popular culture

• Commercialisation: The process of adding value to an idea, product or commodity with the aim of selling it and making a profit. Commercialisation is about preparing the item for sale and making money from it. The success of commercialisation often relies on marketing and advertising.
• Commodification: A social process by which an item is turned into a commodity in readiness to be traded. The process relies on marketing strategies with the aim of producing a perceived value in the item.
• Consumption: The process of selecting and using a product. Consumption involves a conscious decision to engage with a commodity.
• Ideology: An organised collection or body of ideas that reflects the beliefs, values and interests of a group, system, institution or nation. In general use, the term refers to the body of doctrine, myth and symbols held by the group that guides individual and group actions.
• Institutional power: The power that exists in institutions and how it is used to control aspects of society. Institutions such as the family, school, law and government use inherent power to control, change and maintain continuity of interactions.
• The emergence of popular culture is linked to:

  • post-modernism - post-WWII representing changing attitudes, behaviours and social movements - a direct result of modernisation
  • The emergence of capitalist as the dominant global economic system which promotes consumption ideology as one of the most important values in the 20th century
  • Coincides with the emergence of youth culture and therefore has the ability to globally construct and reflect identity
  • Is controlled and influenced by multinational corporations
• Commercial products

  • Enables more profit to be earned & serve as a method to further promote and advertise the popular culture they are associated with
  • Making or intended to make a profit (rather than artistics or other value as a primary aim)
  • Along with paraphernalia, TNCs align the commodification with an aspect of popular culture with a manufactured identity, which may become the stereotypical image for those who participate → promote a way of life and culture → ensure long-term consumers
• Paraphernalia: all the merchandise or products that create the popular culture

  • miscellaneous articles, especially the equipment needed for a particular activity, eg. drills, saw and other paraphernalia necessary for home improvements
• The increase of globalisation and developments of technologies → increased trade, migration, tourism between nations → spread of westernisation → materialism and individualism → rapid global acceptance of popular culture
• Significant roles in the spread of popular culture:

  Globalisation: Connections between countries, operation of multinational organisations

  Westernisation: The emergence of western culture as dominant in the global marketplace

  Technology: Technology changes the distribution channels for PC, esp. music, television, film
• widespread consumer access:

  • Needs to adapt to a variety of societies so it meets the needs of a global audience
  • E.g. advertising through trends specified to tenagers through trendy apps like TikTok
  • Visibility, affordability and accessibility - differentiates pop culture from high culture
  • Mythology perpetuates access: identification with the product/characters (e.g. james dean dying young, extending his rebellious persona)
  • Access has significantly improved due to greater availability to streaming services and cheaper products
• widespread consumer access:

  • Age/gender: social media may be difficult for older generations to access, stigma for males and older individuals to access teen films
  • Ethnicity: dubbing/subbing may not be available for foreign audiences
  • Urban vs rural areas - may not be able to access communication technologies as effectively
  • Technology - portability (TV vs phones)
  • Institutional power - influence of the government (film ratings, local content rules), censorship, restrictions
  • Socioeconomic status (status/wealth): may not be able to afford movie tickets/indulge in streaming
• local --> global

  Marketing, promotion and distribution by TNCs:

  • Internet and global technologies (streaming sites) accelerate local to global spread → Transnational corporations with subsidiary companies may alter products to suit local audiences and expedite global distribution
  • Globalisation, westernisation, and development of tech (cinema → TVs → VHS/DVD → iPad → phones)
• commodification:

  Post-Golden Age of Hollywood (1930s - 1960s): 

  • Breakdown of the studio system: studios were not permitted to own theatre chains and control BOTH the production and distribution → more competition → loss of a major source of revenue
  • The birth of the television → decline in attendance in cinemas

  In 1948, 1% of US households owned at least 1 TV; in 1955, 75% did

  ∴ film-makers we required to seek new sources of revenue
• commodification:

  Teenagers were picked due to:

  • Being an untapped demographic, having disposable income and a desire to get out of the family home
  • Films offered an opportunity to explore social freedom at a micro-level, whilst being exposed to teen behaviours at the macro level
  • Offered a new source of identity formation + car culture + drive in cinemas (freedom + social connections)
• The peak of teen films (1980s):

  • The arrival of multiplex cinemas from 1 or 2 screen complexes → 10+ screen complexes
  • Video store: a new opportunity for the access and consumption of teen films

  Currently (2020s)

  • Rise of streaming services → more diverse, less expensive products → more diversity of product → representation of LGBTQIA+ and culturally diverse characters, increasing the reach and consumption beyond typical norms

  Netflix had a revenue of $33.7 billion in 2023, a 7% increase from 2022
• Mythology: A set of stories or traditions that serves to support a worldview or is associated with a group or historical event. Myths may have arisen naturally from truth, or they may be fabricated or deliberately fostered to rationalise, support or explain ideas. Mythologies and their narratives provide a framework for societies to explain or support a belief or practice, or for commercial exploitation
• Heroes: the protagonist of a teen film who usually has a hero 'quest'. Assist in development of plot lines and engaging audiences, serve as social ideals.
• NATURE:

  • Breakdown of cultural borders (inclusion of subtitles) to enhance consumption across language barriers

  1950s: cinema

  1960s: the emergence of the television; challenges cinema

  • video home system (VHS; video rental services), Blockbuster videos MESO → greater diversity in consumption, more variety to pick from
  •  DVD

  INVENTION OF THE CAR: allows teenagers to have more independence, and freedom from their parents

  2010s: iPad and streaming services
• In 2017 72% of the population attended a cinema at least once, the highest percentage since 1974. Due to the disposable income of teenagers, the cinema is a common and accessible resource.