular culture. In modern politics, more and more people look into what they get from the ideologies and concepts of political parties. This means that people who are closely attached to the love and practice of popular culture such as showbiz and sports would look at the level of a political party’s concern for that area of culture. That way, people vote for political parties who can champion the course of their desire. This however could be threatening to the politics of UK as there should be more issues going into the decision of who should lead UK other than popular culture. Conclusion There is no denying fact that culture plays important role in the development of UK. There are however pitfalls as revealed in the report. In conclusion, the areas of popular culture that may be seen to be imparting negatively on the youth and younger generation must be debated at the highest political points in the country. This is very important as the youth holds the future of UK. If certain aspects of popular culture identified as disadvantaging are not cut, there would be the long term effect such as moral decadence, corruption, violence and robbery as part of popular culture such as music and movie portray these. Regarding other aspects of popular culture that have become breadwinners for the populace and those that help in promoting the integrity and development of UK in the eyes of international community, such aspects of popular culture should be made to stay and developed. There could be the rapid development of popular culture by integrating most aspects of UK culture into educational curriculum so that citizens and foreigners alike can go to schools of higher learning to learn popular culture. Once it goes through the educational system, the practice of popular culture will be given a scholarly touch, which will help in enhancing it for the betterment of UK. REFERENCE LIST Amamiampong F. 2007, Culture and Politics, Golden Publications, Birmingham: UK Donna E. Alvermann in M. L. Kamil, P. D. Pearson, E. B. Moje, & P. P. Afflerbach (Eds.). (2011). Handbook of Reading Research: Volume IV, pp. 541-560. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. Football Economy 2011, Football Finance < http://www.footballeconomy.com/category/article-taxonomy/football-finance> Football Economy 2011, UK fans spend most on merchandise, accessed March 26, 2011 Football Network 2002, History of English Football (8th - 18th century), accessed March 28, 2011 Gillespie N 1996, View masters - the debate over effects of pop culture such as TV, accessed March 25, 2011 Guins, R., and Cruz, O.Z.(2005).Popular Culture. London: SAGE Publications Ltd Karwowski M, 2002, fifty years of British Popular Culture, accessed March 23, 2011 LEO Network, 2011, British Culture, Customs and Traditions, accessed March 22, 2011 LEO Network, 2011, British Pop Music, accessed March 24, 2011 Meyer J, 2008, British Popular Culture and the First World War, accessed March 24, 2011 Premier League Guide, 2011, Ten Highest Earners in the Premier League, accessed March 28, 2011 Read More