Visual Arts and Film Studies - Essay Example

Visual Arts and Film Studies Culture is largely shared although all cultures encompass divisive, as well as forces that assemble different elements to create a culture. People are divided by residence in different countries and membership in varying groups (Blatanis 19). Countries though united by the government, are often divided by religion, political parties, ethnicity and class. Unifying forces in different cultures include trade, belief in common descent and marriage. In any society, common cultural traditions also provide a basis for uniformity. This paper will examine three unifying elements of American popular culture, describing how these elements reflect concerns, interests and ideas in present-day America. One of the most significant elements of American popular culture is communication. Communication refers to the process of circular interaction, which involves a receiver, sender and message. Since Americans are intelligent and symbol making people, the messages may be conveyed either verbally or non-verbally through the use of words, either written or oral, graphs, signs, gestures, pictures, statistics and signs. Americans are versatile communicators and the contemporary American popular culture upholds the need for communication in the conveyance of ideas, views and interests. The capacity of humans to communicate changed from smoke signals to sound of drums to the Internet and TV. As dynamic beings, Americans constantly invent innovative and enhanced ways of communication in line with changing times and desires. Despite the communication symbol utilized in modern American society, a receiver and sender are often involved. Current-day Americans have dissimilar needs from those of ancient times (Storey 161). The means of communication used by Americans today reflect these differing needs. At present, Americans primary use the Internet to communicate. Technology presents a practical application of science to both industry and commerce. The cell phone is currently one of the most popular modern pieces of technology used by Americans for communication purposes. The cell phone helps with the spread of contemporary American popular culture. The invention is a form of wireless communication device, which is quite familiar to American mobile phone users. Cell phones allow communication between distant individuals thereby presents a viable tool for spreading contemporary American popular culture. Another popular element of contemporary American popular culture is football. Although football is only a game, it is presently a popular American spectator sport. For instance, on fall Saturdays, millions of people travel to and from famous college football games. Other congregations also meet in high school stadia while millions of people watch televised football. Notably, almost half of the adult population in the US watches the Super Bowl. Since football is of immense interest to Americans, it plays a significant role as a unifying cultural institution, which demands attention (Storey 116). America’s most popular sport manages to attract fans from different political, ethnic and social backgrounds and genders. The popularity of football, specifically professional football, depends precisely on the mass media, particularly TV. Football is peculiarly an American pastime despite its inherent violent nature. However, football is not popular among Americans on account of its violent nature. Notably, if football were an effective vehicle for the expression of aggression, it would have spread, like other sports, to other countries where people have similar aggressive tendencies as Americans. If the popularity of football centered primarily on a blood thirsty temperament, other bloodier sports such as boxing would be America’s national pastime. The explanation of football’s popularity in the US lies in its symbolism of various key characteristics of American life (Hassabian 82). Particularly, football is characterized by teamwork, which centers on specialization, as well as division of labor. This is a pervasive feature or modern American life. Americans primarily like football since it presents a simplified and miniaturized version of modern companies. People often have trouble appreciating organizational bureaucracies; however, football helps Americans recognize how resolutions are made, as well as rewards allocated in organizations. The values of football, specifically teamwork, can be linked with business tendencies. Similar to corporate workers, ideal football players, are dedicated and diligent to the team. In corporations, decision making is quite complex, and workers do not always receive rewards for their dedication and proper performance. However, in football, decision making is straightforward and rewards are quite consistent, and this explains the popularity of football. Furthermore, football suggests that values upheld by business do pay off since teams that work the hardest and show the most spirit win more medals than other teams. Lastly, Star Trek is a familiar, enduring and powerful element of American popular culture, which demonstrates the idea that popular media content derives from prominent values articulated in other cultural domains. Americans’ initial encounter with the Starship Enterprise was in 1966 on NBC where Star Trek aired for three seasons. The series thrives today through reruns, books, cassettes, theatrical films and syndication (Blatanis 61). Star Trek was revived as a regular weekly TV series under the name Star Trek: The Next Generation to become the third most popular syndicated program in the US. The enduring popularity of Star Trek demonstrates a transformation concerning the fundamental American origin myth. The same myth comes to light in the celebration of Thanksgiving, a peculiarly American holiday. Thanksgiving portrays the myths of the past while Star Trek sets the American origin myth in the future. Myths of contemporary American draw from numerous sources such as popular-culture fantasies such as The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars and Star Trek. American myths include real people, especially national ancestors who lives are endowed with exceptional men throughout generations. Present-day Americans constantly reinterpret the origin, meaning and nature of past, historic and real events. Star Trek places the myth of American assimilation in the future. Assimilation, in this sense, consists of ideas such as America as an incorporating and melting-pot society. The myth notes that while America is distinctive not only because it is assimilationist but also because it centers on diversity and unity. Star Trek illustrates the idea that unity through diversity is vital for survival, whether of harsh winters or dangers of outer space. Americans thrive by sharing the benefits of specialization and Star Trek affirms that the sacred principles, which validate American society lie at its foundation and will endure for generations and centuries to come (Hassabian 91). One of Star Trek’s most astounding messages is that strangers; even enemies can also become close friends. This message demonstrates cultural imperialism, which assumes the irresistibility of American institutions and culture. Works Cited Blatanis, Konstantinos. Popular Culture Icons in Contemporary American Drama. New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2003. Print. Hassabian, Anahid. "Popular", Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 1999. Print. Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. New York: Pearson Education, 2006. Print. Read More