The Unique Aspects of Popular Culture - Essay Example

One of the unique aspects of popular culture is the fact that it encompasses so many different aspects of life. For instance, music, movies, fashion, politics, video games, YouTube videos, certain word combinations, jokes, news items, and a litany of other factors all contribute to what defines popular culture at any given moment. As a function of this understanding, this brief paper will seek to utilize the example of the recent war in Libya as portrayed in the news media of the United States as a personal reflection piece concentric upon popular culture and the interpretation thereof.

Although a groundswell of popular anti-war sentiment had gripped the nation during the recent war with Iraq, hardly any popular anger was expressed with regards to the intervention and subsequent air campaign which the United States participated in during the Libyan Civil war during the winter, spring, and summer of 2011. Although a groundswell of anti-war sentiment was not expressed, the factors regarding the legitimacy of such an action, ulterior motives, neo-colonialism, and access to markets/access to high-quality raw materials came to be seen by this writer as prime determinants for such an action. As is typical in situations in which propaganda is used to shift focus away from the prime reasons for such an action, the opinion of the mass media, represented in the United States, had been fed to the masses so effortlessly and so effectively within the recent past.

As a means to dredge support within an especially apathetic electorate, the US government and its accomplices within the media began to pitch Moamar Gaddafi as a megalomaniacal, sadistic dictator on par with Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong I, and a litany of others. However, the fact of the matter was much different. Though it was true that Gaddafi was a dictator of Libya, the truth of the matter is that his so-called “blood lust” was incomparable to that of the individuals with that he was being compared. In short, the fact of the matter was that although Gaddafi had come to power in a bloodless revolution that deposed a weak and ineffectual king, the level of the killings and repressions that took place within the country paled in comparison to every one of the neighboring North African countries Libya bordered. Further, as a means to gain support, a steady stream of personally slanderous propaganda was streamed via Western media. This focused upon the assertions that Gaddafi himself was a type of sex-craved maniac who regularly availed himself of his attaché of virginal female bodyguards. Common logic would of course preclude such behavior as one would be highly likely to force sexual intercourse on a female charged with guarding one’s safety at all hours; especially one armed with an automatic weapon.

Similarly, the stream of propaganda purported that large shipments of Viagra had been intercepted by Western powers destined for Libyan army units who were to be dosed with these drugs and then sent to pillage and rape the women of regions that had been disloyal to the leader. (Reuters 1) This was of course soon found to be a lie as well. The application of common medical logic would have precluded such a tale being spun in the first place because hard physical exertion, as would be expected in army units, while on Viagra will necessarily cause a great number of individuals to suffer from stroke and/or heart attack as a result. Again, this is yet another proof of poorly researched and shoddily crafted propaganda designed to dupe the uncurious observer into supporting an action half a world away that would ultimately have little if any impact on his/her daily life.

Although such a topic is not one of a particularly happy understanding, it nonetheless had a profound effect on this writer as a function of understanding the dynamics of how the world operates and the extent to which the popular media is willing and able to go in lockstep with whatever the current administration dictates. Read More