Pop Culture

Popular culture (commonly known as pop culture) is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the late 20th and early 21st century. Heavily influenced by mass media, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of the society. By contrast, folklore refers to the cultural mainstream of more local or pre-industrial societies.

Popular culture is often viewed as being trivial and dumbed-down in order to find consensual acceptance throughout the mainstream. As a result, it comes under heavy criticism from various non-mainstream sources (most notably religious groups and countercultural groups) which deem it superficial, consumerist, sensationalist, and corrupted.

The term "popular culture" itself is of 19th century coinage, in original usage referring to the education and "culturedness" of the lower classes The term began to assume the meaning of a culture of the lower classes separate from and opposed to "true education" towards the end of the century, a usage that became established by the interbellum period. The current meaning of the term, culture for mass consumption, especially originating in the United States, is established by the end of World War II. The abbreviated form "pop culture" dates to the 1960s.

 Definition.

Defining 'popular' and 'culture', which are essentially contested concepts, is complicated with multiple competing definitions of popular culture. John Storey, in Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, discusses six definitions. The quantitative definition of culture has the problem that much "high culture" (e.g. television dramatizations of Jane Austen) is widely favoured. "Pop culture" is also defined as the culture that is "left over" when we have decided what high culture is. However, many works straddle or cross the boundaries, e.g. Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. Storey draws attention to the forces and relations which sustain this difference such as the educational system.

A third definition equates pop culture with Mass Culture. This is seen as a commercial culture, mass produced for mass consumption. From a Western European perspective, this may be compared to American culture. Alternatively, "pop culture" can be defined as an "authentic" culture of the people, but this can be problematic because there are many ways of defining the "people." Storey argues that there is a political dimension to popular culture; neo-Gramscian hegemony theory "... sees popular culture as a site of struggle between the 'resistance' of subordinate groups in society and the forces of 'incorporation' operating in the interests of dominant groups in society." A postmodernism approach to popular culture would "no longer recognize the distinction between high and popular culture'

Storey emphasizes that popular culture emerges from the urbanization of the industrial revolution, which identifies the term with the usual definitions of 'mass culture'. Studies of Shakespeare (by Weimann, Barber or Bristol, for example) locate much of the characteristic vitality of his drama in its participation in Renaissance popular culture, while contemporary practitioners like Dario Fo and John McGrath use popular culture in its Gramscian sense that includes ancient folk traditions (the commedia dell'arte for example).

Popular culture changes constantly and occurs uniquely in place and time. It forms currents and eddies, and represents a complex of mutually-interdependent perspectives and values that influence society and its institutions in various ways. For example, certain currents of pop culture may originate from, (or diverge into) a subculture, representing perspectives with which the mainstream popular culture has only limited familiarity. Items of popular culture most typically appeal to a broad spectrum of the public.

In Popular Culture.

Owing to the pervasive and increasingly interconnected nature of popular culture, especially its intermingling of complementary distribution sources, some cultural anthropologists literary and cultural critics have identified a large amount of intertextuality in popular culture's portrayals of itself. One commentator has suggested this self-referentiality reflects the advancing encroachment of popular culture into every realm of collective experience. "Instead of referring to the real world, much media output devotes itself to referring to other images, other narratives; self-referentiality is all-embracing, although it is rarely taken account of. Furthermore, the commentary on the intertextuality and its self referential nature has itself become the subject of self referential and recursive commentary. 'In Popular Culture' of this page was referenced by xkcd, relating to this article.
Many cultural critics have dismissed this as merely a symptom or side-effect of mass consumerism; however, alternate explanations and critique have also been offered. One critic asserts that it reflects a fundamental paradox: the increase in technological and cultural sophistication, combined with an increase in superficiality and dehumanization.
According to television studies scholars specializing in quality television, such as Kristin Thompson, self-referentiality in mainstream American television (especially comedy) reflects and exemplifies the type of progression characterized previously. Thompson argues shows such as The Simpsons use a "...flurry of cultural references, intentionally inconsistent characterization, and considerable self-reflexivity about television conventions and the status of the programme as a television show." Extreme examples approach a kind of thematic infinite regress wherein distinctions between art and life, commerce and critique, ridicule and homage become intractably blurred.
Long-running television series The Simpsons routinely alludes to mainstream media properties, as well as the commercial content of the show itself. In one episode, Bart complains about the crass commercialism of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while watching television. When he turns his head away from the television, he is shown floating by as an oversized inflatable balloon. The show also invokes liberal reference to contemporary issues as depicted in the mainstream, and often merges such references with unconventional and even esoteric associations to classical and postmodernist works of literature, entertainment and art.

Author's Note

I just want to remind all readers of this blog if the contents of this blog is random and not themed, according to the description of the blog that I've written above.
My previous posts are basically something related to my interests (and something related to Jakarta, Indonesia.)

Thank you :)

Disney On Ice 2010: Disneyland Adventure

From April 10-18 Feld Entertainment and Big Daddy Production held an event in Istora Senayan, and I totally forgot to post this one! I watched it with my little sister. Yes, it's Disney On Ice!

This year Disney On Ice titled "Disneyland Adventure".

Yeah, just like the title the story-line took place in Disneyland (but much more smaller and on ice).

The show opened with all the skaters and our favorite main characters Mickey Mouse (no, not Micky Yoochun..), Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto dancing around in Disneyland Main Street and greets the audience.

Then they took us to explore Disneyland, starting from the Jungle Cruise where we swing to the beat with Baloo (the bear) and the dancing 'monkeys'. Then, we took off to Tiki Room and going rock 'n roll with Stitch and his red guitar.

On Space Mountain we have a blast with Buzz Lightyear and Donald Duck (Buzz did so much jump-and-rolling-on-air). After so much "To Infinity and Beyond" Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto took a ride on train. (I don't really pay attention to this one, sorry)

Then Mickey and Minnie took us to the Haunted Mansion. I like this part, when everything is dark and the 'ghosts' dancer doing some ball-room dance.

After (the cool) Haunted Mansion, we then take a wild spin on the Mad Tea Party with Alice and Mad Hatter.

And suddenly the spinning tea cups ride are taken backstage and replaced with the appearance of Chip and Dale, Snow White (without her seven dwarfs), Hansel and Gretel, and then Cinderella with her elegant carriage (and all her cute little fangirls are squealing like crazy) and Prince Charming.

The real adventure begins when Maleficent turns Minnie and Donald into her two sleeping beauties and takes over the ice.

Then The Incredibles shows up to help Mickey save the day.

The thing I remembered the most after watching this show is the shaved ice with syrup on it. Why?

Because it's expensive! It cost above 100.000 rupiahs each one. And because my little sister wants the ice in a Stitch shaped mug, I must pay 225.000 rupiahs! aaaaaah my moneey! ::cries:: (I can buy a SHINee 2009 Year Of Us CD with that.. *sigh*)

The K Waves

I believe we all have known the term 'pop-culture' for long time

I just realized that nowadays Korean pop-culture (Korean Waves or Hallyu*) are spreading in high-speed here in Indonesia. Korean dramas, musics, TV Shows (for those who are using cable TV)... we can see it almost everywhere!

So... since the wave is happening once again, I want to share a bit about it.

If we talked about Korean Waves, the first thing that popped in mind is K-Pop or dramas.

You don't know what K-Pop is? K-pop is an abbreviation for Korean pop music (also referred to as Kayo or Gayo music), specifically from South Korea. Many of these artists and musical groups have branched out of South Korea and have become popular in many countries around the world. The popularity of K-pop is often considered a part of the rise of the Korean Wave, the recent surge of popularity of contemporary South Korean culture in Asia.

Current Style

K-pop is similar to American pop music, with R&B, dance, and hip-hop being very popular genres in the 2000s. However, unlike American pop music, which had most of its boy bands and girl groups either break up or informally disband, bubblegum pop is still very popular in South Korea. Groups such as TVXQ, Super Junior, Wonder Girls, and Big Bang continue to be top sellers in K-pop, and artists like Ahyoomee and LPG have released novelty songs, to varying degrees of success. However, the 2000s has seen the rise of R&B vocal groups, such as SG Wannabe, Davichi and SeeYa having success with their albums. Ballads are also very popular, as 2006 has seen the release of ballad singles by non-ballad artists, including Shinhwa and Baek Ji Young. In addition, trot music has made a comeback in mainstream K-pop as well, mostly due to the success of Jang Yoon Jung and Park Hyun Bin. The year 2007 was marked with the release of numerous girl and boy bands, though only a few managed to top the charts. Despite new bands debuting, physical sales for CDs have become increasingly low, due to the stagnation of the K-pop industry. The highest selling album of 2007 did not even reach the 200,000 mark with only 190,998 copies sold.

The beginning of 2008 saw the rise of electronica dominance in the K-pop scene, influenced by the release of Big Bang's mini-album Always, which heavily featured the genre. Other artists also followed the trend, such as Jewelry for their song "One More Time" and Brown Eyed Girls for "L.O.V.E." Even artists that release music in other genres have released electronica-influenced albums to suit the current trends, including Epik High, Gummy, Clazziquai, and Lee Seung-cheol.

(*) Hallyu (Hangul: 한류; Hanja: 韓流), from the Korean pronunciation = The Korean wave or Korea fever, refers to the significantly increased popularity of South Korean culture around the world since the 21st century, especially among the Net Generation.

South Korea is among the world's top ten cultural exporters and the Korean wave began with the export of Korean TV dramas such as Autumn Fairy Tale, Winter Sonata, Dae Jang Geum (Jewel in the Palace), and Princess Hours across East and Southeast Asia; the growing success of Korean dramas was soon matched by Korean movies, popular music, food and language.

While popular throughout Asia, the Korean wave's influence is most visible in China, Japan and Southeast Asia, spreading to India and Pakistan, the Middle East, Central Asia, Iran, Israel, Turkey and Russia. The Korean wave is rapidly expanding beyond Asia through the internet and has a substantial presence in North, Central and South America, particularly in Chile, Peru, Mexico and Argentina, and is increasingly becoming popular in the United States and Canada. It is also gaining momentum in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, led by Hungary, Czech Republic and Norway. It is gathering positive interest in North Africa, attracting a sizable niche audience in Egypt. Currently, the Korean wave is starting to hit the United Kingdom, France, Spain, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia.

Harajuku

This is one of the many things that attracted me to Japan pop-culture. So for my next (random) post, it will be about Harajuku!

Harajuku (原宿 "meadow lodging") is the common name for the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan.

Every Sunday, young people dressed in a variety of styles including gothic lolita, visual kei, and decora, as well as cosplayers spend the day in Harajuku socializing. The fashion styles of these youths rarely conform to one particular style and are usually a mesh of many. Most young people gather on Jingu Bridge, which is a pedestrian bridge that connects Harajuku to the neighboring Meiji Shrine area.

Harajuku is also a fashion capital of the world renowned for unique street fashion. Harajuku street style is promoted in Japanese and international publications such as Kera, Tune, Gothic & Lolita Bible and Fruits. Many prominent designers and fashion ideas have sprung from Harajuku and incorporated themselves into other fashions throughout the world.

Harajuku is also a large shopping district that includes luxury international designers, Harajuku native designers, and affordable shops catering to youths.

Location

Harajuku is an area between Shinjuku and Shibuya. Local landmarks include the headquarters of NHK, Meiji Shrine, and Yoyogi Park.

The area has two main shopping streets, Omotesandō and Takeshita Street (Takeshita-dōri). The latter caters to youth fashions and has many small stores selling Gothic Lolita, visual kei, rockabilly, hip-hop, and punk outfits, in addition to fast food outlets and so forth.

Omotesandō has recently seen a rise in openings of up-scale fashion shops such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Prada. The avenue is sometimes referred to as "Tokyo's Champs-Élysées". Until 2004, one side of the avenue was occupied by the Dōjunkai Aoyama apāto, Bauhaus-inspired apartments built in 1927 after the 1923 Kantō earthquake. In 2006 the buildings were controversially destroyed by Mori Building and replaced with the Omotesando Hills shopping mall, designed by Tadao Ando. The area known as "Ura-Hara", back streets of Harajuku, is a center of Japanese fashion for younger people — brands such as A Bathing Ape and Undercover have shops in the area.

Styles

The term "Harajuku Girls" has been used by English-language media to describe teenagers dressed in any fashion style who are in the area of Harajuku. This fashion infuses multiple looks and styles to create a unique form of dress. One of these styles, Kawaii, came to fame in the 1990’s. Kawaii became a popular phrase that meant something was cute or pretty. Kawaii was a form of resistance in that the style and culture associated with it were not seen as attractive by an older generation. This idea of Kawaii was a distinct youth culture separate from the traditional one in existence.

The cyber-punk look takes its influence from gothic fashion and incorporates neon and metallic colors. However, it isn't as popular as it was in the 1990s.

Lolita Fashion was created in Osaka. It is a play on Victorian era fashions and gothic fashions. Like Kawaii, Lolita also revolves around being cute and innocent. By wearing and promoting these styles performers allowed the fashions to flourish because fans were eager to replicate their idols.

Punk style in Harajuku is more of a fashion than a statement. Its fashion mainly consists of dark colors, plaid, chains, and zippers. Punk style is also one of the more gender-neutral fashions in Harajuku.

Ganguro is a style that symbolizes the average American teenager. The term translates to ‘black-faced’. The basic look is what Westerners would call a ‘California girl’, with bleached hair, dark skin, fake eyelashes and nails. No one really is sure how Ganguro came to be. Many assume it originated in the early 1990’s, when singer and performer Janet Jackson was popular.

Cosplay is more of a costume-based style. A cosplay enthusiast will usually dress as a fictional or iconic character from a band, game, movie, anime, or manga.

Ura-Hara is another section of Harajuku, which caters to a mostly male population interested in a hip-hop, graffiti, and skater fashion and culture. Ura-Hara is seen as the opposite of Harajuku in that it’s more hidden and reserved.

In addition to Harajuku is its counterpart, known as Visual Kei. this refers to the style of bands and their fanbase. The term Visual Kei literally means a ‘visual style of music’. The melodies of the music these bands perform often resemble eighties rock, heavy metal, or techno; in some cases, the sound is a good mix of the three. The fashion began in the 80’s, when American metal bands were popular. Japanese fans loved how their idols would dress frantically and paint makeup wildly on their faces, so they began to emulate their style. This mimicking is also known is costume play, or cosplay.

Impact

The Harajuku culture has spread throughout the globe, thanks to artists such as Gwen Stefani who emphasized the local styles on her album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., and has a backing dancer group known as the Harajuku Girls. Stefani also created a Harajuku-related fashion accessory brand known as Harajuku Lovers.

American hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj regularly refers to herself as "Harajuku Barbie".

Countries like Colombia have embraced this culture and arrange meetings under the same fashion as their Japanese counterpart, frequently held at the surrounding area of the Virgilio Barco Library in Bogota.