What is Pop Culture?| Article by Dr. Jennifer Swartz-Levine

What exactly is pop culture and what is the value in studying it? Is it studio tentpole films, such as the DC and Marvel superhero movie franchises? The juggernaut Disney Plus, home of The Mandolorian and WandaVision? The smash rap musical Hamilton? Your collection of vinyl or comics? How about visual art by artists like Basquiat or Haring? What about social media and memes and gifs?

It’s all of that and much more.

Pop culture, simply put, is the collection of practices that engage us as a larger society, a touchstone that lets us have a common set of experiences; it’s a way of seeing and being that lets us communicate our thoughts and values as depicted by the media we create and consume. And it is a subject of serious study, as thousands of scholars gather annually at the Popular Culture Association (PCA). A local connection to the PCA: Dr. David MoodyDr. David Moody, Assistant Professor of Communication at LEC, is a long-serving member of PCA and is currently the Board Chair. Appreciating the importance of this field, LEC recently launched a minor in Pop Culture Studiesrecently launched a minor in Pop Culture Studies. Being able to critically assess how shared cultural values are formed and communicated makes us more thoughtful and critical consumers of various kinds of texts, from movies to tweets, to political ads.

Moreover, this new minor pairs wonderfully with any of our major degrees of study and benefits students as they seek employment after graduation. Having a grounding in popular culture allows graduates to understand local, national and global issues from a variety of perspectives, which enhances communication and critical thinking skills. Imagine being a Finance major who demystifies the stock market for a client after watching The Big Short. An Environmental Science major who finds a job at the EPA might use examples from WALL-E or The Swamp Thing comic to discuss global warming at a community meeting. A music teacher might explain the connection between classical and contemporary music by introducing pieces performed by Lizzo or Lady Gaga.

Elements of pop culture are always trying to convince us of an argument of some kind — buy this product, vote for that candidate, believe this news story — and being aware of the assumptions and arguments embedded in those pitches makes us critically ponder the images, media and stories that we consume.

Beyond the immediate value of enhancing the soft skills in communication, empathy and critical thinking that employers value, studying pop culture also enables us as a larger society to work through thorny cultural issues in a relatively safe space.

Think about The Twilight Zone: the television show dealt with issues of racism, xenophobia, fascism and totalitarianism, but rarely used those words, even as the subtext to the viewer was quite apparent. Moreover, consider the historical backdrop: the original run of The Twilight Zone was from 1959-1964. During that time, Castro came to power, the first US space flight launched, the Berlin Wall began construction, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, Kennedy was assassinated and the Civil Rights Act became law. Much of that was covered in episodes of The Twilight Zone, but also we see these historical incidents depicted in movies like The Right Stuff, Hidden Figures, Bridge of Spies, Che, JFK and Selma. Those films are a reaction to — and an invitation to discuss — larger cultural questions and anxieties that are filtered through the lens of popular culture. Want to hear more?

Keep an eye out for my Zoom presentation on women, gender and comics coming soon. Until then, to channel the late Stan Lee, “Excelsior!”