Current Pop Culture - Essay Example

The current pop culture exercises its control over the thought of the people by generating the aspect of “opinion” through mass media. That is to say it becomes an artistic expression of the people, thus creating solidarity, as Kidd (2007) explains (Fedorak 3). To enhance the role played by pop culture in the lives of the people, I would undertake the examples from television and film fraternity. The television series The Sex and the City and the film The Hunger Games, both adapted from the book series, not only explain the blatant influence created by the pop culture, but also cover the wide genre of pop culture, namely literature and technology, in order to generate a striking effect on the mass consumption.

The Sex and the City (1988-2004) is generally applauded for showing the prevalent theme of individualism and the society that rules our lives. It features single women as strong, honest, independent and happy, who are striving to find their individual identity in the facets of societal foundations. The show is regarded as a post feminist exploration of single women living in New York City. It is a show about women and their friendships, their sex lives and their experiences. It is perhaps because of the issues like identity, the relation between an individual and society, and the underlying theme of sexual sovereignty that The Sex and the City can be used as the foremost example in explaining the workings of the pop culture.

The protagonist Carrie Bradshaw is a sex columnist for the fictional paper The New York Star; it is through the lens of her columns that each episode is shaped. This characterization is quite important for the consumer. He meets an individual who is not only a strong, independent woman with a critical point of view, but also a sex columnist discussing sex lives of women, thus claiming sexual sovereignty. Her honesty and imperfection highlight the general thought of the public that make them identify with her.

Other female characters, Miranda, a cynical attorney, asserts her independence as a woman reconciling with her motherhood and her marriage; Charlotte, a hopeless romantic lives in a world of fairy tales but eventually realizes the stark distinction between fantasy and reality; and Samantha, the self-proclaimed sex- loving, hyper sexualized old woman dealing with her state of menopause, different yet embodiment of feminism, gives a glimpse of different shades of a modern woman. They are reflection of an era where women were exercising control over their lives without the male interference.

They highlight the concept of choice where an independent woman is free from the bounds of motherhood and marriage, where parents are never seen and the family mentioned is of female friendship, thus highlighting the notion of pop culture as an indicator of shared value. The Hunger Games (2012) is the most recent example of human identity being shaped by the interplay of media and individual choice in constructing personality. It showcases the tenuous division between reality and fabrication through a violent competition in which children and teens are