? i« l.
T H E STRAIGHT STORY
FIGURE 1.1:
The O rigin s of “SO S (Rescue M e )”
2006
1981
i k e g r e a t w o r k s o f a r t o r s c ie n t if ic p r o g r e s s , e v e n t h e m o s t
L
im aginative popular culture owes its reality to the hard-earned achieve­
m ents of the past. On M ay 13,2006, Barbados-born singer Rihanna scored
®
3 §t, tffi
her first No. 1 single on the Billboard U.S. pop ch art w ith the catchy dance hit
SOS (Rescue Me)
“ SO S (Rescue Me)." R ih an n a com pleted the song for D ef Ja m Recordings afte r
Performed by Rihanna
being signed by its then-president and CEO, rap per Jay-Z. The lead single off
Produced by Jonathan “JR ” Rotem
her sophom ore e ffort A Girl Like Me (2006), “ SO S.” w as produced by Jo n a th a n
“J. R.” Rotem , and its lyrics and music w ere w ritte n by Rotem and Evan “ K id d ”
Bogart.
Actually, th a t is not e n tirely accurate, since one o th er songw riter is also
cred ited w ith com posing the m usic for the single, sp ecifically its irresistible
Tainted Love/
W ritten by Rotem, Evan “Kidd”
Where Did Our Love Go?
Bogart, and Ed Cobb
Performed by Soft Cell
Produced by Mike Thorne
Written by Ed Cobb
bass line and drum beat. T h at songw riter is Ed Cobb, w ho w ro te “ Tainted Love,”
a song released in the 1980s by the British new w a v e duo Soft Cell, from w hich
R ih a n n a and her producers liberally sam ple as background rh yth m for th e ir
1976
recording of “ SOS.” A one-hit w onder, S o ft Cell’s “ Tainted Love” slow ly climbed
th e Billb oard U.S. H ot 100 singles ch a rt in 1981 to No. 8, and before the duo
exited into oblivion the song m anaged to spend w h a t w as at the tim e a recordbreaking 43 w eeks on the pop charts, alm ost a year. Like other 1980s British
invasion a rtists (Depeche Mode, th e H um an League, Jo e Jackson, the Cure),
S o ft Cell incorporated depressing song lyrics of unrequited love w ith post-punk
im provisation and synthesized sound effects. In th eir dance rem ix o f "Tainted
Love,” So ft Cell accom plished all three by integrating the signature tra c k w ith
a second song, “ W h e re Did O ur Love G o ? ” w ith vocals accom panied only by a
sparse synth-pop bass line and beat.
Rihanna pays hom age to “ Tainted Love” w hen she sings “ You got me tossin’ and tu rn in ’ and I can’t sleep at night,” the one “ S O S ” lyric borrow ed from
Tainted Love
Performed by Gloria Jones and
M arc Bolan
Produced by M arc Bolan
1964
Written by Ed Cobb
the 1980s classic. O f course, S o ft Cell can’t really take credit for the line either,
since the northern soul and rhythm-and-blues (R & B ) singer Gloria Jones actually
perform ed the original version o f Ed Cobb’s “ Tainted Lo ve ” in 1964, and later
1964
rerecorded it in the mid-1970s w ith her husband M arc Bolan o f the English rock
band T. Rex. In fact, “ W h e re Did Our Love G o ?” is also a cover, also recorded in
1964, by the all-female M otow n group the Suprem es. W ith its lead vocals sung
Where Did Our Love Go?
by Diana Ross, “ W h e re Did Our Love G o ? ” w as the first o f tw elve No. 1 songs
recorded by the Suprem es; th e ir other top-charting hits include “ Bab y Love,”
Performed by the 5upremes
“ You Can’t H u rry Love,” “ Stop! In the Nam e o f Love,” and "You Keep Me H ang­
W ritten by Lamont Dozier, Brian
ing On,” the last o f w hich R ihanna also pays homage to in “ S O S ” : “ I’m out w ith
Holland, and Edward Holland,
you / Y a got me head over heels / Boy you keep m e hanging on / B y the w a y you
m ake me feel.”
W h a t does this discography tell us about popular culture? Perhaps the clearest
lesson to be gleaned is th at pop music, like Greek tragedy and Elizabethan drama,
Tainted Love
Performed by Gloria Jones
W ritten by Ed Cobb
Jr.
5
6
WH AT M A K E S P O P C U L T U R E P O P U L A R ?
C H A P T E R 1 : T H E STRAIGHT STORY
can transcend its historical m om ent to enjoy endless cycles o f rediscovery and
pop cultural styles like Afro-Cuban jazz, Turkish hip-hop, Bhangra dance music,
reinvention (Grisw old 1986), ju st as “ Tainted Love” began as a 1960s northern
and Bollyw ood film shaped by the local and regional settings in w hich th e y are
soul song, and found new life as an 1980s synth-pop classic, which tw o decades
tran sp lan ted ? These questions all point to the cen trality of social relationships
later w ould be sampled for inclusion on a 2006 R & B dance hit. (And lest readers
in the creation, consum ption, and experience o f popular culture.
forget, in 2001 Marilyn Manson released his own alternative heavy-metal version
of “ Tainted Love” for inclusion on the N ot Another Teen Movie film soundtrack,
What M akes Pop Culture Popular?
and the Pussycat Dolls included th eir own version on th e ir debut album, PCD.)
In com m on parlance, popular culture refers to the aesthetic products created
The creators of popular culture
and sold by profit-seeking firm s operating in the global entertainm ent m arket—
re ly on an endless re p o s ito ry
horror movies, reality television, dance music, fashion magazines, graphic novels,
of p a s t w o rk to in fo rm th e ir
lite ra ry fiction, rem ote-controlled toys, fast-food ham burgers, online video
T A B L E 1.1
D efinitions of Pop u lar Culture
Definition
Example
developm ent of new and future
games. But understanding popular culture sociologically first requires th a t w e
Culture that is “popular" is well liked,
Films such as Star Wars or
p ro je c ts , fro m pop singles to
define exactly w h a t w e m ean by these tw o w ords o f subtle complexity, popular
best demonstrated in a market economy
In diana Jones and the King-
a n im ated cartoon s to fe a tu re
and culture. Let us begin at the beginning: W h a t does it m ean for pop culture to
through commercial success.
dom o f the Crystal Skull
films. In such cases the first step
be popular? It sounds simple, but in fact the w ord popular carries several distinct
to ach ie vin g success as a c u l­
(and at tim es co n trad icto ry) connotations. First, and perhaps m ost obviously,
Popular culture refers to icons or media
Paris Hilton or Princess
products that are well known the world
Diana
over.
tural producer is to be a s a v v y
(1) culture th a t is “ popular” is well liked, and in a m ark et econom y th a t popu­
consum er o f m ass m ed ia and
la rity is often best dem onstrated through com m ercial success as m easured by
popular culture.
Popular culture refers to commercial
Commercial pop stars who
media considered mass cu/ture—trivial,
target teen audiences, such
tacky, and pitched to the lowest common
as “boy bands" or Am erican
denominator for general consumption.
Id o l singers
Popular culture refers to culture
Recording artists who
Nielsen ratings, video rentals, album sales, or box-office revenue. In 2008, the
Moreover, the 42-year (and
top-grossing films included The Dark Knight, Iron M an, The Chronicles ofN arnia:
c o u n tin g ) h is to ry of “ T ain te d
Prince Caspian, and In d ia n a Jones and the Kingdom o f the Crystal Skull. T h at
L o v e ” sp o tlig h ts a n u m b er o f
last film took in $150 million in U.S. box-office receipts in its first four days of
cultural producers whose com ­
release and starred the m ost successful film actor in the world, Harrison Ford,
w ho typ ically earns $25 million per film in addition to a share of th e ir profits.
considered to belong to the people under
create music that speaks to
bined e ffo rts carried this song
the guise of democratic populism and
the experiences of ordinary
through its num erous in ca rn a ­
H aving starred in recurring roles as Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Ja c k R yan in
authenticity.
working-class people
tions (see fig. 1.1). Popular cul­
som e o f the biggest film franchises of all tim e, his m ovies have grossed nearly
tu re is n e ve r the p rod uct o f a
$6 billion w orldw ide. O ther popular A-list actors w ho earn over $20 million per
s o lita ry a rtis t but a lw a y s em erges fro m the collective a c tiv ity g enerated by
film include Tom Cruise, Jo h n n y Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Reese
interlocking netw orks of cultural creators. O f course, this is not to suggest th a t
W ith e rsp o o n , A n gelina Jolie, C am eron Diaz, A d am Sandler, W ill Sm ith , and
Rihanna would not have recorded “ S O S” at all, if not for these m any participants—
Denzel W ashington.
only th a t w ith o u t th eir cum ulative input and influence, her song w ould have
sounded different from the w a y it cu rren tly does (Beck er 1982).
All this highlights the m ajor argum ent o f this book: popular culture is pro­
O f course, not all popular culture succeeds commercially, and much of it isn’t
particularly well liked by anyone, especially annoying T V advertisem ents or wellknow n celebrities w ho seem to be fam ous for, well, simply being fam ous despite
duced, consumed, and experienced within a context o f overlapping sets o f social
an obvious lack of ta le n t or achievem ent (or som etim es because of th a t lack of
relationships. Som e of those relationships are forged out of a spirit of m usician­
talent, as in the case o f the w eird 2004 novelty success o f tone-deaf Am erican
ship and ca m arad erie, as illu strated by the tw o m em bers o f Soft Cell. M an y
Idol contestant W illia m Hung). In this sense, (2) popular culture refers to icons
m ore are contractual relationships betw een artists and business firm s built out
or m edia products th a t are globally ubiquitous and easily recognized (if perhaps
of econom ic convenience, like the relationship betw een Rihanna and D ef Ja m
disliked or mocked) the world over (Gam son 1994; Gabler 2000). The m ost clari­
Recordings, or betw een Def Ja m and its parent com pany Universal Music Group.
fying examples come from the diamond-encrusted w orld of high society, and in
Still others represent the close bonds betw een cultural creators and their audi­
our contem porary culture, Exhibit A is hotel heiress Paris Hilton. W h ile her fam e
ences, or am ong the m em bers o f a social group w ho m aintain a shared sense
seems quite strange, her celebrity is actually modeled after sim ilarly ostentatious
o f identity, w h e th e r on the basis o f class, race, nationality, religiosity, gender,
w om en of w ealth from earlier generations, including serial divorcees Zsa Zsa
or sexuality. This opens up a range of interesting questions: how are pop music
Gabor and Ivana Trump. O f course, there are certainly m ore likable exemplars,
genres such as rap, rh yth m and blues, country, and h e avy m etal socially orga­
as illustrated by the w aves of loss felt worldwide after the w idely reported deaths
nized by industry personnel and audiences on the basis of social status? H ow do
of John F. Kennedy, Jr. (born just after his father won the Am erican presidency in
existing copyright laws im pact the distribution o f digital m edia? H ow are global
Novem ber 1960), and Princess Diana, the form er w ife of Prince Charles of W ales.
7
s
C H A P T E R 1: T H E STRAIGHT STORY
DEF INI NG C U L T U R E
Today, D iana’s sons, W illia m and H arry, represent the kind (if not degree) of
Be eth o ve n ’s Fifth Sym p hony and Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. As fo r
celebrity enjoyed by th eir beloved late mother.
culture’s function, it is not m erely one of entertainm ent, but “ intellectual, spiritual
However, despite the differences betw een Paris Hilton and the m em bers of
and aesthetic developm ent” ; in other words, the purpose o f culture is nothing
the British royal family, m any critics see these icons as tw o sides of the same coin
less than the cultivation of the mind as a path tow ard g reater enlightenm ent
of m ainstream mass culture. According to their w orldview , (3) popular culture
and epicurean pleasure. It is only through experiencing culture as such th a t an
refers to com m ercial m edia thought to be trivial, tacky, and pitched to the lo w ­
individual— and by extension, an entire hum an society— can tru ly come to be
est com m on denom inator as mass culture intended fo r general consum ption,
thought of as “civilized.”
like canned soup or chew ing gum (M acD onald 1957). In this context, popular
This hum anist vision of culture suggests a high-minded and perhaps in a c­
cu ltu re— Kid Rock, Chicken McNuggets, Am erica's Funniest Home Videos— is
cessible w orld of challenging ideas com m unicated through com plicated texts.
un favo rab ly com pared to the fine arts as represented by Italian opera, French
In co n trast, in the social sciences, culture refe rs to “ a p a rtic u la r w a y o f life,
nouvelle cuisine, and cinema verite. In these instances, the populations implicated
w h eth e r of a people, a period, a group, or h u m an ity in general” (W illiam s 1983,
by the use of pop culture as a pejorative label tend to be socially marginalized by
p. 90). To the sociologist (or anthropologist, psychologist, econom ist, political
class, race, and often age— hence the critical panning of melodramatic “ pop” stars
scientist, or com m unication scholar, for th a t m atte r), culture refers to a m ode
w ho ta rg et preadolescent and teenage audiences such as boy bands, A m erican
o f living in the w orld as a social being, as represented by the practices, rituals,
Idol w inners, and the cast of High School Musical. Of course, mass culture also
behaviors, a ctivities, and a rtifa cts th a t m ake up th e experience o f e ve ry d a y
has its m any defenders, including those w ho argue fo r its intellectual com plex­
life. For example, culture can re fe r to the styles of cooking and eating enjoyed
ity and depth, increasing inn ovativeness and social relevance, kitschy fun and
by a people— th e ir cuisines, recipes, ing red ients, spices, k itch en tools, and
contem porary cool, and sim ilarities to past cultural touchstones now canonized
table m anners. W e can appreciate this fa ct even though it is hard to imagine
as great a rt (Sim on 1999; Johnson 2006).
our own m odern culinary folkw ays— say, slurping dow n Froot Loops cereal for
Yet for another set of artists and audiences, (4) popular culture is associated
b reak fast— as p a rticu larly cultural. A fter all, it w ould not be unusual to find the
w ith songs, dances, and o th er folk expressions belonging to the people under
serving utensils o f an ancient society (such as th eir clay pitchers, m etal spoons,
the guise o f d em ocratic populism and au th e n ticity. This last co n n o tatio n of
or drinking goblets) exhibited in an art museum , or in an archaeology textbook.
popular culture refers to recording artists who create roots-oriented music such
The improvised games children play— Double Dutch, Red Rover, hopscotch, freeze
as blues, reggae, and certain strains of Am erican rock, country, and rap, w hose
tag, dodge ball— are also cultural, as are our d irty jokes, obscene gestures, and
music is said to channel the trad itional hopes and dream s of ordinary working-
other locker-room antics.
class people. T hey include legends such as R o b e rt Johnso n, W o o d y G uthrie,
To th is end, sociologists o f cu ltu re are in te re s te d in a w id e sp ectru m of
H ank W illiam s, Jo h n n y Cash, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Bob Marley, w hile in
e v e ry d a y ritu a ls and so cial a c tiv itie s asso cia te d w ith public life, including
recent decades m usicians o f this ilk have included rock singer-songwriters like
sports p articip atio n and spectatorship, dating and courtship, retail shopping,
Bruce Springsteen, and politically oriented hip-hop artists such as Public Enemy,
b e a u ty and cosm etic enhancem ent, casino gam bling, and cig arette sm oking.
W y c le f Jean, and the Roots.
H ow ever, fo r som e this a n th ro p o lo g ical co n cep tio n o f cu ltu re m a y seem to
suggest an im possibly broad in v e n to ry o f possible topics fo r analysis, as v a s t
Defining Culture
as hum an c iv iliz a tio n itself. A helpful w a y to cut cu ltu re do w n to a m a n a g e ­
As if the multiple and contrad ictory connotations of the w ord popular w ere not
able size is to focus on th re e p ro p erties com m on to both the h u m a n ist and
confusing enough, defining culture can be equally frustrating, particularly since
social scientific understandings o f culture. Culture is richly symbolic, invested
this com plex term has finely differentiated m eanings in a v a rie ty o f dispersed
w ith m eaning and significance. The m eanings a ttrib u te d to culture are n e ve r
intellectual trad itions and academ ic disciplines. For example, in the h u m an i­
sim ply given but are the product o f hum an invention, socially constructed and
ties, culture represents w h a t R aym ond W illia m s (1983, p. 90) identifies as “ the
agreed upon am ong a d e m o n s tra b ly large n u m b er o f a s o c ie ty ’s m em bers.
w orks and practices of intellectual and especially a rtistic activity,” p a rticu larly
Finally, fo r cu ltu re to be sensibly und erstood it m u st be em bodied in som e
those th a t lead tow ard “a general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic
kind o f recognizable form .
developm ent.” The first p art of this definition suggests the outw ard form s th a t
To best emphasize these three properties of culture, W e n d y Griswold (1986,
culture takes in the humanities: great novels and concertos, classical architecture
p. 5; 2004, p. 13), a sociologist at N o rth w estern U niversity, characterizes the
and painting, W ag n erian opera and contem porary experim ental poetry. In the
sociology o f cu ltu re as the stu d y o f cu ltu ra l objects, or “ shared significance
fields of literature, music, philosophy, and art history, culture represents the
embodied in form.” Cultural objects are social expressions o f m eaning th a t have
m ost revered expressions of the hum an condition— Shakesp eare’s King Le ar
been rendered into som ething tangible, like a Greek epic poem or a bronze sculp­
and H am let, D o sto yevsk y’s Crime and Punishm ent and M elville’s Moby-Dick,
ture. B y the sam e token, cultural objects can be found in the w orld o f popular
9
P O P U L A R C U L T U R E AS C O L L E C T I V E ACTIVITY
C H A P T E R 1: TH E STR A GHT STORY
culture as well as the fine arts— H om er’s Iliad
is readily apparent, as anyone w ho has scanned the thousands of nam es listed
and H om er Sim pson, Jo h n M ilton’s Paradise
in the closing credits at the end of a feature film surely know s (Becker 1982, pp.
Lost and A B C ’s Lost. W h ile sociologists o f
7 —9). Perhaps a less obvious example of the secondary creative w orkers or sup­
culture investigate and analyze "th e w orks
port personnel w ho labor in relative anonym ity in the culture industries are those
and practices of intellectual and especially
people necessary fo r recording music, since even com pact discs (CDs) credited
a rtis tic a c tiv ity ,” th e se c re a tiv e c o m p o si­
to a single artist like Beyonce, Ja c k Johnson, or Ju stin Tim berlake rely on team s
tio n s n o t o n ly include classical m usic and
of session musicians, studio engineers, and sound mixers. In the music industry,
nin eteenth-century Russian literature, but
support personnel m a y also include the so ftw a re developers responsible fo r
also mass m edia enjoyed in the contem p o­
the digital technology th a t enables the easy tra n s fe r of perform ed music into
rary w orld as a regular feature of e ve ry d a y
binary code and back into realized sound, and the record producer w ho m atches
life: rock ’n roll and rhythm-and-blues music,
the appropriate set of effects pedals to each guitarist. For m ost CDs, even the
celebrity magazines, anim ated cartoons, bill­
artw o rk m aterials (w h e th e r physical or digital) alone require the cooperative
board advertising, netw ork newscasts, comic
efforts of product m anagers, art directors, photographers, archivists, liner note
books, reality television, Internet blogs, and
w riters, copyeditors, and other support staff (Beck er 1982).
G uitar Hero.
Why is Spider-Man an example of a popular cultural
object?
G ive n the co llective n a tu re o f producing popular culture, it only m akes
A t th e sa m e tim e , a p o p u lar c u ltu ra l
sense th a t in a com plex society like our own, n etw ork s of creative personnel
object need not even be a trad itio n al form
are organized according to a highly segm ented division o f labor, as the a fo re ­
of visual or aural m edia: it could be a m e an ­
m entioned examples from recorded music and film suggest (Becker 1982, p. 7).
ingful nonverbal gesture, like a w ide smile, a
The w orld of cinem a alone could fill entire textbooks, given its lim itless slate of
conspiratorial wink, an enthusiastic thumbs-
specialized jobs: visual effects gaffer, gang boss painter, best boy, focus puller.
up, or an aggressively pointed middle finger
A cu rsory look a t u n ive rsity degree program s in fields o f cultural production
(Geertz 1973, pp. 6 - 7 ; Katz 1999, pp. 18-86).
fu rth er highlights the emphasis tow ard specialization in the creative industries;
It could be an icon, like A b ra h a m Lin co ln
for example, at N ew York U n ive rsity’s Tisch School o f the Arts students can earn
(Sch w artz 1996, 1998; Sch w artz and Schu-
graduate diplom as in D ram atic W ritin g , Interactive Telecom m unications, and
man 2005), or Cupid, o rth e Grand Canyon, or
M oving Im age Archiving and Preservation.
the Volksw agen logo. In this sense popular cultural objects operate at the level
But while contem porary a rt worlds are notable for their high degree o f seg­
of language, w ith th e ir articu lated if com plex m eanings ready to be decoded
m entation, they are also known for their ability to efficiently organize cooperative
am ong particip ants w ho inhabit a shared social environm ent.
links am ong a w ild ly diverse a rra y of contributors w ho depend on one another
w hen producing the stu ff o f pop culture and entertainm ent m edia (Becker 1982,
Popular Culture as Collective Activity
pp. 24—28). Som etim es these participants collaborate regularly, like the four
Now th a t w e have discussed a v a rie ty of m eanings and exem plars associated
celeb rity m usicians w ho m ake up the Irish rock band U2, or the 107 m em bers
w ith popular culture in the interests of developing as inclusive a definition as
of the Chicago Sym phony O rchestra, or the perm anent editorial staff of Rolling
possible, the next step is to examine how popular culture can be best understood
Stone, or the thousands of com pensated w orkers and unpaid interns em ployed
as an inh erently social phenom enon. In his w o rk on the social organization of
by W a lt D isney Pictures or Sony Music Entertainm en t. O ther cultural producers
culture and the arts, the sociologist H ow ard S. Becker (1982) observes th a t its
w o rk jo in tly w ith one another on a more ad hoc basis. For instance, television
production is first and fo rem o st a collective activity. W h e th e r a Ja n e A u sten
postproduction team s incorporate a range of creative w orkers (including video
film adaption or a graphically violent video game, popular cultural objects are
editors, sound engineers, and studio m usicians) w ho w o rk on clearly defined
produced by collaborative webs o f interconnected individuals working together
projects for a specified period of time, such as a single television season (Faulkner
tow ard a com m on goal and eventually consumed and experienced by audiences
1971). The installation of a chic boutique w in d o w display requires the coop era­
w ho attach shared m eanings to them .
tive but tem p orary efforts of stage set designers, visual artists, and m annequin
A ccordin g to B e ck e r (1982), m edia and popular cu ltu re are produced in
handlers. A fashion m agazine spread em ploys photographers, models, lighting
the context of a rt worlds, or n etw orks of particip ants w hose com bined efforts
technicians, makeup artists, copy w riters, graphic designers, and other creative
create movies, novels, musical com positions, com ic books, advertising, and so
personnel, som e o f w hom m ay w ork together for only a single day.
forth. For some types of pop culture the collective nature of creative production
12
T H E SOCIAI
C H A P T E R 1: T H E STRAIGHT STORY
CONTEXT OF P O P U LA R CU LTU R E
Th e Social Context of Popular Culture
The collaborative efforts of those who produce popular culture do not take place
W h y Sup port Personnel M atter
in a vacuum but in the context of lived social life, and th a t context m atters in a
Some might argue that support personnel operate at the creative edges of art worlds rather
variety of subtle and not so subtle ways. For instance, during the first half of the
than at their centei s. although it certainly depends on one’s perspective. After all, regardless
tw entieth century the invention of discrete genre categories in the music industry
of how well the lead singer of a recording can perform in the studio, the actual sound of a
reflected the widespread residential and m arket segregation of African Am erican
rock or dance track depends almost entirely on the ability of a sound engineer or producer
audiences from white consumers (Massey and Denton 1993; Peterson 1997). For
to make smart and targeted choices likely considered arcane by almost any ordinary listener.
For instance, Steve Albini is an independent rock musician whose bands include Big Black
and Shellac, and as a music producer and engineer he has recorded albums for the Pixies,
the Breeders, PJ Harvey, and Nirvana. As Albini (1997) points out in his essay “The Problem
with Music.” the expertise required of support personnel in the recording studio is not only
extensive but integral to the production process in ways that are typically ignored by most
this reason, otherwise indistinguishable music styles are often differently classified
and subsequently advertised and sold on the basis of race— note the musical and
lyrical similarities between 1950s blues, R&B, and rock ’n roll.
From an industry perspective rock ’n roll emerged as the most com m ercially
viable o f these genre categories, particularly among w hite teenagers— w hich is
w h y even young readers have heard of Elvis Presley but few popular music fans
rem em ber the great African Am erican blues artist A rth u r “ Big B o y ” Crudup, who
in 1946 w ro te and recorded “ T h a t’s All Right (M am a),” w hich P resley covered
and released in 1954 as his v e ry first single. M ost pop music listeners have also
The minimum skills required to do an adequate job recording an album are:
never heard o f the blues and R & B singer Big M am a Thornton, w hose original
1952 record ing o f “ Hound Dog” is to d ay o versh ad o w e d (rig h tly or w ro n g ly)
•••Working knowledge of all the microphones
extent that will
at hand and their properties and uses. I mean
allow selection
by Pre sle y’s version, w hich Rolling Stone nam ed one of the Top 20 rock ’n roll
something beyond knowing that you can drop
of appropriate
songs o f all time.
an SM 57 without breaking it.
signal paths. This
The physical and social infrastructure o f our cities and tow ns determ ines
••• Experience with every piece of equipment
means more than
the fate of popular culture as well. For example, the developm ent of privatized
that might be of use and every function it
knowing the dif­
might provide. This means more than knowing
what echo sounds like. Which equalizer has
ference between
the least phase shift in neighbor bands? Which
an equalizer.
console has more headroom? Which mastering
Which has more
deck has the cleanest output electronics? .. .
headroom, a
••• Ability to tune and maintain all the re ­
discrete class
quired instruments and electronics, so as
A microphone
to insure that everything is in proper work­
preamp with
ing order. This means more than plugging a
a transformer
guitar into a tuner. How should the drums be
output or a dif­
tuned to simulate a rising note on the decay?
ferential circuit
A falling note? A consonant note? Can a bas­
built with monolithics? W here is the best place
soon play a concert E-flat in key with a piano
in an unbalanced line to attenuate the signal?
a delay line and
Producer Steve Albini.
tuned to a reference A of 440 Hz? W hat per­
If you short the cold leg of a differential input
centage of varispeed is necessary to make
to ground, what happens to the signal level?
a whole-tone pitch change? W h at degree of
Which gain control device has the least distor­
overbias gives you the most headroom at IO
tion, a VCA, a printed plastic pot, a photoresis­
Khz? W hat reference fluxivity gives you the
tor, or a wire-wound stepped attenuator? Will
lowest self-noise from biased, unrecorded
putting an unbalanced line on a half-normalled
tape? Which tape manufacturer closes every
jack unbalance the normal signal path? Will a
year in July, causing shortages of tape glob­
transformer splitter load the input to a device
ally? W hat can be done for a shedding mas­
parallel to it? Which will have less RF noise,
ter tape? A sticky one?
a shielded unbalanced line or a balanced line
•••Knowledge of electronic circuits to an
with a floated shield? (pp. 168-69)
How do social contexts affect the creation and consumption of popular culture? Consider the story
of Elvis Presley (left), who covered “Hound Dog,” which was originally recorded in 1952 by Big Mama
Thornton (right).
13
Cl i A P T E R
AUDIENCES AND TH E CONSUMPTION OF POPULAR CULTURE
1: TH E STRAIGHT STORY
suburbs and gated com m unities during the 1940s and 1950s contributed to an
of im prisoning m ore o f its ow n journalists than an y other cou n try in the world,
overall decline in urban nightlife and public leisure and a sim ultaneous rise in
and the Chinese governm ent regularly censors Internet sites to prevent the free
the p o p u larity of hom e e n te rta in m e n t— p a rticu la rly television. In 1953 two-
dissem ination o f dissident speech (M eredith 2007, p. 152).
thirds o f fa m ily households in A m erica ow ned at least one television set and
by the mid-1960s th a t figure g rew to a whopping 94 percent (Hannigan 1998;
A u d ien ce s and the Consum ption of Popular Culture
Cohen 2003, p. 302). As for the hom egrown popular culture indigenous to the
Is the 1957 Je r r y Lee Lewis song title “ W h o le Lotta Sh akin’ G oin’ On” a sexual
city, during the 1970s the interconnectedness and accessibility of N ew Y o rk ’s
re fe re n ce? Does Tony die in the final scene of The Sopranos? In the 1994 m ovie
underground tra n s it system facilita te d the urban developm ent of a cityw id e
Pulp Fiction, w h a t’s in the briefcase th a t John T ravolta and Sam uel L. Jackso n
c o m m u n ity o f su b w ay g raffiti w rite rs and m u ralists (Lach m an n 1988). B u t
retrieve for th eir mob boss? Is H B O ’s The W ire the best police dram a in te le vi­
by the 1980s, circum stances changed w h en increased police surveillance, the
sion h isto ry? For all of these examples, the answ er depends on who is doing the
im p lem en tatio n of ex tre m e s e c u rity m easures in th e c ity s tra in ya rd s (i.e.,
responding, because questions o f meaning, interpretation, and value are not
razor w ire, guard dogs), and the tireless vigilance of tra n sit cleaning crew s all
u ltim ately decided by the creators of m edia and popular culture, but by its con­
converged to w eaken N ew Y o rk ’s subw ay graffiti subculture, perhaps forever
sumers. (This is not to say th a t the intentions or objectives of cultural creators
(Lach m ann 1988; G ladw ell 2002, pp. 142—43).
do not m a tte r a great deal; rather, it is to emphasize th a t th e y are hard ly the
This last example illustrates the highly influential role th at governm ent and
only determ inants of m eaning th a t m atter. Moreover, the multiple creators o f a
the state play in the cultural production process. Through public funding agencies
cultural object
like the N ational End ow m ent for the Arts, the g overnm ent directly contributes
of a m ovie or television show — m ay disagree among themselves as to the m ean ­
say, the screenwriter, director, and leading or supporting actors
to certain kinds o f cultural g row th through its finan cial support of theaters,
ing or value of their collaborative w ork.) W h ile in the w orld of cultural criticism
film festivals, m useums, authors, and art studios. The Federal Com m unications
all sorts o f value judgm ents are rendered as if th e y w ere fa ct— W a lt W h itm an is
Com m ission renders decisions on w h a t sorts of socially defined “ ind ecent” or
the center o f the Am erican literary canon (Bloom 1994), Bruce Springsteen isthe
“ obscene” images or language m ay be p erm itted on the public a irw a v e s and
mythos o f rock n roll sprung to life (Alterm an 2001, p. 9), Juno was the best movie
how m an y radio statio n s one com pany m a y o w n in a given regional m a rk et
(K lin enb erg 2007). Local and n atio nal law s also im p act the context in w hich
popular culture is m a n u fa ctu re d and perform ed. In the 1920s, the e a rly jazz
music m ade fam ous by Louis Arm strong and Duke Ellington emerged during the
era of Prohibition, w hich m ean t th a t some of the great music of th a t period w as
perform ed in illegal speakeasies and other clandestine haunts, its proprietors
und er co n stan t th re a t of arrest. Sim ilarly, U.S. federal laws surrounding the
use of Ecstasy and o th er illegal drugs drove the hallucinogen-fueled electronic
rave dance scene underground during the height of its popularity in th e 1990s
(Reynolds 1999); fu rth e r anti-rave legislation and enforcem ent in cities across
the co u n try spelled the eventual death knell fo r this once vib ra n t subculture.
Most recently, copyright law s and recent court rulings have constrained the use
of sam pling in popular music.
Likewise, w e should be rem inded th a t law s can also be designed to protect
the freedom s of cultural producers as well. Thanks to the rigorous and continual
defense o f the U.S. C o n stitu tio n and the F irs t A m en d m en t th ro u g h o u t our
nation’s history, Am erican popular culture flourishes in a fa r more liberal political
environm ent than in other countries. During the 1960s U ruguay s authoritative
governm ent banned, jailed, and pressured into exile a num ber of protest sing­
ers fo r the lyrical content of th eir music (M ilstein 2007). A fter the publication
of S a lm a n R ushdie's c o n tro ve rs ia l 1988 novel The S a ta n ic Verses, th e book
w as banned in India; during the follow ing ye a r the Iranian A yatollah Ruhollah
How do social factors shape the meaning and value of popular culture? For instance, how do fans1
Khom eini issued a fa tw a against Rushdie, urging fellow Muslim s to assassinate
and critics' arguments about Bruce Springsteen being “the mythos of rock 'n roll sprung to life”
reflect the multivocal status of cultural objects?
the author and his publishers. M eanwhile, China earns the sham eful distinction
IS
AUDIENCES AND TH E CONSUMPTION OF POPULAR CULTURE
Since audiences d ra w on their own social circum stances w hen attributing
m ean ing and value to popular culture, these m eanings are often p a tte rn e d
according to persistent system s of social organization structured by differences
in socioeconom ic status, nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion,
or age. For example, in her study o f Flarlequin rom ance novels and th eir p re ­
do m in an tly fem ale readers, Jan ice R ad w ay (1991) discovers th a t M idw estern
housew ives enjoy rom ances for the independence and self-reliance typ ically
assigned to th eir plucky heroines; their stories thus provide a m uch needed if
te m p o ra ry escape fro m the exhausting labor o f child rearing and household
management. In an analysis of audience reception of the 1956 motion picture The
Searchers, a Hollywood W estern, JoEllen Shively (1992) discovers th at despite the
frequently negative portrayal of Am erican Indians in film, N ative Am erican men
are enthusiastic fans of the genre, citing the beauty o f the natural landscapes
w h ere W e ste rn s are often set, and the free and independent cow boy lifestyle
com m only celebrated in such movies. Meanwhile, since the cartoonish stereo ­
types o f Am erican Indians as heartless kidnappers and violen t scalpers often
depicted in trad itional W e ste rn s do not correspond to th e ir ow n contem porary
self-image, N ative A m ericans sim ply ignore such slights, identifying m ore w ith
the heroic cowboys featured in Hollywood cinema and portrayed by classic movie
stars like John W a yn e, G a ry Cooper, and Clint Eastw ood.
According to JoEllen Shively, many Native American men are fans of classic Westerns in spite of
the way the films portray American Indians. Why are these fans an example of an interpretive
community?
A u d ie n ces d ra w on th e ir social id en titie s and life experiences to m ake
sense o f m e d ia and p o p u la r cu ltu re, and th o se w h o se sh ared w o rld v ie w s
inform th e ir understandings of culture in syste m a tic w ay s are called interpre­
tive com m unities (R a d w a y 1991; also see Fish 1980). Y e t as this last exam ple
o f2007 (Eb e rt 2007)— sociologists recognize th a t these argum ents are sim ply
illu s tra te s , p e o p le ’s so cial c irc u m s ta n c e s n o t o n ly in flu e n c e th e kinds o f
claim s to be argued and contested over by fans and detractors w ho attribute
m e an in g s th e y a ttrib u te to c u ltu ra l ob jects, e ve n ts, and e x p e rie n ces but
som etim es co n trad icto ry m eanings to films, books, and music, m eanings th a t
also the kinds o f pop cu ltu re th e y choose to consum e in th e firs t place. All
are alw ays up for grabs. In this sense, cultural objects are m ultivocal because
things being equal, m a n y A fric a n A m erican s (but not all, o f course) are m ore
th e y say different things to different audiences (G risw old 1987).
like ly to re p o rt listen in g to jazz, blues, soul, and rhythm -and-blues m usic
O f course, sim p ly b ecause au diences fa b ric a te th e m eanings and in te r­
than w h ite s, w h o are m ore like ly to attend classical m usic concerts, opera
p reta tio n s a ttrib u te d to p opular culture, w e should not necessarily in fe r th a t
perform ances, and a rts or c ra fts fa irs (DiM aggio and O stro w e r 1990). Urb an
th e y do so rand om ly. Fo r som e cu ltu ra l objects, c e rta in assigned m ean ing s
professionals are m ore likely to app re cia te a b s tra c t a rt th a n w orking-class
are c o lle c tiv e ly held b y v a s t num b ers o f people based on som e o v e rrid in g
suburbanites (H alle 1993). In the U nited States, w om en read for leisure m ore
d o m in a n t id eo lo g y— th o s e m e an in g s are c o n s e q u e n tly able to hold s w a y
th an m en and are m ore likely to jo in book reading groups (Long 2003; G r is ­
in th e w o rld as if th e y w e re absolute and irre fu ta b le . V arious liste n e rs m a y
w old 2 0 0 8). A cco rd in g to the P e w R esea rch C e n te r’s In te rn e t & A m e ric a n
en jo y or dislike Bru ce S p rin g ste e n ’s m usic, b u t a lm o st no one disp u tes th a t
Life Pro je ct, only 38 p e rc e n t o f senio r citizens aged 65 and old er go online
he is a rock m usician, even though m usic genres like "ro c k ” are social in v e n ­
or use com pu ters, as opposed to 95 p e rce n t o f teen ag ers.
tio n s and in d u stry labels th a t are a lw a y s su b ject to debate and change. (As
O f course, m any otherw ise potential audiences are excluded from certain
I suggest above, the sty listic d iffe re n ces b e tw e e n blues, 1950s ro ck ’n roll,
cultural pursuits due to their exorbitant costs, such as designer fashion, gourmet
and R & B are negligible at best. To em phasize th e co n te sta b le n a tu re o f the
cuisine, nightclub bottle service, or exotic tourism. Likewise, some activities require
ro ck genre category, t r y a th o u g h t e xperim ent. Flow m a n y m usic fa n s w ould
excessive investments in time, like participating in U.S. Civil W a r reenactments or the
id en tify M uddy W a te rs , Miles Davis, or M adonna as “ r o c k ’n ro ll” p e rfo rm e rs?
annual Burning Man festival, a week-long radical arts event th at takes place in the
Perh a p s n o t m any, as it is likely th a t these a rtis ts are m ore po p u larly know n
isolated Black Rock Desert, 120 miles north of Reno, Nevada. Other cultural pursuits,
as blues, jazz, and pop m usic legends, re s p e c tiv e ly — y e t all th ree h a ve been
like reading the postmodern fiction of Thomas Pynchon or enjoying French N ew
ind ucted into th e R o ck and Roll Flail o f Fam e.)
W ave cinema, m ay require an appropriately cosmopolitan upbringing or advanced
f 7
IB
PRODUCING AND CONSUMING P O P U LA R C U LT U R E
C H A P T E R 1 : T H E S —RA IG HT S T O R Y
educational background to successfully navigate. W ith regard to computer literacy
co lla b o ra tin g w ith fe llo w playe rs in real tim e (C a s tro n o v a 2005). And lest
and Internet usage, there is significant evidence th at a “digital divide” endures that
w e forget: even in an age of personal iPods and digital hom e th e a te rs, m a n y
reflects class and racial inequalities persistent in Am erican society.
A m e ric a n co n su m ers still a tte n d live th e a tric a l and m usical p erfo rm a n ces,
Pop cultural consum er habits and experiences are not only shaped by one’s
specific social circum stances but also by the im pact of outside social actors and
sporting events, political rallies, and featu re film s in large public venues, ju st
as th e y have fo r g eneratio ns.
structural forces. Successful touring bands and other traveling shows m a y not
p erform in sm all to w n s, p referrin g m ore populated cities and th e ir a fflu en t
Producing and Consum ing Popular Culture
crowds. Political partisans, religious groups, and other com m unity organizations
The last few years have m arked a heyday for popular culture spoofs through the
m ay protest the final edit of a made-for-television movie, scaring aw a y sponsors
em ergent m edium o f the mash-up, in w hich tw o or m ore m edia are sampled,
and thus blocking its d issem ination on the a irw aves. Media gatekeepers like
m anipulated, and juxtaposed to ironic effect. In a four-m inute clip titled This
T V celebrity Oprah W in fre y m ay prom ote a book to millions of view ers, all but
Place Sucks, or TPS, the anim ated heroes of DC Comic’s Super Friends— Superman,
ensuring th a t consum ers w ill follow closely behind (Grisw old 2008, p. 59).
Ba tm a n , Robin, W o n d e r W o m a n — run dialogue from the 1999 com edy Office
Finally, it bears re m e m b e rin g th a t au d ien ces o fte n consum e m e d ia and
Space. In Sesam e Streets, a surreal mash-up o f the Muppets o f Sesam e Street
p o p u lar cu ltu re as c o lle c tiv e a c tiv itie s sa v o re d in th e p resen ce o f o th e rs,
w ith the violent film s o f M artin Scorsese, B e rt channels R ob ert DeNiro's Jake
fro m th e b o ard g am es M o n o p o ly and R isk to W ii Sp o rts. As n oted ab ove,
La M o tta from R aging Bull (1980), accusing Ernie, “ You f— ed m y w ife !” w hile
m a n y re a d e rs en jo y n ovels and lite ra ry n o n fictio n as a collective p u rsu it by
Big Bird reprises D eN iro’s role as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976), goading on
particip ating in bookclubs (G ladw ell 2002, pp. 169—75; Long 2 00 3 ), and cities
Mr. Snufalupagus: “A re you talking to m e? W ell, I’m the only one here!” “ W h o
like Philadelphia and Chicago have organized “ One Book, One C ity” program s
the f— do you think yo u ’re talking t o ? ” In a much lighter parody, the Cosby Kids
th a t prom ote the shared reading of a single book (G risw old 2008, pp. 5 8 —59).
from Fat A lbert are synched up w ith dialogue fro m the 2004 independent film
(S in ce 2003, th e books chosen fo r the “ One Book, One Philadelphia” project
Napoleon D ynam ite to hilarious effect.
have included Lorene C a ry ’s The Price o f a Child, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They
The striking thing about these mash-ups is th a t all evidence suggests th at
Carried, D ave Eggers’s W h a t Is the W h a t, and Be n jam in Fran klin ’s A u tobiog ­
th e y are c re a ted by pop cu ltu re fans th e m s e lv e s — n o t as a fu n ctio n o f the
raphy.) T elevised e ve n ts such as the Super Bow l, th e A cad em y A w ard s, and
large-scale m edia production process but as a delightfully unpredictable part
U.S. presidential debates draw
of the consum er experience. As m uch of this chapter has a lread y illustrated,
together audiences w ho throw
audiences often consum e popular culture in highly active and creative w ays.
view in g parties to com m em o­
The organization of book clubs requires m ore than the passive absorption of a
ra te th e o ccasio n and sh are
text but also its interrogation, especially as readers come together to discuss,
the experience w ith friends, as
debate, and disagree w ith its finer points. Digital m edia p latform s let music
does the annual N C AA college
fans seek out hard-to-find recordings online and develop th e ir own playlists
b a s k e tb a ll to u rn a m e n t, and
independent o f the organized listening experience provided by the trad itional
g uilty pleasures like Sm allville
album or co m p act disc form at. In some w ays, th e y tra n sfo rm culture in the
and Gossip G irl. Peer-to-peer
v e ry m om ent of its consumption. Moreover, thanks to advances in digital audio
file- sh a rin g s o ftw a re a llo w s
softw are, alm ost any am ateu r w ith a laptop can produce her ow n professional-
m u sic lis te n e rs to exchang e
grade music recording w ith in a fe w hours, just as the rise of digital photography
re co rd in g s and th u s explore
allows regular consum ers to create, m anipulate, and distribute visual images
n e w so n ic te r r a in s in a c o l­
w ith ease and little training.
lective if virtu al environm ent,
T hese n e w m edia technolog ies— as w ell as six tee n th - ce n tu ry fo rm s o f
ju s t as m a ssively m u ltip la ye r
social organization, like reading groups— blur some of the distinctions betw een
o n lin e r o le - p la y in g g a m e s
cultural consum ption and production by both dem ocratizing the tools of pop
(M M O R G s ) such as W o rld o f
culture m aking, and dim inishing the c re a to r’s control of how enterprising con­
W a r c r a ft provide o p p o rtu n i­
sum ers actually m ake use of cultural objects in the real world. As for cultural
tie s fo r In te rn e t v id e o g a m ­
prod ucers th e m s e lv e s — film m a k e rs , p h o to g rap h ers, m usicians, n o velists,
virtual experiences like online video games opportunities to build social
e rs to b u ild in t e r p e r s o n a l
scre e n w rite rs— our self-referential culture p ra ctic a lly requires professional
networks?
n e t w o r k s b y a lig n in g a n d
media m akers to take on the pose of the consumer as part of the creative process.
Gamers play World of Warcraft at an Internet cafe in China. Haw are
19
20
CHAPTER
TH R E E APPROACHES TO
1: TH E STRAIGHT STORY
HE S O C IO LO G Y O c MEDIA AND P O P U LA R C U L T U R E
Q uentin T aran tin o ’s films, such as Pulp Fic ­
A m erican Idol, and NFL M ond ay N ight Football provide grist fo rth e mill around
tion (1994) and Kill Bill, Vol. I (2003), are filled
bus stations and w orkplace w atercoolers. The functionalist approach helps to
w ith B-m ovie re fe re n ces, as are episodes
explain the popularity of professional sports, stadium rock concerts, and other
o f th e Fox T V se ries The Sim psons. As we
large-scale m edia events am ong the m em bers o f mass audiences w ho might
discussed during th e in tro d u ctio n , dance,
otherw ise seem to have v e ry little else in common.
pop, and hip-hop m usic producers regularly
In Chapter 3 ,1introduce the critical approach to m edia and popular culture.
sample from obscure hits from the past, and
According to this paradigm, the ascendance o f certain kinds o f pop culture can
disc jockeys m ine the crates of th e ir record
be explained prim arily in term s of th eir ability to reflect and reinforce the enor­
collections fo r unusual contributions to the
mous econom ic and cultural po w er o f the m ass m edia industry. In con trast to
em ergent stereo soundscape. In 2004 Brian
the functionalist perspective, which suggests th a t pop culture is som ething th a t
Josep h Burto n , b e tte r know n as record ing
we as a so ciety create for ourselves, the critical approach provides a top-down
artist and producer Danger Mouse, released
model o f popular culture as a form o f dom ination, albeit a strangely irresistible
The G rey A lbum o n lin e — an u n a u th o riz e d
kind of dom ination th a t takes the form of sexually suggestive beer ads, profes­
mash-up of the a cappella version of hip-hop
sional basketball players w ho act like rappers (and vice versa), addictive video
im presario Jay- Z ’s The Black Album overlaid
gam es, and the ca rn ival o f public spectacle ironically referred to as “ re a lity ”
w ith v ario u s sam pled cuts fro m The B e a t­
television. In this chapter, I apply this th eoretical perspective to a num ber of
les, the self-titled 1968 LP record com m only
contem porary issues in m edia and popular culture, particularly the ubiquity and
referred to as the White Album (for its original
sym bolic pow er o f brands such as M cDonald’s, Nike, and Starbucks.
blank w h ite cover). B y blending Jay- Z ’s “ 99
Finally, in Chapter 4, we explore the interaction approach to pop culture. In
Problem s” w ith samples of the B eatles’ “ Hel-
contrast to the critical approach (which m ight explain a film's popularity on the
ter Skelter,” “ En core” w ith “ Glass Onion” and
basis of its m arketing budget), the interaction approach emphasizes the pow er
Producer Danger Mouse blurred the boundaries of
"S a vo y Truffle,” and “ W h a t More Can I S a y ”
th a t inform al processes like w ord of m outh and peer influence enjoy in the cul­
production and consumption of pupular culture with
w ith “ W hile M y G uitar Gently Weeps,” Danger
tural m arketplace. According to this perspective, our consum er tastes are deeply
The Grey Album.
Mouse offered the music w orld a new w a y to
affected by the people around us, and so the success o f certain kinds of popular
think about the production and consumption of m edia and popular culture, even
culture depends not upon big-budget advertising, but on micro-level, small-group
as he blurred the difference betw een the tw o.
interactions such as those exemplified by online netw orking and other inform al
modes o f cultural diffusion. In describing this th eoretical approach, I address
Th re e App roa ch e s to the So ciology of Media
and Popular Culture
a num ber o f related issues, including the im portance o f opinion leaders, e arly
Now that w e have explored the social and collective foundations of popular culture
styles of apparel, and the po w er of collective consum ption, w h eth e r in game-
and its production and consumption, our next goal is to develop a comprehensive
playing clubs, local m usic scenes, or online fan fiction sites.
set of theoretical tools to help explain how pop cultural fads, fashions, trends, and
phenom ena succeed and decline over tim e, and w h a t the social consequences
of th eir po pularity m a y be. To this end, in the follow ing chapters, I introduce
three theoretical approaches to the sociology of m edia and popular culture. In
the next chapter, I present the fu n ctio n a list approach, w hich illustrates how
culture “ fu n ctio n s” as the social glue th a t generates so lid arity and cohesion
w ith in hum an groups and societies. Borrow ing from research on the pro-social
functions of religion and culture in the earliest prim itive societies, I re ly on this
paradigm to explore how m ore contem porary collective rituals— high school
football gam es, local p arad es and pep rallies, aw a rd s cerem onies— sim ilarly
serve to forge em otional bonds o f recognition, identity, and tru st w ith in com ­
m unities and other social groups. A t the sam e tim e, I hope to dem onstrate how
pop culture provides the source m aterial th a t allows consum ers to com m uni­
cate w ith strangers in public, ju st as popular television program s like Seinfeld,
adopters, and m ark et m avens in determ ining the fate of new technologies and
21
m
s
FOUNDATIONS O F TH E FUNCTIONALIST APPROACH
culture, our obsession w ith professional and intercollegiate athletics, celebrity
m agazines, and other form s o f mass e ntertainm ent can be explained prim arily
in term s o f th e ir social uses (or literally th eir fu n ctio n ) in generating so lid arity
among individuals within large and anonymous communities. Through the power
of ritualistic spectator events like play-off games and rock concerts, sports and
I
N T H E T E X A S O IL T O W N O F O D ESSA , M A G IC H A P P E N S ON F R ID A Y N IG H T S
other form s of popular culture and entertainm ent bring strangers together in a
w hen the Perm ian Panthers high school football team takes the field. Under
collective spirit of cam araderie, how ever tem porarily. Moreover, these shared
th e bright lights o f a $5.2 m illion stadium , th e school’s players, coaches,
m om ents provide opportunities fo r fans to express th eir feelings and opinions
cheerleaders, and m arching band perform to crow ds of nearly 20,000 people
about otherw ise sensitive topics of conversation, such as race relations and the
w ho shout the home team ’s cheer, “MO-JO! MO-JO!" Odessa has survived decades
ethics o f w ork. In this chapter, I draw on the functionalist perspective to explore
of the boom-and-bust cycles o f the oil industry and a long, ugly history of racial
these social phenom ena as th ey relate to celebrity culture, national politics, and
segregation, but as H. G. Bissin g er (1990) o b serves in his best-selling book
m ost o f all, the w orld o f sports entertainm ent.
Frid ay N ig h t Lights (la te r m ade into a critically acclaim ed film and television
series), the Panthers bring the citizens of this W e s t Texas tow n tog eth er like
Foundations of the Functionalist Approach
nothing else. Neighbors flood th e high school’s pep rallies, gab about individual
In his seminal 1912 book The Elem entary Forms o f Religious Life, the French soci­
players’ physical strengths and on-the-field statistics, w e a r the team s colors of
ologist Em ile Durkheim seeks to understand the social role th a t religion plays in
black and w hite, and th rea te n the head coach w h en e v er the Panthers lose to a
the functioning of human societies. In m any w ays Durkheim himself w as perfectly
longtim e rival like the Rebels, a high school team fro m nearby Midland, Texas,
suited for this scholarly task. As a nonobservant Je w w ho happened to have hailed
the form er hom etow n of President George W . Bush. And if perhaps this M O JO
from several generations of rabbis, he w as at once both intim ately fam iliar w ith
spirit seems surprising, it is only because the Perm ian Panthers create the kind of
the m yriad symbols, rituals, and beliefs o f religious thought and practice ye t held
civic unity and excitem ent norm ally associated w ith beloved professional sports
few personal investm ents in their ultim ate m eaning or purpose. He em barks on
franchises in m ore populous cities, storied team s like the N ew Y o rk Yankees,
his intellectual journey by beginning, well, at the beginning, by describing some
Philadelphia Eagles, Boston Celtics, and the Chicago Cubs.
of the earliest religions know n to hum ans, p a rtic u la rly the an cien t sp iritual
W h a t explains th e collective e nthusiasm o f local football, baseball, bas­
faiths of A m erican Indians and Aboriginal Australians. These are societies for
ketball, and hockey fans in the U nited States, or soccer fans in Brazil, or cricket
whom religion w as notably the central organizing institution of their existence:
fans in A u stralia (Fo e r 2004; K a u fm a n and P a tte rso n 2 0 0 5 )? A fte r all, such
it structured th e ir g overnance, w o rk routines, and knowledge of the natural
sports are form s o f en terta in m e n t in w hich sp ectators w atch com plete strang ­
world. (This is in con trast to present-day Am ericans, fo r w hom religion is only
ers play com petitive gam es w ith obscure rules, and in the case of professional
one of m any form s of cultural identification and social organization, along w ith
team sports, the athletes are ra rely from th e ir “ hom e” cities in any real sense.
nationhood, ethnicity, com m unity, and occupation, for example.)
In fact, often the team s them selves are transplan ts from som eplace else, like
Durkheim observed th a t these early religions relied very heavily on the role
the Los Angeles Dodgers (from Brooklyn, N Y), O akland A s (from Philadelphia),
of signs, images, and symbols, m any of which w ere drawn from the natural world,
W ashing ton N ationals (from M ontreal), Texas Rangers (from W ashington, DC),
as in the case o f totem ic religions th a t rely on anim als (e.g., kangaroos, snakes,
and the Tennessee Titans (from Houston). (Team s som etim es c a rry o ver their
crows) as symbols (1995, pp. 9 9 —126). W h a t w as the purpose of these sym bols?
old nam es to new cities, often nonsensically so, as w h en the N ew O rleans Jazz
Durkheim argues th a t religious symbols or images represented not m erely gods,
m oved to Salt Lake City, Utah, but retained their identity as the Jazz even though
or beliefs, but the religious group m em bers them selves and w h a t he refers to as
U ta h enjoys decidedly less o f a regional music heritage than N ew Orleans, the
their collective conscience— just as national flags m ay be thought to represent
actual birthplace of jazz.) G iven the increasing m obility of professional athletes
not only the idea o f a nation, but its actual citizens. (This is one reason th at some
(and the obvious tu rn o ve r o f high school and college players, w ho e ven tu ally
Am ericans v ie w the burning of Old G lory as a deeply violent symbolic act.)
graduate), aren’t sports fans really ju st rooting for the uniform s, as com edian
Je r r y Seinfeld once jo ke d ?
Actually, he w asn ’t all th a t fa r off— we do cheer on team uniforms, mascots,
colors, and banners, at least as much as w e do the players them selves
Durkheim also recognized how often these images w ere evoked in religious
rituals and practices as a m eans of creating sym bolic boundaries dem arcating
the separation o f sacred and profane elem ents in the universe. For instance,
and in
m any religions adhere to d ietary codes th a t re strict the eating of certain foods
this chapter w e rely on the tools of sociology to explain why. Specifically, this
considered dirty, filthy, dangerous, or otherw ise taboo: o bservant Je w s abstain
chapter describes th e first of th ree sociological approaches used in this book:
from eating non-kosher foods such as shellfish and pork, w hile Islam ic d ietary
the fu n ctio n a list approach. According to a fu n ctio n alist approach to popular
rules forbid adherents to ingest pork as w ell (Douglas 1991). Likewise, the three
25
26
C H A P T E R 2. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT S
RIT UA LS O F SOLIDARITY A N D S O C I A L C O H E S I O N IN P O P U L A R C U L T U R E
m ajor W e s te rn religions organize tim e itself into sacred occasions (L e n t and
To sum up, Durkheim argues th a t it is these basic elem ents of religious li f e -
Ea ster Sunday, the holy m onth of Ram adan, Yom Kippur and the Sabbath) as
shared symbols and images, imagined boundaries separating the sacred from the
w ell as place (Jerusalem , Mecca, the Church of the H oly Sepulcher, the W e ste rn
profane, and rituals than help participants generate col lective effervescence— that
W all, the Temple M ount). As Durkheim explains, system s of classification and
provide the social glue th a t binds societies together through thick and thin. Of
boundary m aintenance related to the differentiatio n betw een the sacred and
course, Durkheim recognizes th a t the modern w orld is defined not by religiosity
the profane help societies reinforce distinctions betw een them selves and other
but secularism, a belief in science over faith in an age of unrelenting change. This
groups, on the basis of insider and outsider status.
w orries him g reatly because he fears th at "there can be no society th a t does not
Finally, religious ritu a ls in v o lvin g large groups o f people (such as the
experience the need at regular intervals to m aintain and strengthen the collec­
C a th o lic M ass) p re s e n t o p p o rtu n itie s fo r g e n e ra tin g w h a t D u rkh eim calls
tive feelings and ideas th a t provide its coherence and its distinct in d ivid u ality”
collective effervescence, a shared feeling o f id e n tity in w hich the ind ivid ual
([1912] 1995, p. 429). W h ile religions obviously continue to flourish throughout
m em bers of the group (w h e th e r a tribe or a congregation) experience w ave s
the world, th e y clearly no longer have the sam e hold over m odern individuals
o f em otion, a sense o f u n ity and to g eth ern ess. The e ffe rv e sc e n t e n erg y of
th a t th e y once did am ong N a tive A m erican s and Aborigines, if fo r no o th e r
crow ds is considered so cen tral to religious cerem o nies th a t law s, custom s,
reason than th a t our lives are organized according to the logics of a v a rie ty of
and trad itions of fa ith all but dem and th a t rituals be perform ed collectively. In
com peting social institutions (e.g., nation-states and th eir judicial system s, the
Judaism , ce rta in p ra ye r ritu als require the presence o f a quorum, or m inyan,
global econom y, science-based m edicine) ra th e r th a n sim ply religion. This is
o f at least ten p articip an ts. During the annual Islam ic pilgrim age to M ecca, or
especially the case in pluralistic societies like the U nited States w here various
the hajj, th ree million adherents converge on the Saudi Arabian city to engage
faiths, denominations, and sects divide entire societies into highly differentiated
in collective w orship and celeb ration, as M alcolm X (1964, p. 343) recollects
mosaics o f religious belief. M eanwhile, in our enlightened age o f invention and
in his Autobiography:
discovery, it appears th a t “ the great things of the past th a t excited our fath ers
no longer arouse the sam e zeal am ong us, either because th e y have passed so
W e parked near the Great Mosque. W e performed our ablutions and entered.
com pletely into com m on custom th a t w e lose aw areness o f them or because
Pilgrims seemed to be on top of each other, there were so many, lying,
they no longer suit our aspirations. Meanwhile, no replacem ent for them has ye t
sitting, sleeping, praying, w alking.. . . Then I saw the Ka ba, a huge black
been created." As Durkheim poignantly rem arks, “ the form er gods are growing
stone house in the middle of the Great Mosque. It was being circumambu­
old or dying, and others have not been born” (p. 429).
lated by thousands upon thousands of praying pilgrims, both sexes, and
And y e t Durkheim concludes The Elem entary Forms o f Religious Life on an
every size, shape, color, and race in the w o rld .. . . Faces were enraptured
optim istic note; “A day will come w hen our societies once again will know hours
in their faith.
of creative effervescence during w hich new ideals w ill again spring forth and
new form ulas em erge to guide h um anity for a tim e
There are no im m ortal
gospels, and there is no reason to believe th a t h um anity is incapable of conceiv­
ing new ones in the fu tu re ” (pp. 4 2 9 - 3 0 ). W h a t will those new gospels teach
us? W h a t kinds o f sym bols w ill em erge to re o rien t our identities, our social
place in the w orld ? W h a t kinds o f rituals will rejuvenate societies by generating
the collective effervescence th e y need to th riv e ? W h a t w ill serve as the social
glue th a t w ill help bind societies together, through th ick and th in ?
Rituals of Solidarity and Social C o hesion
in Popular Culture
A functionalist approach to popular culture em phasizes how the symbols, ritu ­
als, and practices surrounding its production and consum ption can bring people
together by generating a shared sense of social solidarity. The w orld of sports
en tertain m en t provides a pow erful example. In the w orld o f professional and
intercollegiate athletics, cities and regions are represented by team franchises
Muslim pilgrims (left) pray in Mecca, and a Sri Lankan woman (right) prays at a statue of the
th at em ploy a range o f symbols engineered to foster collective attachm ent. Like
Buddha. According to Durkheim, religions use rituals to separate the sacred from the profane.
Native A m erican and Aboriginal tribes, sports team s are typ ically signified by
What are the social functions of these distinctions?
animalistic totems, w hether the Chicago Bears, A tlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins,
27
28
R I T U A L S O F S O L I D A R I T Y A N D S O C I A L C O H E S I O N IN P O P U L A R C U L T U R E
C H A P T E R 2. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT S
St. Louis Ram s, C incinnati Ben-
illu stra te d its e lf during the 1990s w h en com plete stran g ers em braced and
gals, D etro it Lions, Indianapolis
high-fived one another on the streets o f Chicago a fte r the Bulls had w on each
Colts, Ba ltim o re Ravens, or the
of th eir six N ational Basketball A ssociation cham pionships, or in 2008 w hen
D enver Broncos. (One of the re a ­
Philadelphians spontaneously converged on C ity Hall a fte r the Phillies w on the
sons m any civil rights groups such
W o rld Series. Large cities like these often feel like anonym ous, lonely w orlds
as the NAACP as well as scholarly
(Sim m el [1903] 1971; W irth 1938; Lofland 1973), and professional sports team s
organizations like the A m erican
can bring people tog eth er in a spirit of cam araderie atypical am ong strangers
Sociological Association have ra l­
in the urban m etropolis.
lied against the promotion of even
Moreover, it bears rem em bering th a t w hile A m erican intercollegiate and
re v e re n tia l team m ascots such
professional sports rivals a ttra ct fans of opposing team s, nearly all participants
as the W a sh in g to n Red skins or
still id en tify w ith the national culture to a g reater or lesser degree. (Exceptions
the Cleveland Indians is th a t they
perhaps include C anadian team s and individual athletes fro m abroad, such as
ap p ea rto dehumanize A m erican
Los Angeles G alaxy soccer star David Beckham , fro m the U nited Kingdom, and
Indians, as if they were animals.)
the 7'6" center fo r the N B A ’s Houston Rockets, Yao Ming, from China.) For this
Team nicknam es, logos, and je r ­
reason, sporting events in the United States generally emphasize Am erican iden­
se ys p ro vid e fu rth e r m e an s of
tity and national pride through a v a rie ty of rituals. Perform ers sing the national
sym bolic attachm ent, and this is
anthem before solem n crowds, w hile a fte r the te rro ris t attacks of Sep tem b er
p a rtic u la rly em phasized during
11,2001, M ajor League Baseball hom e team s replaced the singing of the alw ays
com petitions th a t pit tw o team s
light-hearted and som etim es partisan “ Take Me Out to the Ball G a m e ” w ith the
against one another, each p layer’s uniform emblazoned w ith bold colors, insig-
more unifying “ God Bless Am erica.” The attacks also occasioned co m m em ora­
nias, and other dem arcating sym bols used to differentiate opposing team s on
tive cerem onies a t professional football games and N A SC A R races, replete w ith
the field of play, and am ong rival fans in the grandstands.
flag displays and a contingent of firefighters and police, the sym bolic heroes
Ju st as religions create sym bolic orders th a t distinguish am ong the sacred
o f 9/11 (Collins 2004b, p. 68), ju s t as sporting e ve n ts p resen t o p portunities
and the profane, team regalia help particip ants m aintain the illusion o f d iffer­
to honor m ilita ry servicepersons and vete ran s during w artim e . These rituals
ence between opposing franchises. (I describe this difference as illusory given the
evoke the celebration of shared patriotism and national id en tity as a kind of
m anufactured nature of team identity, as emphasized by the excessive m obility
civic religion and can g e n e r­
o f players and team s to different cities, as noted above, and the rapid creation
ate an eve n g re a te r sense of
of recent expansion team s.) Collective rituals surrounding the celebration of
social so lid arity and collective
adversarial team differences further bolster the social integration of like-minded
e fferve sce n ce th a n th e m ore
fans. These rituals of boundary m aintenance include pep rallies, tailgate parties,
playful, team -oriented ch eer­
celebratory parades, and the main sporting events themselves, in which athletes
ing expected during game time.
perform alongside support personnel such as cheerleaders, m arching bands,
O f course, this sort of spirited
dancers, fuzzy m ascots, and the m ost enthusiastic of fans draped in team colors
nationalism is often generated
and covered w ith face paint. Like religious cerem onies, these rituals take place
by o th er public rituals as well,
w ithin special worlds marked off in tim e (March Madness, Monday Night Football,
such as p o litical rallies, e le c­
Super Bow l Sunday) and space (Chicago’s W rig le y Field, Boston’s Fen w ay Park).
tio n s, p a rad es, and n a tio n a l
Such events featu re in can tatio n s (cheers and fight songs) and synchronized
holiday celebrations.
body m ovem ents (stadium w aves), and all help generate a heightened sense of
collective effervescence am ong feverish participants.
It is also n o t d iffic u lt to
im a g in e h o w o th e r kind s of
In doing so, these rituals of solidarity allow sm all com m unities like Odessa,
popular entertainm ent fe a tu r­
Texas, to feel gigantic and m ythic, g reater than the sum of th eir parts. M ean ­
ing large e ffervescen t crow ds
while, the professional sports e n tertain m en t culture o f m ore populated cities
m ight achieve sim ilarly social
like N ew York, Atlanta, Dallas, and Miam i gives locals otherw ise divided on the
ends. Throughout rock music
basis o f n atio n al origin, socioeconom ic class, race, and e th n icity a sense of
h is to ry , a re n a and s ta d iu m
Phillies fans spontaneously converged on City Hall to
com m onality and even intim acy through a shared identity. This social solidarity
c o n c e rts h a ve b ro u g h t fa n s
celebrate the team’s ZOOS World Series victory.
29
30
RI TU A LS O F SOLIDARITY A N D S O C I A L C O H E S I O N IN P O P U L A R C U L T U R E
C H A P T E R 2: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT S
together in shared m om ents of collective so lidarity and bliss, notably the live
Statem ent by the Council o f the Am erican Sociologic
Association on Disconti
Nicknames. Lo
perform ances o f superstar acts like U2 and the Rolling Stones. As a live e n ter­
tainer, Bruce Springsteen has been known to give four-hour m arathon concerts
th at energize his fans, diehards who holler along w ith the singer-songwriter w hen
he perform s 1970s hits like “ Thunder Road” and “ Born to Run.” During their epic
career from the late 1960s through the mid-1990s, the G rateful Dead— perhaps
the m ost successful touring rock band o f all tim e — regu larly drew crow ds of
self-identified “ Deadheads,” dedicated fans w ho followed the band along their
March 6, 2007
concert tour route to eve ry show. These perform ances assum ed the character
of New Age spiritual gatherings in which audience m em bers clad in tie-dyed and
W H E R E A S the American Sociological Associa­
in sport harm Native American people in
beaded clothing sang along together to surrealist tunes— “ Box of Rain,” “ Eyes of
tion comprises sociologists and kindred profes­
psychological, educational, and social ways;
the W orld,” “ Sugar Magnolia,” “ China Cat Sunflower,” “ Friend of the Devil,” “ Dark
religion, media, sport, race and ethnicity,
W H E R E A S the continued use of Native Ameri­
jam s, often under the influence of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. Contem porary
racism, and other forms of inequality;
can nicknames, logos and mascots in sport
rock music festivals such as Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo continue to provide suc­
sionals who study, among other things, culture,
Sta r”— and performed free-form circle dances to improvised drum solos and guitar
shows disrespect for Native American spiritual
W H E R E A S the American Sociological
and cultural practices;
Association recognizes that racial prejudice,
stereotypes, individual discrimination and
W H E R E A S many Native American individuals
cessive generations of music fans w ith shared collective experiences enjoyed in
the presence of tens of thousands o f amped-up fellow travelers.
In today's highly m ediated cultural environm ent, live televised events have
the potential to g enerate sim ilarly efferve sce n t experiences am ong w h a t w e
institutional discrimination are socially created
across the United States have found Native
phenomena that are harmful to Native
American nicknames, logos and mascots in
m ight call an imagined com m unity o f view ers who, despite their lack of physical
Americans and other people of color;
sport offensive and called for their elimination;
proxim ity to one another, still feel as if they are m em bers of a collective audience
W H E R E A S the American Sociological Asso­
AND, W H E R E A S the continued use of Na­
the Florida recount of the 2000 presidential election, the afte rm ath o f the 9/11
ciation is resolved to undertake scholarship,
tive American nicknames, logos and mascots
terro rists attacks, the Am erican-led invasion of Iraq, the d evastation o f N ew
education, and action that helps to eradicate
in sport has been condemned by numerous
O rleans in the w ak e o f H urricane Katrina, and the historic election of President
racism;
reputable academic, educational and civil rights
sharing the sim ultaneity of a m om ent (Anderson 1991). R ecen t events include
organizations, and the vast majority of Native
B a ra ck Obam a. Ironically, reproduced m edia im ages o f live events can often
generate as m uch if not g rea te r feelings o f so lid arity am ong audiences, while
W H E R E A S social science scholarship has
American advocacy organizations, including but
demonstrated that the continued use of
not limited to: American Anthropological As­
Native American nicknames, logos and mascots
sociation, American Psychological Association,
in sport reflect and reinforce misleading
North American Society for the Sociology of
stereotypes of Native Americans in both past
Sport, Modern Language Association, United
and contemporary times;
States Commission on Civil Rights, National
only really see the candidate from afar on the jum bo video screens placed near
the actual events them selves can feel chaotic, disorienting, and even boring to
live spectators lost am ong the noisy crowds th e y attract. In the case of O bam a’s
celeb ratory acceptance speech in Chicago’s G ra n t Park on N ovem ber 4, 2008,
the occasion attracted so m any people th at even those w ho w ere present could
Association for the Advancement of Colored
the stage. M eanwhile, audiences w atching at home not only enjoyed close-up
W H E R E A S the stereotypes embedded in
People, Association of American Indian Affairs,
cam era shots of the president-elect and his fa m ily fro m the com fort o f th e ir
Native American nicknames, logos and mascots
National Congress of American Indians, and
living room s but likely had a m uch better v ie w of the effervescent crow d than
in sport undermine education about the lives
National Indian Education Association;
the actual p articip ants them selves.
NOW, T H E R E F O R E , BE IT RESO LVED , that
regularly scheduled live telecasts engineered to create collective effervescence
of Native American peoples;
The e x cite m e n t g en e ra te d by such e ve n ts has led to th e in s titu tio n o f
W H E R E A S social science scholarship has
the American Sociological Association calls for
demonstrated that the continued use of Na­
discontinuing the use of Native American nick­
tive American nicknames, logos and mascots
names, logos and mascots in sport.
on dem and. O ccasions such as the annual A cad em y A w ard s cerem onies and
the quadrennial D em ocratic and Republican presid ential nom inating co n ven ­
tio n s a re staged a ffa irs p ro m o te d and te le vise d to a w o rld w id e audience.
The historian Daniel Boo rstin (1961) refers to these kinds o f m edia rituals as
pseudo-events, happenings held sim ply for “ the im m ediate purpose o f being
reported or reproduced” (p. 11). C om petitive re a lity television series such as
Survivor and A m erican Idol replicate the staged featu res o f these ritual e vents
31
32
C H A P T E R 2: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT S
P O P U L A R C U LTU R E AS A R E S O U R C E FOR PUBLIC R EF LEC TIO N
by film ing th e ir season finales in real tim e before enorm ous studio audiences,
its sequel The Godfather, P a rt II (1974), and the M artin Scorsese picture Raging
perhaps in the hope th a t the collective enthusiasm of the live sp ectators will
Bull (1980), all w h ich fe a tu re e x tra o rd in a rily com plex and self-d estructive
rub off on hom e view ers.
figures from Charles Foster Kane to Michael Corleone to Jak e LaM otta. (R ecent
O f course, to a large e x te n t p ro fe ssio n a l sp o rtin g e ve n ts are s im ila rly
exam ples from the w orld of television include the H BO modern-day epics The
enacted fo r the purposes of being tran sfo rm ed into televised e n terta in m e n t
Sopranos and The W ire, and the Em m y A w ard-w inning AM C series M ad Men.)
for a m ass audience, w hich is w h y th e y are so often scheduled in prim e tim e to
These d ram as provide tem plates fo r exam ining the hum an condition, w a rts
conform to the needs o f com m ercial n e tw o rk television. For example, because
and all; to paraphrase the anthropologist Clifford G eertz (1973, p. 448), th e y
o f the tw elve-hour tim e difference betw een Beijing and N ew York, in 2008 N BC
are stories w e tell ourselves about ourselves.
struck a deal w ith the International Olym pic Com m ittee to m ove key Su m m er
W h ile seem ingly superficial in com parison, to a certain extent the culture
Gam es events such as sw im m ing and gym nastics to the m orning so th e y could
of celeb rity and e n tertain m e n t perform s a sim ilar function. In con tem p orary
be shown live on prim e-tim e Am erican television (C arter 2008).
culture celebrities are tre a te d as m ythical archetyp es to w hom w e assign all
sorts of extrem e attributes, w h e th e r beauty and grace, or avarice and gluttony
Popular Culture as a Resource for Public Reflection
(Gabler 2000). Regardless of how little w e m ay care for them as individual people
G re a t literature, dram a, and m yth take a b s tra c t ideas and universal them es
(G am son 1994), w e obsess over their reported com edic highs and tragic lows
such as death, betrayal, love, envy, regret, am bition, and revenge and m ake
because th e ir spotlighted stories provide resources for reflecting on the social
them com e alive by em bodying them in fictional characters and th eir fa n ta stic
w orld and the hum an experience. For example, let us take a popular staple of
tria ls— Oedipus, R om eo and Ju lie t, Don Quixote, Dr. Frankenstein, Eb enezer
celeb rity gossip: cheating and adultery. Tales of tw o-tim ing in H ollyw ood are
Scrooge, Ja y Gatsby. These m yths gain th eir cultural pow er from their ab ility to
legion and tend to be highly publicized affairs. Britis h a c to r Hugh G ra n t got
express the otherw ise ineffable sense of w h a t it feels like to be hum an. In the
caught cheating on his longtim e girlfriend, m odel and a ctress Elizabeth H u r­
last century, artists have taken advantage of the n arrative possibilities o f mass
ley, w h en he w a s arrested fo r soliciting a p ro stitu te in 1995. A cto r Jude L a w
m edia technology to illum inate these sam e crucial lite ra ry them es in visu ally
and his fiancee, actress Sienna Miller, broke off th eir engagem ent afte r it w as
compelling ways. Obvious cinem atic examples include the Orson W elles m aster­
revealed in 2005 th a t Law w as sleeping w ith D aisy W rig h t, his children’s nanny.
piece Citizen Kane (1941), the Francis Ford Coppola film The Godfather (1972) and
O f course, the m ost fam ous case o f public ad ultery in recent history took place
not in Hollywood but in W ashington, w hen President Bill Clinton w as discovered
to have carried on an illicit affair w ith M onica Lewinsky, a W h ite House intern.
(Their dalliances w ere said to have taken place in the only room in the w orld
w h ere the presid ent could be g uaranteed absolute p rivacy: th e O val O ffice.)
He w a s caught during his second term , a scan d al th a t e v e n tu a lly led to his
im peachm ent by the House of Rep resentatives in 1998 and his acquittal by the
U.S. Sen ate in 1999.
W h y w ere these stories so publicized, and w h y did readers follow them so
in te n tly? In m an y w ays, these tales of relationships gone a w ry serve the sam e
function as Aesop’s fables, trad itional folktales, and m orality plays: th e y give
tangible form to otherw ise ab stract ethical dilem m as concerning the nature of
hum an relations and social behavior. In doing so th e y become readily available
conversation starters, or “ w atercooler talk” (nam ed for the habit of white-collar
w orkers kibitzing by w atercoolers, coffee m achines, or other shared office am e ­
nities), w hereas adulterous affairs and one-night stands am ong actual friends
and acquaintances are generally not considered appropriate topics for public
discussion, p articu larly in the w orkplace. M eanwhile, ch atter surrounding the
lives of fam ous celebrities offers ordinary people opportunities for reflection
and debate on these and other sensitive issues w ith o u t fear (or at least concern)
After President Obama’s election victory, many people watching the celebration on television felt as
of em barrassing the principal characters of such gossip. O ther delicate topics
much solidarity with the candidate and his supporters as the crowd attending the event did. Why?
regularly m ade available fo r public discourse as a resu lt o f having em an ated
from the world of celebrity and entertainm ent culture include domestic violence,
33
34
C H A P T E R 2: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
P O P U LA R C U LT U R E AS A R E S O U R C E FOR PUBLIC R EF LEC TIO N
drug addiction, rapid w eight loss and gain,
35
A ctress Je n n ifer Garner, seen shopping for produce w hile seven m onths
e ating disorders, and the re la tiv e m e rits
pregnant;
and draw b acks of elective plastic surgery.
A cto r Hugh Jackm an, sw im m ing w ith his three-year-old daughter;
Nor do such topics end there: recall the end­
N A SC A R driver Je ff Gordon, w ith his one-year-old daughter.
less sp eculation and deliberation sparked
by the slow-speed hig hw ay chase, arrest,
W h a t is w ith this obsession over the baby children spaw ned by c eleb ritie s?
and court tria ls o f form er football star O. J.
One answ er has to do w ith the production o f e n terta in m e n t news. Celebrities
Simpson, accused and eventually acquitted
crave free publicity but only if it prom ises to re flect them in a positive light. But
of murdering his ex-wife and her lover in the
w hile celeb rities encourage the publication o f laud atory, puffed-up profiles
1990s (only to be late r convicted o f arm ed
and other flu ff pieces, jo u rn alists seek to uncover dirt, w h e th e r professional
robbery and kidnapping in 2008); the late pop
or personal— not n ecessarily because it tends to w a rd the negative and ta w d ry
singer M ichael Jackson, arrested and tried
(i.e., the tales of adultery discussed above), but because it is regarded as scarce
(and also e ven tu ally acquitted) on m ultiple
inform ation and therefore more likely to sell to inquiring readers on the basis
counts of child m olestation; basketball star
of its news value (G am son 1994). In negotiations betw een celebrity publicists
Kobe Bryant, arrested of sexually assaulting
and magazine editors, baby stories are then seen as the ultim ate com prom ise
a hotel em ployee (the case w as eventually
in w hich everyone wins: the celebrity is show n doting on her (or his) new born
dropped); and multimedia juggernaut Martha
children, selfless as can be, w hile the editors get access to the m ost intim ate
Stew art, convicted and jailed for obstruction
sa n ctu a ry of a fam ous person, the home or hospital bed, during a potentially
of justice and lying to federal investigators
once-in-a-lifetime even t (for th a t particular celebrity, at least).
about a suspiciously timed stock sale. In each
O f course, w hile this explains w h y m agazines run such stories, it does not
of these cases, the celebrity status of those
shed m uch light on w h y readers m ight care
arrested provided an excuse fo r the rest of
about celeb rity pregnancies or births in the
us to discuss grave m atters and pass m oral judg m ent w ith ease.
first place, outside of the obvious pleasure we
W e rely on celeb rity gossip fo r m uch lighter food for thought as well. For
receive from seeing cute pictures of happy
instance, the enthusiasm surrounding celeb rity pregnancies and parenthood
babies. Here, a functionalist perspective can
reaches a fever pitch in entertainm ent tabloid magazines. In 2008 People paid a
help provide an answ er. First, bear in mind
reported $14 million for the exclusive rights to publish photographs o f Angelina
the universality of pregnancy, childbirth, and
Jolie and Brad P itt’s new b orn tw ins. (The celeb rity couple prom ised to donate
parenthood in people’s lives— after all, w e all
the m oney to charity.) The babies w ere featured on the m agazine’s cover, just
cam e from so m eone’s belly. Second, w hile
as Je n n ife r Lopez and M arc A n th o n y’s new born tw in s did earlier th a t year. (In
childbirth obviously represents a celebrated
com parison to Bran gelina, the la tte r couple w a s reportedly paid a re la tiv e ly
m ilestone for parents, such experiences are
p a ltry $6 million fo r their photo rights.) In Decem ber 2008 a single issue o f US
fraught w ith anxieties, especially for women.
W eekly featured the follow ing “ n e w s” items:
W ill m y baby be h e a lth y? W h a t if she turns
out to have a crippling peanut allerg y? W ill
“ Nursing Confessions,” on the breast-feeding regim es of actresses
1 e v e r get m y b o d y back into trim sh ap e?
Jessica Alba, M arcia Cross, Salm a Hayek, and A m and a Peet;
W ill I have to put m y career on hold? Is the
Model and actress Rebecca Rom ijn, on w earing a bra during her
fa th e r around, and if so, is he up to the chal­
pregnancy;
lenge of hands-on p a re n tin g ? W id e sp rea d
A ctress Milla Jovo vich, on her one-year-old daug hter’s first w ords (apple,
m edia coverag e o f childbearing and child-
eyes, m am a);
rearing celebrities allows fo r a public airing
Acto r Ja c k Black, on his affection fo r his tw o sons, ages six m onths, and
and in ten se discussio n o f th ese a n x ie tie s
tw o years;
w ithout devastating social repercussions for
The singer Gwen Stefani and her husband Gavin
A cto r Adam Sandler, on the birth of his second daughter;
g ossipm ongers or th e ir targ ets. T h e y also
Rossdale pose with their son for photographers. Why
do celebrities and media outlets love to feature stories
A cto r Liev Schreiber and actress Naomi W a tts , on expecting th eir second
permit cultural consumers to make judgments
about celebrity babies? Why do consumers like to read
child;
on th e p a re n tin g style s o f o th e rs w ith o u t
them?
36
CHAPTER 2
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
n ecessarily appearing judg m ental (and w ith o u t ostracizing their friends and
R IT UA LS O F R E B E L L I O N IN P O P U L A R C U L T U R E
winning three silver medals, m edia profiles
neighbors). This explains w h y Michael Jackson w as so thoroughly criticized by
em phasized T orres’s “ obsessive attention
the public in 2002 for dangling his in fan t child over a third-floor hotel balcony
to her aging body,” for w hich she had hired
in Berlin w hile greeting adm iring fans. Pop singer B ritn e y Spears w as sim ilarly
“a head coach, a sprint coach, a strength
upbraided by the public in 2006 for driving a w a y from paparazzi photographers
coach, tw o stretch ers, tw o m asseuses, a
w ith her four-month-old son Sean Preston balanced on her lap— the incident
chiropractor and a nanny, at the cost of at
even received atten tio n from U.S. T ransportation S e c re ta ry N orm an M ineta,
least $100,000 per y e a r ” (W e il 2008). In
w ho called her behavior “ irresponsible” during an event in observance o f Child
m any w ays scandals surrounding the illegal
Passenger S a fe ty W eek . O f course, public judgm ents need not be negative or
use of steroids in professional and O lym ­
abusive, as illustrated by the large num bers o f flu ffy new s item s praising the
pic sports sim ilarly provide resources for
parental involvem ent of celebrity fathers. (A N ovem ber 2008 issue of US Weekly-
reflecting on the limits o f the hum an body
quoted then President-elect O bam a on its cover as confessing in a headline, “ I
and questions surrounding the blurry dis­
Think I’m a P re tty Cool Dad.”)
tinction between “ natural” and “enhanced”
Bringing the discussion full circle, w e can see how the world of professional
athletic abilities, the crim in a lity of drugs
sport also provides us w ith opportunities to re fle ct on the hum an condition.
and the ethics concerning the use o f bio­
Certainly, as evidenced through m agazines like Sports Illustrated and televised
m edical technology, and ultim a tely, the
e n te rta in m e n t such as E S P N ’s SportsC enter and N FL M ond ay N ig ht Football,
m eaning of accom plishm ent itself.
media surrounding professional athletics relies on the proliferation of biographi­
Finally, professional sports have long
cal n arratives, tales o f career trium ph and loss, grace and virtue, heartache and
provided a dynam ic context fo r public dis­
victory. These stories are a staple of the sports e n tertain m en t industry, and a
cussions about social inequality in America.
num ber o f perennial n arratives, or evergreens (G rin d sta ff 2002, p. 84), emerge
On April 15,1947, Jackie Robinson suited up
w ith rem arkable regularity. One set o f n arra tives chronicles the fru stratio n s
as No. 42 and took the field for the Brooklyn
of hard-luck franchises th a t success alw ays seem s to elude— Exhibit A might
Dodgers, becoming the first African Am eri­
v e r y w ell be baseb all’s Chicago Cubs, w ho have not w on a W o rld Series since
can ballplayer p erm itted to play for a m ajor league team since 1889. (Prio r to
1908. M eanwhile, the Philadelphia Eagles have never w on an N FL Super Bow l
the p o stw a r era, black players had been segregated into a num ber of baseball
Cham pionship, a fate th a t led the jo u rn a list Je re Longm an to w rite his 2005
organizations collectively called the “ Negro leagues.” ) Robinson w as arguably
Baseball great Jackie Robinson.
book I f F o o tb a ll’s a R elig ion, W h y D on 't W e H ave a P ra y e r? P h ila d e lp h ia , Its
one o f the greatest players of the gam e— he played in six W o rld Series and six
Faithful, and the Ete rn a l Quest fo r Sports Salvation. A related set o f n arratives
All-Star games, w on the N ational League MVP, and ended his career w ith a .311
feature standardized stories about long-suffering team s w ho break th e ir los­
batting average and eventually an induction into the M ajor League Baseball Hall
ing streaks a fte r years o f p atience, as w h en the Boston Red Sox broke th eir
of Fam e— ye t at the tim e his invitation to join the Dodgers w as so controversial
86-year drought and th eir fam ed “ Curse o f the Bam b ino" by w inning the 2004
th a t in his first m onths of p lay he braved death th reats from sports fans and
W o rld Series. (Local superstition has it th a t the losing streak had been caused
racial anim us from some of his ow n team m ates. B u t like other A frican A m e ri­
by trading the batting legend Babe R uth to the N ew Y o rk Yankees on Ja n u a ry
can athletes w hose tale n ts and determ in ation allowed them to break through
5, 1920; see B o re r 2 0 0 8). O th e r n a rra tiv e s atta ch m oral significance to the
the color barrier to achieve greatness, such as heavyw eig ht boxing cham pion
athletic achievem ents o f underdogs and long shots, like the 1980 U.S. O lym pic
Ja c k Johnson, Robinson’s courage to integrate the sport added a vital spark to a
H ockey team , a collection o f college and am ateu r players w ho eve n tu a lly w on
galvanizing national conversation about race and equality in Am erica and lent
th e gold medal afte r beating the odds-on favorite, the So viet Union. Athletic
support to other vocal defenders o f racial justice in the years leading up to the
accom plishm ents based on longevity, as w hen Baltim ore Oriole Cal Ripken, Jr.,
civil rights era o f the 1950s and 1960s. Indeed, over the years Jackie Robinson
broke Lou G ehrig’s record in 1995 for m ost consecutive baseball games played,
has becom e as much a symbol of the African A m erican struggle for civil rights
are often fram ed as m oral fables, as life lessons th a t emphasize the ethics of
and racial equality as Rosa Parks and Medgar Evers, and today his legend endures
w o rk and perseverance.
for his heroism and ch a ra cter as much as for his athletic achievem ents.
A n o th er set of n a rra tives concerns the n ature o f the hum an body and its
limits. These are often stories about aging and our attem pts to d efy its eroding
Rituals of Rebellion in Popular Culture
effects. In the lead-up to the 2008 O lym pic G am es in Beijing, China, w h en U.S.
In his research on so utheast A frica, the British anthropologist Max Gluckm an
sw im m er Dara Torres, a41-year-o!d mother, made a historic career comeback by
(1963) discovered a v a r ie ty o f trib al ritu a ls in w h ich m em b ers te m p o ra rily
37
38
RI TU A LS O F R E B E L L I O N IN P O P U L A R C U L T U R E
C H A P T E R 2: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
exchange status positions related to gender roles. On a set of rites in Zululand,
he reports:
The most important of these rites among the Zulu required obscene behavior
by the women and girls. The girls donned men’s garments, and herded and
milked the cattle, which were normally taboo to them. . . . At various stages
of the ceremonies women and girls went naked, and sang lewd songs. Men
and boys hid and might not go near. (p. 113)
Am ong the Swazi tribes o f Africa, another ritual emphasizes the public denigra­
tion of the king. In this cerem ony, priests assem ble in the royal cattle pen, and
am id the mooing cow s th e y chant:
You hate the child king,
You hate the child king.
I would depart w ith my Father (the king),
I fear we would be recalled.
They put him on the stone:
— sleeps w ith his sister:
— sleeps w ith Lozithupa ([the] Princess):
You hate the child king.
Members of the Trilby String Band perform during the 107th Annual Mummers Parade in
Philadelphia.
King, alas for your fate,
King, they reject thee,
King, they hate thee. (pp. 120 —21)
the annual N ew Y e a r’s D ay M um m ers Parade brings out thousands of workingclass men w ho m arch up Broad Street in sequined dresses, gowns, and face paint.
Despite the seem ingly tran sg ressive ch a ra c te r of both these displays, w hich
During A m erican celebrations of Halloween, children (and increasingly adults)
G luckm an calls rituals o f rebellion, th eir ultim ate purpose is actually to restore
dress in a kind of drag as well. Costumes representing crim inality or evil (pirates,
and so lid ify th e trib al social order. These ritu als represent a kind o f in s titu ­
chain gang inm ates, gunslingers, witches, vam pires, devils) are popular, as are
tio nalized pro te st th a t allow s su bord inate group m em bers to m o m e n ta rily
outfits resem bling uniform s w orn in backbreaking occupations involving often
let o ff steam w ith o u t a ctu a lly g ran tin g th em real p o w er for an y significant
undesirable “ d irty” w o rk (French maids, nurses, cow boys).
period o f tim e. (N o te th a t am ong th e Sw azi tribes, only the king h im s e lf is
R ituals o f rebellion are sim ilarly em bedded in popular e n te rta in m e n t and
p e rm itte d to organize the afo rem e n tio n e d ritu a l.) B y te m p o rarily in vertin g
m ass culture. S a tiric a l televisio n show s like S a tu rd a y N ig h t Live have created
the h ie rarch ical s tru c tu re of the social ord er as a form of play, such ritu als
a cottag e in d u stry built around poking fun a t po liticians and o th e r a u th o r­
rem ind p articip ants o f the do m inant status norm s th a t organize and regulate
ity figures. C om edians C h e v y C hase and Dan A y k ro yd began this tra d itio n
so ciety on a m ore d a ily basis.
on th e sh ow in the 1970s w ith im ita tiv e p e rfo rm a n ces th a t em phasized the
Rituals o f rebellion are sim ilarly a staple of W e ste rn popular culture, and
qu irky foibles o f presid ents G erald Ford and Jim m y Carter, ju s t as W ill Ferrell
have been for centuries. In the European age of m onarchs, court jesters w ere
h ila rio u sly poked fun at G eorge W . Bush’s m alap rop ism s in the run-up to the
p erm itted to tease and provoke kings and queens, ju st as m asks of form er and
2 000 p resid en tial election. In one sketch th a t aired O cto b er 7 o f th a t year,
current U.S. presidents and other political figures offer citizens the fun of ridiculing
Ferrell (as Bush) refe rs to his overall p resid en tial cam paign m essage as one
powerful people w ithout negative consequence, albeit in a ritual th a t reminds us
o f “ stra te g e ry,” w h ile in the sam e sketch Fe rrell's c o sta r D arrell H am m ond
o f th eir prestige. (A fter all, m asquerade shops ra rely sell m asks resem bling the
ru th le s s ly m ocks B u s h ’s D e m o c ra tic o p p o n e n t V ic e P re s id e n t Al G o re by
faces of ordinary people.) These and other rituals o f masquerade m ark instances
ex ag g eratin g his so u th ern d ra w l and dism issive eye-rolling exhibited d u r­
in w hich people announce th e ir eve ryd a y identities by tem porarily subverting
ing one of th e debates. In 2 0 0 8 fo rm er S N L head w r ite r T ina Fey re g u la rly
them through the use of costum es, masks, and cross-dressing. In Philadelphia,
p erform ed the role o f th e vice-p resid ential hopeful G o ve rn o r S a ra h Palin o f
39
40
T H E D A R K ER FUNCTIONS OF P O P U L A R C U L T U R E
C H A P T E R 2: FRIDAY NIGHT LIG HT S
Alaska, skew ering her rural speaking style and down-hom e m annerism s. H er
into a kind of o fficia lly san ctio n ed m ock p ro te st th a t barks but ra re ly bites,
m im ic ry o f th e ca n d id a te ’s so m etim es convoluted sy n ta x reached its height
all w hile increasing th e ce le b rity status of the ta rg eted public figures th e m ­
during a Sep tem b er 2008 episode in w hich she sim p ly read from a tra n s c rip t
selves. An d fo r w h a t it ’s w o rth , in the last e ig h t p re s id e n tia l electio n s th e
o f a te le vise d in te rv ie w th a t C BS an ch o r K a tie C ouric had con d u cted w ith
can d id ate w ith the best-selling H allow een m ask has w o u n d up w in n in g the
Palin e arlier in the w eek.
W h ite House (Gibbs 2008).
H ow “ rebellious” are these rituals? In m any w ays the ritualized character of
If these collective rituals of solidarity u ltim ately bolster the legitim acy of
these spoofs m itigates their potential bite— after all, if all fam ous politicians are
those in pow er by a rtfu lly appropriating dissent, other celebrations o f popular
cerem onially ridiculed in the same fashion by late-night comedians regardless of
culture reinforce norms of social inequality in fa r more obvious w ays. Again, the
p a rty affiliation, ideology, popularity, or com petence, the barbs hurled against
w orld o f sports provides endless examples. High school, collegiate, and profes­
them lose m uch o f th e ir sting. In this sense, becom ing a laugh line on Sa tu rd a y
sional football team s rely on scantily clad fem ale cheerleaders to heighten the
N ig ht Live or The Tonight Show represents little m ore than a flattering sign of a
self-esteem of m ale players and fans. In O lym pic beach volleyball com petition,
person’s celebrity ra th e r than a rejection o f his or her governing abilities. The
rules dictate that female players must w ear bathing suits, while male competitors
joking atm osphere surrounding the political sw ipes m ade by com edians in the
are perm itted to w e a r shorts and tank-top shirts. In com petitive gym nastics,
context o f mass e n tertain m e n t sim ilarly dim inishes how seriously vie w e rs will
young girls and adolescents suffer through m arathon training sessions, painful
a ctu ally evaluate such criticism s.
In fact, politicians have tra d itio n a lly b e n efitted enorm ously fro m these
kinds of comedic send-ups. A stable of elected officials have personally appeared
injuries, and, often, eating disorders as th e y struggle to please th e ir coaches,
team m ates, and parents w hile ignoring their basic health and em otional w e ll­
being (S e y 2008).
on SN L in order to m ock th e ir political stature on national television (and pres­
In ad d itio n to the abuse and sexual o b je c tifica tio n o f w o m en and girls
ent them selves publicly as good sports): N ew Y o rk C ity m ayors Ed w ard Koch
co m m o n ly celeb ra te d on a th le tic fields o f play, sp o rtin g e ve n ts also g lo rify
and R udolph Giuliani, fo rm e r Vice Pre sid e n t Al G ore, and a num ber o f 2008
th e exploits of rich c e le b rity a th le te s w ho e arn m illio ns o f do llars a y e a r in
presidential contenders, including Barack Obam a, H illary Rodham Clinton, and
salaries, bonuses, and en d o rsem en t deals. In 2008 th ree M ajor League B a s e ­
John McCain. (Gore, w ho lost the electoral college vote in the 2000 presidential
ball (M L B ) p la ye rs collected sa larie s o f o v e r $20 m illion, each paid to p la y
contest despite w inning the popular vote, perform ed a m em orably funny bit of
fo r th e N e w Y o rk Y an k ees: D erek Je te r ($21.6 m illion), Ja s o n G iam bi ($23.4
self-parody on SN L by begging cast m em bers of the N BC series The W est W ing
to let him sit at a studio replica o f the O val Office desk, so he could spend a few
brief m inutes pretending to be the president.) Even the w idely ridiculed Bush
and Palin have appeared on the show, each as candidates during their respective
electoral runs. Fe rrell’s im itation o f Bush m a y have m ade him seem buffoonish
but in doing so p o rtrayed him as an “ aw-shucks,” all-around “ re g u lar” guy—
not a bad outcom e fo r the candidate, a highly privileged scion o f a form er U.S.
president educated at Phillips Academ y, Yale, and H arvard . As if to illustrate
S N L ’s ineffectiveness as a tru ly rebellious political force, a fte r Bush becam e
president his advisor K arl Rove dubbed his w ee k ly m eeting w ith senior W h ite
House aides the “ S tra te g e ry G roup” (Zengerle 2004).
T h e Darker Functions of Popular Culture
This last set o f points addresses som e o f th e d a rk e r or m ore insidious fu n c ­
tio n s o f p o p u la r c u ltu re . Fo r m uch o f th is c h a p te r w e h a ve e x p lo red pop
c u ltu re ’s re la tiv e ly benign and pro-social functions, including the building of
social s o lid a rity and group cohesion, th e g e n e ra tio n o f co llective e ffe r v e s ­
cence, and the cre a tio n o f reso urces fo r social reflection . B u t as th e se last
exam ples o f "ritu a ls o f re b e llio n ” illustrate, th e p o w e r o f popular culture can
be m arsh a le d fo r a v a r ie ty o f purposes, and th e y do not benefit all m em bers
In elite gymnastics programs, young girls and adolescents often suffer through intense training,
o f s o c ie ty equally. In th e case o f p o litic a l s a tire , th e ritu a lis tic n a tu re o f
struggle with eating disorders, and ignore injuries in the hopes of pleasing their coaches,
e n te rta in m e n t co m e d y sh ow s like S a tu rd a y N ig h t Live tra n s fo rm s d issent
teammates, and parents.
41
42
TH E D A R K E R FUNCTIONS OF P O P U LA R C U LT U R E
C H A P T E R 2: =RIDAY NIGHT LIGHT S
m illion), and Alex Rodriguez ($28 m illion). In th a t sam e y e a r th e averag e sal­
0.03 percent of all high school m en ’s basketball players m ake it to the N BA .)
a ry fo r M LB p layers w as ju s t over $3 m illion, but th a t m ay be chicken feed
Cities desperate for the glory and visibility associated w ith professional athletics
com p ared to th e e arning s o f p ro fessio n al b ask e tb a ll players. In 2 008 — 09
offer sw e eth e a rt deals (such as financing new stadium construction projects)
th e a ve ra g e s a la ry fo r N a tio n a l B a s k e tb a ll A s s o c ia tio n (N B A ) b a llp la y e rs
to a ttra c t and retain sports franchises w hile v irtu a lly ignoring their crum bling
w a s $5,585 m illion, w h ile eight players m ade o ver $20 m illion, including Tim
schools and public infrastructure. Finally, the collective effervescence and inspi­
D un can ($20.60 m illio n), Allen Iverso n ($20.84 m illio n), Step hon M a rb u ry
rational n a rra tives generated by sports e n tertain m e n t can be appropriated all
($20.84 m illion), Kobe B r y a n t ($21.26 m illio n), Ja s o n Kidd ($21.37 m illio n),
too easily fo r advertising cam paigns th a t d ra w on the prestige o f world-class
and top m o n e ym a k e r K e v in G a r n e tt ($24.75 m illio n ). M eanw hile, acco rd in g
athletes such as Michael Jordan, Tiger W oods, and M aria Sharapova to sell sneak­
to Forbes, the m ost p rofitab le sport in the w o rld is football: the average te a m
ers, cam eras, soft drinks, fast food, and even underwear.
is w o rth $1 billion (th e ric h e s t te a m is th e D allas C ow b oys, v a lu e d a t $1.6
Despite the value o f th e fu n ctio n a list p erspective, m aking sense o f this
billion), and six N a tio n a l Fo otb all League (N F L ) te a m o w n ers are am ong th e
darker side of sports and e ntertainm ent requires expanding our w o rld view to
4 0 0 w e a lth ie s t A m erica n s.
include alte rn ative sociological understandings of h ow popular culture w orks.
M eanw hile, the collective effervescence produced by rituals of so lid arity
does not a lw a ys produce com m unal bliss but ofte n descends into a kind of
mob m e n ta lity or groupthink, som etim es w ith violen t consequences. On S u n ­
day night, Ju n e 14, 1992, the Chicago Bulls achieved th eir second consecutive
cham pionship v icto ry in the N B A finals by beating the Portland Trail Blazers in
six games. The w in w as im m ediately followed by w idespread celebration on the
streets of Chicago, a display o f re velry th a t e ven tu ally erupted into destructive
rioting and the looting o f g rocery and liquor stores in the city’s South and W e s t
Side black neighborhoods. B y night’s end, nearly 350 stores in the city had been
looted, over 1,000 people w ere arrested, and
90 police officers sustained injuries (Rosenfeld 1997). Riots also took place in M ontreal
in 1993 after the Canadiens (the city’s profes­
sional N atio n al H ockey League te a m ) w on
th e S ta n le y Cup Finals, and in V an co u ver,
British Columbia, in 1994 afte r the Canucks
lost th e S ta n le y Cup cham pionship to th e
N ew Y o rk Rangers. (Unsurprisingly, hockey
is very popular in Canada, as is soccer in Italy,
w here rioting fans in C atania killed a police
officer in 2007).
It is w o rth bearing in m ind th a t popu­
lar culture provides not only a resource for
re fle c tio n but also d istra ctio n , and again,
the w o rld o f p ro fe ssio n a l sp o rts p ro vid es
a num b er o f fittin g exam ples. (In fa ct, the
word itself derives from the French desporter,
which m eans “ to divert, amuse, please, play.”)
Too m a n y yo u n g m en fro m im p o verish e d
inner-city neig hborhoods risk th e ir futures
The film Hoop Dreams tells the story of two young men
on the slim hope th at they will grow up to play
from C hicago who s tru g g le to escap e th e in n e r c ity an d
professional basketball, their hoop dream s
becom e b a sk e tb a ll stars.
pulling th em fro m th e ir schoolw ork. (O nly
In the next chapter, w e w ill explore the e fficacy and relevance of our second
approach to popular culture, the critical approach.
43
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F O U N D A T I O N S O F T l 1C C R I T I C A L A P P R O A C H
Foundations of the Critical Approach
In his nineteenth-century critiques of modernity, the G erm an social theorist Karl
Marx w as am ong the first thinkers to draw attention to the problems associated
w ith the em ergence o f m ass culture under capitalism . Fo r Marx, a so c ie ty ’s
culture and its sym bolic im ag ery reflect its econom ic and social structure and
H IL E T H E W O R L D O F B R A N D IN G A N D A D V E R T IS IN G IS H A R D LY
reproduce it over tim e. In his great polemic, The Germ an ideology, M arx argues
new, to d ay it seems as though brands have penetrated every cre v ­
th a t the prevailing ideologies and cultural norms o f an y so ciety serve to benefit
ice of our society. A t universities, endowed professorships include
its ruling classes and perpetuate th e ir power: as an example, he observes th at
th e Taco Bell Distinguished Professor o f Hotel and R esta u ra n t Adm inistration
the em ergence o f codes o f ch ivalry and valor during the Middle Ages helped to
W
at W ash in g ton State, the K m a rt Chair of M arketing at W a y n e State, the Yahoo!
persuade untold num bers of soldiers to proudly fight to their deaths on behalf
Chair o f Inform ation-System s Technology a t Stanford, the LEG O Professor o f
o f th e ir leaders during the Crusades. (In the co n te x t o f m odern capitalism ,
Learning R esearch at MIT, and the Anheuser-Busch Professor of M anagem ent
one m ight sim ilarly argue th a t the Am erican cult o f individualism and liberty
at the U n ive rsity of Pen n sylvan ia (Klein 2002, p. 101). O ur professional sports
prom otes entrepreneurialism , the deregulation of m arkets, regressive tax poli­
stadium s have been renam ed for th e ir corporate sponsors: Houston's M inute
cies, and other social and econom ic program s favorable to business.) As Marx
M aid Park, W a s h in g to n ’s FedEx Field, N ew En g lan d ’s Gillette Stadium , and in
w rites, The ideas o f the ruling class are in e ve ry epoch the ruling ideas: i.e., the
Philadelphia, Citizens B a n k P ark and Lincoln Financial Field. Thanks to M cD on­
class w hich is the ruling m aterial force o f society, is at the sam e tim e its ruling
ald’s, product placem ent has w orked its w a y into m orning new s program s: the
intellectual force. The class w hich has the m eans o f m aterial production at its
fast-food giant pays to have its iced coffees and o th er m enu item s featu red
disposal, has control at the sam e tim e over the m eans o f m ental production,
prom inently on anchors’ desks in Chicago, Seattle, and Las Vegas (Clifford 2008).
so th a t thereby, generally speaking, the ideas o f those w ho lack the m eans of
Around the globe, the story is the same: Taco Bell has (perhaps ironically) opened
m ental production are subject to it” (Tucker 1978, pp. 172).
stores in Mexico City, w hile a Pizza H ut and K en tu ck y Fried Chicken stand in
In late r years, M arx’s theories o f culture and society, especially his ind ict­
v ie w o f the an cien t pyram id s o f G iza in A lexandria, Egypt. Starb ucks Coffee
m ent o f abusive form s o f ideology, would be re w o rk ed and updated by like-
Com pany m aintains stores throughout the Arab w orld in Jordan, K uw ait, Oman,
minded scholars throughout the tw en tieth century. One such thinker, Antonio
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Q atar, and the U nited A rab Em irates. As of Fe b ru a ry
Gram sci, an Italian political philosopher im prisoned during M ussolini’s reign in
2008, M cD onald’s had established 875 outlets across China, w ith plans to open
an additional 125 by the end o f the y e a r (Chen 2008).
In contrast to the hom egrown culture of Texas high school football discussed
in Chapter 2, the proliferation o f branding in contem porary culture suggests the
need for a m ore top-down model to explain w h ere popular culture com es from
and its e ffect on our o verall sensibilities. Accordin g to a critical approach to
popular culture, the ascendance of certain kinds o f pop culture can be explained
prim arily in term s o f their ability to reflect and reinforce the enormous economic
and cultural pow er of the m ass m edia industry. In co n trast to the functionalist
perspective discussed in the last chapter, the critical approach em phasizes the
darker aspects of popular culture— its ubiquity and dom inance in our society,
its consolidated ow nership am ong a fe w m ultination al corporations, its abil­
ity to m anufacture desires, perp etu ate stereotypes, and mold hum an minds,
p articu larly those of children. In this chapter, I apply this theoretical perspec­
tive to shed light on the organization of the m edia and culture industries, the
increased social inequalities brought about by th e ravages of global capitalism ,
and, of course, the p o w er of the brand.
Image on pp. 44-45:4 graphic from Adbusters magazine criticizing corporations for
encouraging consumerism.
An image from Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will. How is this film of Hitler’s rally at Nuremberg
an example of cultural hegemony at work?
47
48
F O U N D A T I O N S O F T H E CRITICAL A P P R O A C H
C H A P T E R 3: M O N S T E R S , INC
fascist Italy, recognized the ideological pow er o f culture as an effective m eans
49
fashion houses, jewelers, cosm et­
of social control. In contrast to the coercive violence suggested by the deploy­
ics firms, tobacco and liquor com ­
m e n t o f police and m ilita ry fo rce s, G ra m sc i (1971, pp. 169—70), d ra w s on
panies, the automobile industry,
Niccolo M achiavelli’s sixteenth-century political tre atise The Prince to explain
and, of course, the film studios and
how so cieties are m ore seam lessly controlled through the d issem ination of
record companies th a t helped to
m ass m edia because it disarm s and im m obilizes its audience by engineering
m anufacture the desires for such
popular consensus through the po w er of persuasion. This form of dom inance,
things in the first place.
often referred to as cultural hegemony, is m ost pointedly illustrated by the use
A d d it io n a lly , t h e y a rg u e
of propaganda in Nazi Germ any, such as Leni R ie fen sta h l’s Triumph o f the Will,
th a t th e fo rm u la ic a m u se m e n t
the glorifying d o cum entary film of Adolf H itle r’s 1934 rally at N urem berg th a t
p r o v id e d b y p o p u la r c u ltu r e
helped inspire millions o f ord in ary G erm an citizens to subm it to Nazi rule.
encourages “ the stunting o f the
During H itle r’s rise to power, a num ber of secular Jew ish intellectuals from
mass-media consum er’s powers
G e rm a n y fled to the U nited States, w here m an y turned their a ttention to the
of im agination and spontaneity,”
pow er of A m erican m edia and popular culture, p a rticu larly Disney, radio, jazz,
rendering working- and middle-
and Hollyw ood film. Regarding com m ercial jazz and popular music, Theodor
class audiences so deluded th a t
Adorno identifies its “ factory-m ad e” standardization as the root of its “ lasting
th ey overlook the source of their
dom ination o f the listening public and of th eir conditioned reflexes" (Adorno
ow n ex ploitation as underpaid,
1989, p. 202). In a 1947 essay, “ The Culture Industry: Enlightenm ent as Mass
o v e r w o r k e d , and d e p riv e d o f
Deception,” Adorno and his frequent collaborator Max Horkheim er further assert
their autonom y and c re a tiv ity as
In -1927, Warner Bros, released The Jazz Singer, which became the
the hom ogeneity and hegemonic pow er of com m ercial popular culture: “ Culture
employed workers. As th e y write,
f'rst feature-length film with dialogue, though it had only 350 words.
“ The sound film, fa r surpassing
Why didAd° rn° criticize “t a le s ’ for leaving no room for imagination?
now impresses the sam e stam p on everything. Films, radio and magazines make
up a system w hich is uniform as a w hole and in e ve ry p a rt
Under m onopoly
the th e a tre of illusion, leaves no
capitalism all m ass culture is identical, and the lines o f its artificial fram e w o rk
room for im agination or reflection on the part of the a u d ie n c e .. . . All the other
begin to show through” (Adorno and H orkh eim er 1993, p. 31).
film s and products of the e n tertain m en t ind ustry w hich th e y have seen have
T h e y propose a top-dow n th e o ry of m ass m edia, com paring A m erica n
popular culture to political propaganda by arguing th a t the irresistible film s and
music created by culture-producing firm s under m onopoly capitalism
such
as the Big Five m ovie studios of H o llyw ood ’s Golden Age (M GM , Fox, W a rn e r
taught them w h a t to expect; th e y react autom atically. The m ight o f industrial
so ciety is lodged in m en’s m inds” (p. 34).
In an essay on the “ regression of listening,” Adorno w arns o f the psychologi­
cal im p act th a t contem porary popular music has on its fans:
Bros., RKO, and P a ra m o u n t)— help their com panies solidify and m aintain their
ow n econom ic po w er and social dom inance. (U n til the collapse of the studio
It is contemporary listening which has regressed, arrested at the infantile
system , the dom inance o f the Big Five w as due in no sm all part to th eir earlier
stage. Not only do the listening subjects lose, along w ith freedom of choice
o w nership of th e a te r chains in addition to film studios, giving th em control
and responsibility, the capacity for conscious perception of music, which
over the distribution o f not only th eir ow n m ovies but those o f th e ir would-be
was from time immemorial confined to a narrow group, but they stubbornly
com petitors as w ell.) As Adorno and H orkh eim er observe, “ M ovies and radio
reject the possibility of such perception
need no longer pretend to be art. The tru th th a t th e y are ju st business is made
be expected on the basis of an interpretation of the new type of listener in
They are not childlike, as might
into an ideology in o rder to ju s tify the rubbish th e y deliberately produce. They
terms of the introduction to musical life of groups previously unacquainted
call them selves industries; and w h en th e ir d ire cto rs’ incom es are published,
with music. But they are childish; their primitivism is not that of the unde­
any doubt about the social u tility of the finished products is rem oved. . . . The
veloped, but that of the forcibly retarded. . . . There is actually a neurotic
result is the circle of m anipulation and re tro active need in w hich the un ity of
mechanism of stupidity in listening, too; the arrogantly ignorant rejection
the system grow s ever stron g er” (p. 32).
of everything unfam iliar is its sure sign. Regressive listeners behave like
To this end, Adorno and Horkheim er argue th a t rather than satisfy preexist­
ing desires among audiences, the culture industries rely on advertising, popular
children. Again and again with stubborn malice, they demand the one dish
they have once been served. (Adorno 1997, pp. 286, 290)
music, and the glamour of cinem a to invent new (and largely useless) desires for
consum er goods, all to be fulfilled through shopping and entertainm ent— thus
These kinds o f criticism s of Am erican popular culture would be echoed through­
creating endless m arkets for the surplus products sold by departm ent stores,
out the second half of the tw e n tie th cen tu ry and into our present m odern age
SO
T H E P O W E R O F T H E C U L T U R E IN D U S TR IE S
C H A P T E R 3: M O N S T E R S . INC
by a vast array of scholars, public
T h e Power of the Culture Industries
intellectuals, journalists, and a rt­
W h a t Am erican child cannot recognize the blue-and-white lettering of Nabisco’s
ists troubled by the ever-increas­
O reo logo, or the sm iling leprechaun w ho adorns e ve ry box of G eneral M ills’
ing hegem ony and consolidated
Lucky Charm s b reakfast cereal? The global dom inance o f the culture industries
eco nom ic p o w er o f the cu ltu re
is illustrated by the ubiquity o f the w o rld ’s m ost recognizable brands— Pepsi,
industries, the global proliferation
Starb ucks, Nike, Apple, Kellogg’s, Nintendo. In 2007 Interb rand undertook a
of their products, and w h a t some
su rvey of the 100 B e st Global Brands, as m easured by finan cial a n alysts on
regard as an overall low ering of
the basis o f custom er demand, consum er loyalty, and forecasts of current and
c u ltu ra l stan d ard s. In his book
future revenues attributab le to the brand, am ong other valuation strategies.
Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil
In te rb ra n d s rankings should surprise fe w readers: its top five brands w ere
Postm an (1984) w arn s Am erican
Coca-Cola (#1), M icrosoft (#2), IBM (#3), G eneral Electric (#4), and Nokia (#5).
read ers th a t our collective re li­
O ther pop culture brand leaders included M cDonald’s (#8), Disney (#9), Mercedes
ance on televisio n fo r our n ew s
Benz (#10), B M W (#13), M arlboro (#14), Louis Vuitton (#17), and Google (#20).
as w e ll as e n te r ta in m e n t has
The cultural dom inance of these brands is reflected in their econom ic power:
tran sfo rm ed our national public
Interbrand estim ates Coca-Cola’s brand value a t over $65 billion; m eanwhile,
discourse into “ dangerous non­
the Coca-Cola Com pany employs over 90,000 w orkers, enjoys distribution in
sense .. . shriveled and ab surd ”
over 200 countries, m arkets over 450 different beverages, and sells 1.5 billion
(p. 16). In a series o f p e n e tra t­
consum er servings of liquid refreshm ent per day.
ing and in cisive e ssa ys fo r the
The seem ingly lim itless v a rie ty o f Coca-Cola products— Coca-Cola C las­
edgy journal the Baffler, cultural
sic, Diet Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, A & W , B a rq ’s, C anada Dry, Mr. Pibb, Crush,
c ritic T h o m as Fra n k pokes fun
Schweppes, DASAN I, Hires, Squirt, Minute Maid Splash, Fresca, Poms, Odwalla,
a t how co n te m p o ra ry a d v e rtis ­
P O W E R a d e , Oasis, Hi-C, Mello Yello— suggests a v a s t and sticky landscape of
ers a tte m p t to tap into the lu crative yo uth m a rk e t by app rop riating im ages
consum er choices at the same tim e th at it reminds us o f the dominance of Coca-
o f co u n te rcu ltu ra l style to repackage m undane p roducts from diet colas to
Cola as an econom ic powerhouse. (For its ow n part, Coca-Cola’s longtim e rival
sugarless chew ing gum as rebellious, radical, hip, and on the bleeding edge of
Pepsi is the label behind M ountain Dew, Sie rra Mist, Mug R oot Beer, Lipton Iced
extrem e cool, som etim es to ridiculous effect. As Frank (1997) observes, recent
Tea, Gatorade, A quafina W ater, SoBe Adrenaline Rush, and Starbucks Frappuc-
ad slogans include such "su b versive” m an tras as “ Som etim es You G o tta Break
cino.) O f course, as goes the concen tration of th e beverage industry, so goes
the Rules” (Burger King), “ The Rules Have C hanged” (Dodge), and This is d if­
the pop culture field as a w hole. W h ile the to ta l output o f the media, culture
ferent. D ifferent is good” (A rb y’s). In Fast Food N ation, a shocking expose and
and e n tertain m en t industries (m ovies, books, television shows, com pact discs,
ind ictm ent of M cD onald’s, Burger King, and the entire corporate food service
DVDs, comics, video gam es) seem s infinite, in point of fa c t they represent the
empire, journalist Eric Schlosser (2002) uncovers a gold mine of industry secrets:
product o f only a small handful o f highly profitable m ultinational corporations.
the subpar quality o f m ost fast-food burger m eat, the chem ical additives th at
M ost readers know th a t only four m ajor broadcast netw orks (CBS, N BC, ABC,
give M cDonald's French fries their delicious flavor, the poor tre a tm e n t o f ado­
and FOX) control high-quality television program m ing on free Am erican TV. But
lescen t fast-food w o rk ers, th e ad cam paigns th a t ta rg e t sm all children and
it m ay surprise some to learn th a t nearly all popular m usic sold in the United
public school districts.
M eanwhile, in the last fe w decades a v a rie ty of exciting social m ovem ents
States to d ay is released on a record label controlled by one o f only four m ajor
media companies: So n y Music Entertainm ent, W a rn e r Music Group, EM I Group,
(m an y led by young people) have mobilized millions of activists against some
and the biggest, U niversal Music Group. Sim ilarly, the English-language book
of the culture industry's biggest offenses. T hey include the w idespread abuse of
publishing in d u stry is dom inated by ju st four firm s: HarperC oIIins, Random
sw eatshop labor em ployed to produce brand-nam e fashion and toys in China,
House, Penguin, and Sim on & Schuster. The seven p arent companies, discussed
V ietn am , Thailand, and other Asian countries; the deplorable presentation of
below, th a t produce and distribute m ost o f the p la n et’s m ass-m arketed music,
negative stereotypes o f w o m en and racial m inorities in television, m usic v id ­
films, books, television, and cable together are the v e ry portrait of consolidated
eos, and film; and the consolidation of radio, television, and cable ow nership in
m edia and cultural power.
monopolized m edia m arkets controlled by a m ere handful of com panies such as
Clear Channel, Com cast, and Tim e W a rn e r (Klein 2002; Klinenberg 2007).
S o n y C orp oration o f A m erica. The U.S. subsidiary o f the So n y Corporation
em ploys a w orkforce o f 180,500 people, and in fiscal ye a r (FY ) 2008 enjoyed
57
C H A P T E R 3: M O N S T E R S , INC
T H E P O W E R O - T H E C U L T U R E IN DU STR IES
53
$88.7 billion in sales w orld w ide ($29 billion in the United States). Their holdings
include Sony Music En tertain m en t, one of the four m ajor record com panies in
the world; its subsidiary labels include Arista, BN A, Burgundy, Columbia, Epic, J
Records, Jive, LaFace, Legacy Recordings, Provid ent Label Group, RCA and RCA
Victor, So n y M asterw orks, and V e rity Records. Its m otion picture arm , So n y
Pictu res E n te rtain m en t, includes Colum bia Pictu res, T riS ta r Pictures, M G M /
nliifi.. ililii ®Wi, I. Ilill Iilnll
iiiiiii I I Til 111
s
I.
i
U nited Artists, Screen Gem s, Sony Pictures, and Sony Pictures Classics. Sony
Pictures Television includes daytim e soaps like The Young and the Restless and
Days o f Our Lives, and game shows like W heel o f Fortune and Jeopardy!, w hich
air on its ow n Gam e Sh ow N etw o rk (G SN ). The co m p an y’s DVDs are released
through So n y Pictures Hom e En te rtain m en t, and th e y can be enjoyed on the
w ide-screen televisio ns, DVD players, and surround-sound th e a te r system s
made, of course, by So n y Electronics.
Tim e W a rn er. The com pany w hose Batm an sequel The Dark K n ig h t sh a t­
tered box-office records in 2008 to become the second-highest-grossing film
of all tim e is no joker. Tim e W a rn e r em ploys about 86,000 people, and its Tim e
W a rn e r Cable is the second largest cable operator in the United States, on which
view ers can enjoy their favorite programs on Cable N ew s N etw ork (CNN), Home
Box Office (H BO ), Cinem ax (M AX), TNT, and truTV, all of which are also ow ned by
Tim e W a rn e r (as is The CW, a jo in t venture w ith C BS Corporation). M eanwhile,
W a rn er Bros. Television’s most successful TV series include ER, Smallville, Without
a Trace, Cold Case, Nip/Tuck, The Closer, and Two and H a lf Men. The com pany
releases its m ovies (w hich include the H a rry Potter film s) through W a rn e r Bros.
Pictures, N ew Line Cinem a, Fine Line Features, and Castle Rock Pictures. Its
publications include Time, People, E n te rta in m e n t Weekly, Sports Illustrated ,
Fortune, Money, and the entire DC Comics empire; on the Internet, Tim e W a rn e r
controls the behem oth A O L (along w ith A O L Instant Messenger, MapQuest, and
M oviefone), and at T urner Field it owns the A tla n ta B rave s baseball team .
W a lt D isn e y C om pany. M ick e y M ouse is one rich rodent. In ad d itio n to
D isney’s m any them e parks and fam ily resorts, D isney ow ns ABC Studios and
the ABC Television N e tw o rk (including ABC N ew s and ABC Sports), as w ell as
E SPN , Lifetim e, and of course th e D isney Channel. The com pany creates and
distributes m ovies under W a lt D isney Pictures and its Pixar A n im ation Studios,
Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, and M iram ax Films; and DVDs through
W a lt Disney Studios Hom e Entertainm en t. They also license their global brand
through Disney Toys and D isney Apparel, all sold at D isney Stores throughout
North Am erica, Europe, and Japan. Their classic films (Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Bam b i, The Ju n g le Book) are legendary, w hile th e ir recent
m oneym akers m ay be even bigger: The Lion King, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo,
the tw o Toy Story films and the three Pirates o f the Caribbean pictures, the Disney
C hannel’s High School M usical and its sequels, and the pop culture juggernaut
V ia co m . The centerp ie ce o f this m edia cong lom erate is M TV N etw orks,
w h ich in ad d itio n to M T V its e lf includes som e o f th e hippest real e sta te on
cable television for teens— Com edy Central, VH1, Spike TV, N ickelodeon, and
FIGURE 3.1
th a t is H annah M ontana.
The Consolidation of Media C orporation s
52
54
C H A P T E R 3: M O N S T E R S . INC
The N— as w ell as Rhapsody, the digital music service. To top it off, Viacom also
T H E P O W E R O F T H E C U L T U R E IN D U S TR IE S
newspapers (including the Los Angeles Times,
ow ns Black E n te rta in m e n t Television (B E T ) N etw orks, w hich targ ets A frican
Chicago Tribune, Newsday, B a ltim o re Sun,
A m ericans and consum ers of black popular culture. Viacom s m otion picture
Florida Sun-Sentinel, Orlando Sentinel, and
arm is the Param ount Pictures Corporation, which includes Param ount Pictures,
the H artford Courant), 23 television stations,
Param ount Vantage, D ream W orks Studios, M TV Films, Nickelodeon Movies, and
Chicago’s W G N -A M , and the cable channel
Param ount Hom e Entertainm en t.
W G N A m erica, not to m ention the Chicago
C B S C orp oration. Fo rm erly p a rt of the V iacom fam ily, the C BS C orp ora­
Cubs. But the biggest w inner of the Telecom ­
tion ow ns the C BS Television N etw ork, C BS Radio, Show tim e (SH O ), The Movie
m unications A ct m ay be Clear Channel and
Channel (TMC), and The C W (owned join tly w ith W a rn e r Bros.). CBS Param ount
th e ir w h o p p in g 1,200 rad io statio n s, or 8
Television N etw ork coproduces hit programs, including the entire CS/ franchise.
percent o f all the radio stations in the entire
M eanw hile, C BS also ow ns Sim on & Schuster, one of the four largest English-
co u n try (Klinenberg 2007).
language book publishers in the world: its im prints include Scribner, Free Press,
and Pocket Books.
In addition, note th at for all the talk about
th e d iv e rs ity o f n e w s and e n te rta in m e n t
G eneral Electric. G E m akes m uch m ore than just lightbulbs. As the ow ner
o ffered on the In te rn e t, the m o st popular
o f N BC U niversal, it is the parent com pany of the N BC Television N etw ork, as
sites are ow ned by th e g lob e’s w e a lth ie s t
w ell as M SN BC , CNBC, USA, Bravo, Oxygen, S y fy (fo rm erly known as the SCI FI
m edia g iants. A ccordin g to the P ro je ct for
Channel), and Telemundo, the Spanish-language television network. Its U n iv e r­
Excellence in Journalism ’s 2008 report on The
sal Media Studios produces (or coproduces) The Office, 30 Rock, and all of the
S ta te o f the News Media, the 10 m ost visited
L a w & O rd e r series; and N BC U n iversal’s m ovie w ing includes Universal Pictures,
new s sites on the W e b include (in descend­
Focus Features, Rouge Pictures, and U niversal Studios Home En tertain m en t.
ing order) the heavily branded Yahoo! News,
The com pany also holds investm ents in A&E, the H istory Channel, the Biography
M S N B C (a joint ven tu re betw een M icrosoft
Channel, the Sundance Channel, and TiVo.
and N BC Universal), Time W a rn e r’s CNN and
The cartoon character Bart Simpson was created for
N ew s C orporation. Founded by m edia mogul R upert Murdoch, N ew s Corp.
AO L News, the N ew York Times, G annett (the
the Fox Television Network, which is owned by News
has its hand in a little o f everything. As of M arch 2008, the com pany held $62
nation’s largest newspaper publishing chain),
Corp. Over the years, Bart has been used to market
billion of assets and $32 billion in total annual revenues. Its m otion picture arm
Disney’s ABC News, Google News, USA Today,
includes 20th C entury Fox and Fox Searchlight Pictures. It owns the FO X B ro a d ­
and C BS News. According to the Alexa U.S.
many products including candy bars, fast food, toys,
and magazines.
casting Com pany and 35 local television stations, and the cable channels FX, FOX
Traffic Rankings for March 2009, the 10 most
Sports Net, and FOX News; it produces and distributes T V programming through
visited W e b sites overall include (again, in descending order) Google, Yahoo!,
20th C entury Fox Television and Fox Television Studios. Its publications include
Facebook, YouTube, M ySp ace, M icro so ft W in d o w s Live, M icro so ft N e tw o rk
the W a ll Street Journal, New York Post, TV Guide, and G reat B rita in ’s Sun, and
(M SN ), W ikipedia, eBay, and Craigslist. O ther com m ercial powerhouses in the
the Times of London. The com pany also owns HarperCollins, another one of the
Top 20 include A O L (#11), Blogger (#12), Am azon (#13), CN N (#15), M icroso ft
four largest English-language book publishers in the world: its im prints include
C orporation (#16), E S P N (#19), and Com cast (#20).
Avon, W illia m M orrow, and H arper Perennial. On the W eb, News Corp. owns the
popular social netw orking site M ySpace.
55
W h e n we recognize popular culture’s relationship to these m edia giants, it
tends to lose som e of its glam our and aura. A fte r all, it is hard to id entify w ith
Alone or as a collective, these seven m ega-firm s w ield enorm ous pow er—
yo u r favorite rebel-yelling bands after you realize th a t th eir music videos are
th e y control billions o f dollars of assets, hundreds o f thousands of jobs, and
little m ore than com m ercials for one of the four m ajor record labels, and th a t
untold political influence in Washington, particularly w ith regard to m edia policy.
our rock and hip-hop heroes have been packaged and sold like soft drinks and
In p art as a result of th e ir lobbying efforts, in the mid-1990s Congress passed
p o tato chips by a m u ltin a tio n al corp oration. Suddenly, B a rt Sim pson doesn’t
the Telecom m un ications A ct o f 1996, w hich elim inated m any o f th e caps on
seem so subversive w hen revealed as a m arketing icon em ployed to boost the
m edia ow nership th a t fo rm erly lim ited the num ber o f new spapers and radio
pow er of N ew s Corp. and its stu ffy W all Stre et Jo u rn a l (or its billionaire ow ner
and television stations a single firm could control. As a result of this landm ark
R u p e rt Murdoch).
legislation, m onopolies like Citadel Broadcasting are able to ow n 165 FM and
Am id an illusionary paradise o f endless cable channels, Top 40 radio s ta ­
58 AM radio stations. Sinclair Broad cast Group ow ns and operates, program s,
tions, teen pop m usic groups, and beverages laden w ith high-fructose corn
or provides sales se rv ice s to 58 televisio n statio n s in 35 m arkets, reaching
syrup, w e discover th a t all are ow ned by the sam e m inuscule num ber o f elite
approxim ately 22 percent of all U.S. households. The Tribune Company owns nine
p aren t com panies beholden to shareholders concerned w ith profits, above all.
56
R E P R O D U C I N G S O C I A L INEQ UA LITY
C H A P T E R 3: M O N S T E R S , INC
Perhaps it is no w o n d er th a t the cookie-cutter products o f this consolidated
m edia in d u stry som etim es seem so boringly sim ilar, offering the sam e tired
sounds and id entically bland tastes, even if th e ir coatings are as decep tively
d iffe re n tia te d as the iridescent-colored m a rsh m a llo w s in a bowl o f frosted
Lucky Charm s.
Reproducing Social Inequality
The critical approach to popular culture emphasizes how the popularity of m o v­
ies, cartoons, cookies, and dance music serves to increase the profits of giant
corporations like U niversal Music Group, Viacom , C lear Channel, Nabisco, and
Coca-Cola. As our purchases of compact discs and diet soda bolster their economic
power to even greater heights, th e y simultaneously widen the gulf between these
enormous companies and their would-be competitors: independent record labels,
low-power com m unity radio stations, small-batch beverage bottlers, and locally
ow ned newspapers. The inequality am ong local businesses and m ultinationals
plays itself out on the w o rld ’s stage as well, as the international dom inance of
Am erican products from fast-food ham burgers to celebrity-endorsed sneakers
snuffs out local trad itions in fa ra w a y places like China, w here the rise of global
capitalism represents its ow n kind o f cultural revolution. The social inequality
existing betw een w ea lth y nations like the U nited States and Third W o rld coun­
In 2008 a California judge ordered Starbucks to pay baristas in that state more than $100
million in back tips that the coffee chain had illegally diverted to shift supervisors. What are other
examples of cultural industries exploiting workers?
tries such as Mexico, V ietn am , Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines is best
exem plified by the conditions of export processing zones in the la tte r states,
w h ere m illions of sw eatshop fa c to ry w orkers stitch brand-nam e clothes and
Em ploym ent O pportunity Commission (EEO C) o f the federal governm ent, along
shoes fo r Nike, Reebok, Cham pion, Liz Claiborne, Old Navy, and The Gap fo r no
w ith private plaintiffs, filed a law suit against the clothing chain Abercrom bie &
m ore th an a fe w dollars per day (Klein 2002).
W h ile not as severe as the exploitation o f T hird W o rld labor, th e culture
Fitch (A & F) in U.S. D istrict C ourt in San Francisco, accusing the com pany of
steering racial m inorities into backroom jobs and a w a y from the m ore public
industries tre a t their w orkforce in Am erica w ith a sim ilar lack of dignity and care.
sales floor. (A&F settled the law suit out o f court, at a cost of $50 million.) During
M cD onald’s, Starbucks, and Borders Books and Music have all been accused of
the law suit, it becam e public th a t Abercrom bie & Fitch’s d iscrim inatory hiring
relying on intimidation tactics to prevent their underpaid workers from unionizing.
policies also included the staffing o f young w om en on the basis of their sexual
In 1997 a W ashington ju ry found th a t Taco Bell regularly forced its em ployees to
attractiveness. According to inform ants quoted in a 2000 story published in the
w o rk off the clock, simply to avoid paying them overtim e (Schlosser 2002, p. 74).
H a rva rd Crimson, “G irls had to have shorts above a certain le n g th .. . . A lot of
In 2008 the Associated Press reported th a t a Superior Court judge in California
the scheduling has to do w ith how you look. . . . T hey didn’t put unp retty people
ordered Starbucks to pay its statew id e baristas m ore than $100 million in back
on during peak tim es. The scrubby girls had to clean all the tim e. The greeters
tips th a t the coffee chain had illegally diverted to shift supervisors. (Starbucks,
didn’t even have to re fo ld ... . And it w as an unspoken rule w ith [a m anager]
a com pany th a t g en erated revenues o f over $9 billion in 2007, im m ed iately
th a t girls w ere a t or below a size six” (M arek 2000).
announced th a t th e y w ould appeal the decision.) Fast-food re stau ra n ts like
In addition to their often controversial hiring practices, the culture industries
M cDonald’s typically hire unskilled adolescent w orkers because they are thought
reproduce social in eq u ality by reinforcing degrading stereo typ es o f w om en,
to be docile em ployees willing to w o rk for low pay w ithout com plaint (Schlosser
m inorities, and the poor in the countless images th e y reproduce fo r the mass
2002, p. 68). M eanwhile, since the 1990s, culture-producing firm s from VH1 to
m arket. Hollywood films have historically portrayed their male villains as ethnic
M e n ’s Jo u rn a l have driven dow n ind ustry w ages by relying on unpaid interns as
caricatures, w hether Native Am erican (The Searchers), Mexican (The Treasure of
a surplus pool of free labor (Fred erick 2003).
the Sie rra M adre), G erm an (Die Hard), Japanese (The Bridge on the R iver Kw ai),
If these w orker-unfriend ly policies heighten the inequality betw een labor
Vietnam ese (The Deer Hunter), A frican A m erican (N e w Ja c k City), Russian (A ir
and capital (to use M a rx ’s language), less-official hiring strategies em ployed
Force One), Cuban (Bad Boys II), or Arab (Syriana). Meanwhile, fem ale villains in
by retailers in the culture industries exacerbate the social inequality typ ically
film are often psychotically obsessed— Alex Fo rrest (played by Glenn Close) in
experienced by w o m en and m in o rities in th e w o rk p lace . In 2004 th e Equal
Fa ta l A ttraction, Annie W ilk es (K a th y Bates) in Misery, Hedy Carlson (Je n n ifer
57
C H A P T E R 3: M O N S T E R S . INC
P O P U L A R C U L T U R E AS SOCIAL C O N T R O L
of Asian ethnic stereotypes. According to one o f her m ale inform ants, an Asian
Am erican acto r in his late 50s:
It’s just that people who write these characters, most of the time they don’t
know very much about us. They get a very mixed image, because they don’t
know. They throw everything together. I mean, every Asian culture is mixed
in. The name, place, culture, age, generation. It’s amazing, you read, some­
times you read a character that you kind of, okay, this character’s name is
Vin, which is Vietnamese, right. And that he originated from Cambodia, which
is another country altogether. But he’s being pursued by the Tongs, which
happen to be a Chinese criminal element. And that he [performs] a particular
culturally specific behavior as bowing, which is Japanese, (p. 34)
A n other one of Yuen’s inform ants, a South Asian Am erican actress, complained
th a t casting directors consistently passed her o ver because her skin tone w as
considered too dark, or alte rn ative ly, too light (p. 41). W o m e n o f color often
experience a lack of op p o rtu n ity in casting sessions. According to an A frican
A m erican actress in her late 30s:
According to Nancy Wang Yuen, many actors in Hollywood are pigeonholed into roles that rely on
stock characterizations of ethnic stereotypes. For example, consider how Middle Eastern men are
portrayed in films such as Syriana (left). Even reality television show participants, such as Omarosa
It’s tough when you’re a woman of color. How do you explain it? Hollywood
Manigault-Stallworth (right), are frequently typecast in stereotypical ways.
does not always consider women of color .. . for those quality roles and if
there is that one role, everybody’s fighting for it because it’s that one good
opportunity and you know normally it’s gonna go to somebody th at’s prob­
Jason Lee) in Single W h ite Female, Darian Fo rrester (Alicia Silverstone) in The
ably a little bit more established, (p. 25)
Crush. In the movies, A frican Am erican comedians from Eddie M urphy to M artin
Law rence to T yler P e rry regularly dress in drag to caricature black w o m en as
Meanwhile, all w om en experience sexism in the film and television industries:
ugly and overbearing (Collins 2005, p. 125).
even H ollyw ood’s top-paid actresses— Reese W itherspoon, Angelina Jolie, Cam ­
On the small screen, these stereotypes prevail. Hip-hop videos typically por­
eron Diaz, Nicole Kidm an, Renee Zellweger, Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts— make
tra y A frican Am erican men as stre et thugs and black w om en as b arely dressed
considerably less than their male A-list counterparts. Older actresses additionally
objects o f sexual desire. R e a lity T V program s often depict A fric a n A m erican
face the indignities o f ageism in the culture industries. According to another of
w om en as “ no-nonsense” angry shrews: examples include Om arosa Manigault-
Y u en’s inform ants, a w hite actress in her 50s:
S ta llw o rth from the first season of N B C ’s The Apprentice, Alicia C a la w a y from
C B S ’s Survivor: Outback, and T iffa n y “ N ew Y o rk ” Pollard from V H l ’s Flavo r o f
A man’s allowed to age. You see tons of gray-haired men on TV. They’re the
Love and 1Love New York. Television talk shows such as Je r ry Springer are likely
lawyers, they’re the doctors, they’re the policemen, th e y’re the judges . . .
to po rtray the w orking class as trash y and dumb (G rindstaff 2002), w hile fam ily
but for some reason they still, in this day and age, don’t populate . . . the
sitcom s often depict proletarian m en from Archie Bunker to H om er Sim pson
other characters of the show w ith as m any fem ales as they could. . . .
as overweight, insensitive louts. During com m ercial breaks, w om en appear in
They’ve come a long w ay but it’s still difficult. You know, if you think about
beer advertisem ents for Coors Light, Miller Lite, and Bud Light as ditzy blondes,
it, generally there’s the lead actress and she’s generally young and then
m ud-wrestling vixens, and buxom p a rty girls.
there’s maybe a friend or an old woman, you know, and th at’s it. You count
These pop cultural conventions lead to typ eca stin g in the televisio n and
film industries, w hich p reve n t fem ale and m in o rity actors fro m finding sub­
the number of women in a film versus the number of men, and it’s amazing
to me that it’s still a problem, but it is. (p. 26)
stantial roles. According to N ancy W a n g Yuen (2008), in Hollyw ood racial and
ethnic m inorities are pigeonholed into a sm all num ber of parts lim ited to stock
Popular Culture as Social Control
characterizations and ludicrous stereotypes. Asian A m erican perform ers grow
W h e n assessing the critica l approach to popular culture, it is easy to see how
fru strated w hen auditioning fo r roles th a t seem little more than a conflation
the m edia and culture industries reinforce do m in an t stereo typ e s in society,
53
P O P U L A R C U L T U R E A S S O C IA L C O N T R O L
a biting critique of m edia m anipulation and consum erism published in an age
of anx iety surrounding the influence of mass culture. The book sold o ver a m il­
lion copies, and ye t advertising is still w ith us and shows no signs of dissipating
anytim e soon. If anything, our society is even m ore brand conscious tod ay than
during P a ck a rd ’s era.
O f course, to suggest th at advertising “w orks” is not quite the sam e as argu­
ing th a t m ale view ers o f beer com m ercials are gullible enough to believe th a t
all th a t stands betw een them and a rollicking threesom e w ith a set of blonde
tw in s is a six-pack of Coors Light. (It is just as unlikely th a t anyone could be th at
cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.) Rather, cultural hegemony operates at the level of com ­
mon sense; it is a soft pow er th a t quietly engineers consensus around a set of
m yths th a t w e have com e to take for granted, even if the Cola W a rs still rem ain
contested. W h a t sorts of ideas? For now, let us consider just a handful.
Last season’s fashions are so last season. W h y do the makers of automobiles,
designer handbags, shoes, and jeans introduce new models every year, regardless
of w h e th e r th eir products have been su bstantially altered ? Clearly, it is an easy
w a y for a com pany to syn th e tica lly rejuvenate excitem ent around its brand.
More im portant, the introduction of new products generates sales by devaluing
the recen tly purchased styles and fashions in w hich consum ers have already
invested. Econom ists refer to this practice as planned obsolescence because it
Orson Welles (center) explains to reporters that his dramatization of H. G. Wells’s The War of the
makes last season’s must-have items seem obsolete and w orthlessly out-of-date.
Worlds was in fact just a dramatization.
Y e t although based upon a com pletely fabricated desire, m any consumers insist
on replacing th eir p e rfectly fine (and som etim es hardly w orn) boots and pock-
and fe w w ould deny th a t m ovie studios, television netw orks, and record co m ­
etbooks w ith new er iterations e ve ry year because th e y believe th a t the shelf
panies are profit-m aking e nterprises beholden to the desires of stockholders
lives of such goods are determ ined by the artificial cycles of the fashion indus­
and billionaire CEOs, (in the business w orld o f pop culture, m usic and m ovie
t r y ra th e r than th e ir durability and aesthetic beauty. (W h ile iPods, cell phones,
mogul D avid G e ffe n is w o rth $6 billion; N in te n d o ’s Hiroshi Y a m au ch i, $6.4
softw are, laptops, and video games are also m anufactured according to a logic
billion; V ia c o m ’s S u m n e r Redstone, $6.8 billion; A m azon’s Je ffre y Bezos, $8.2
of planned obsolescence, rapid changes in digital technology, p a rticu larly w ith
billion; N ew s Corp.’s R u p e rt Murdoch, $8.3 billion; N ike’s Philip Knight, $10.4
regard to d ata storage capacity, m ake such differences in successive models at
billion; and M icrosoft founder Bill Gates, $58 billion.) But argum ents about the
least so m ew h at substantive.)
hegem onic pow er o f pop culture as a m eans of social control are a lw a ys the
Shopping completes us. Americans have grown used to thinking of their w ard ­
m ost difficult to sw allow . H o w m a n y readers w ould adm it th a t th e y reg u larly
robes and other collections of consum er item s and experiences as incomplete,
feel m anip ulated b y televisio n com m ercials, or m agazine ads, or m usic v id ­
forever requiring new purchases to fill the emptiness— even though we accumulate
eos? Perhaps th a t m ight have been th e case generatio ns ago, but not today,
m ore tod ay than at any tim e in w orld history. The average adult buys 48 new
not in the tw e n ty - firs t century. In O cto ber 1938 O rson W e lles d ire cted and
pieces of clothing apparel annually, while the typical child collects an average of
n a rra te d a radio a d ap tio n o f the H. G. W e lls ’s science fiction novel The W a r
70 new toys per year (Schor 2005, pp. 9,19). Even self-styled hipsters, bohemians,
o f the Worlds, and during th e b ro a d ca st, w arn in g s o f a M a rtia n in vasio n in
and o ther “ anti-consum erists” find w ays to accum ulate obscure music record­
N ew Je r s e y proved so re a listic to som e listen ers th a t it caused w id e sp re a d
ings, stereo com ponents, sn arky T-shirts, and secondhand clothing (or at least
hysteria. Surely, m ost read ers w ould insist, co n te m p o ra ry audiences w ould
duds th a t look secondhand). Each feature-film release, concert, and sporting
n e ve r be th a t gullible.
event can easily represent w h a t feels like a m issed opportunity for fulfillm ent,
It is probably tru e th a t in these m edia-savvy tim es it would take a lot m ore
and e ve ry purchase brings w ith it a kind of relief, h o w ever ephem eral.
th a n a radio program to g enerate the kind o f panic experienced during the
W e can all live like celebrities. Consum erism has alw ays had a com petitive
1930s. And y e t evidence suggests th a t w e m a y not be as im m une to pop cul­
edge to it in the United States, as fam ilies have tried to keep up w ith the Joneses
tu re ’s sirens as w e w ould like to believe. It is w o rth noting th a t one of the most
living on th e ir block. But w hile w e have long grow n accustom ed to com paring
popular books of the 1950s w as Vance P a ckard ’s classic The Hidden Persuaders,
our lifestyles to those o f our next-door neighbors, in re cen t ye a rs w e have
61
62
C H A P T E R 3: M O N S T E R S , INC
POPU
aim ed m uch higher, e va lu a tin g
to a 1999 study, betw een 60 and 80 percent of fem ale college students engage
our consum ption relative to re f­
in regular binge eating and other unhealthy behaviors, including those associ­
e re n ce groups th a t live f in a n ­
ated w ith anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Moreover, “ m an y college w om en w ho
c ia lly b eyo n d o u r o w n m ean s.
are at norm al w eights continue to express a strong desire to be th inner and to
As m iddle-class shoppers have
hold beliefs about food and body image th a t are sim ilar to those of w om en w ho
increa sin g ly borrow ed on th e ir
have actual eating disorders” (Hesse-Biber, Marino, and W a tts- R o y 1999, pp.
cred it cards to spend m ore and
385—86). These anxieties im pact college men as w ell as w om en. Psychologists
m ore on upper-class trappings—
observe th a t contem porary “advertisem ents celebrate the young, lean, muscular
lu x u ry autom ob iles, exp en sive
m ale body, and m en’s fashions have undergone significant changes in style both
vacations, designer apparel, sti­
to accom m odate and to accentuate changes in m en’s physiques tow ard a more
lettos, and pocketbooks— th e ir
m uscular and trim body” (Mishkind, Rodin, Silberstein, and Striegel-Moore 1986,
consum er debt has skyrocketed.
p. 545). Correspondingly, 95 percent of college-age men report dissatisfaction
A ccordin g to G retchen Morgen-
w ith specific aspects of their bodies, particularly their chest, weight, and waist,
son o f th e N ew York Tim es, in
as w ell as their arms, hips, stom ach, shoulders, and height (p. 546).
2 0 0 8 “A m e ric a n s c a r r y $2.56
How has easy access to credit fueled consumerism aver the last 20
years? What role do you think advertising and mass media play in the
growth of household debt?
A R G.JI T U R F A S S O C IA L C O N T R O L
Increased anxieties over physical appearance can be m ost easily observed
t r illio n in c o n s u m e r d e b t, up
in the recent num bers of patients receiving elective plastic surgery. According
22 p e rc e n t sin ce 2 0 0 0 a lo n e ,
to the A m erica n S o c ie ty o f Plastic Surgeons, doctors perform ed 11.8 million
according to the Federal Reserve
cosm etic procedures in 2007, at a total cost of $12.4 billion. O f these procedures,
Board. The average h ousehold’s
224,658 w ere perform ed on patients 13 to 19 years o f age.
c re d it ca rd d eb t is $8,565, up
D iam onds are forever. Today w e com m only think of diamonds as an eternal
a lm o s t 15 p e rce n t fro m 2 000.”
sym bol of love and rom ance, m arriage and com m itm ent, and m any A m erican
An d y e t th is sp en ding has not
wom en expect any credible marriage proposal to be accompanied by the proffering
necessarily made them an y hap­
o f an engagem ent ring fe atu rin g a solitaire diam ond. B u t w h ere did such an
p ie r— in fa c t, p u rch a sin g such
expectation com e fro m ? In fact, it w as invented by the advertising agency of
a cco u tre m e n ts m ay o n ly serve
N. W . Ayer, w here in 1947 a copyw riter coined the phrase, “A diamond is forever,”
to highlight existing d isp arities
fo r a m arketing cam paign for De Beers, one of the largest diam ond mining and
b e tw ee n th e m iddle classes and
trading com panies in the w orld (Mead 2007, p. 57). This cam paign has been so
th e s u p e rrich . As th e e co n o m is t Ju lie t S c h o r (1998, p. 5) o b se rv e s in The
influential in changing the culture of Am erican rom ance that in 2000, Advertising
O verspent A m e rica n : W h y W e W a n t W h a t W e D o n ’t Need, “A d v e rtis in g and
Age nam ed “A diam ond is fo re v e r” the best advertising slogan of the tw e n tie th
the m edia have played an im p o rta n t p art in stre tch in g our refe re n ce groups.
century. (The m agazine’s runner-up w as Nike’s “Ju st do it.”)
W h e n tw en ty- so m e th in g s ca n ’t afford m uch m ore th a n a u tilita ria n studio
B ra n d s m a tte r. R a tio n a lly speaking, branding should not fa c to r into our
but th in k th e y should have a N ew Yo rk a p a rtm e n t to m atch the ones th e y see
purchasing decisions, certain ly not as m uch as pricing, quality, or convenience.
on Friends, th e y are se ttin g u n a tta in ab le consum ption goals fo r them selves,
Y e t as w e dem onstrate by choosing name-brand m edications over th eir p racti­
w ith dissatisfaction as a predictable result. W h e n the children of a fflu en t sub­
cally identical generic orstore-brand counterparts (Advil or M otrin IB over C V S’s
urb an and im p overished inner-city households both w a n t the sam e T om m y
ibuprofen, Tylenol over Target’s acetaminophen, Johnson & Johnson’s Band-Aids
H ilfiger logo em blazoned on th e ir chests and the top-of-the-line Sw o o sh on
o ver W a lg re e n s adhesive bandages) we respond quite favo rab ly to branding,
th e ir feet, it’s a p o ten tia l disaster."
and associate brands w ith quality and reliability. Bran ds connote status, w hich
O ur self-w orth is d e te rm in ed b y our looks and cu ltu ral norm s o f sexual
is w h y Sta rb u ck s succeeds at selling its caffe in a te d beverag es at expensive
a ttra c tiv e n e s s . A d vertise rs and fashion m agazines— p a rticu la rly those th a t
prices, even though according to Consumer Reports M cDonald’s coffee beats the
rely on gorgeous actresses and models to sell products— sim ultaneously pro­
upscale chain in its unbiased taste tests. Bran ds can also connote hipness and
m ote ideals o f b e a u ty and sexual desirability. O ve r tim e the pro liferatio n of
cool, w hich is w h y Ram ones’ punk-rock T-shirts have outsold the band’s records
airbrushed images o f perfected bodies w ith toned muscles, rock-hard abs, and
and CDs n early 10 to 1, and in 2004 the now -defunct N ew Yo rk rock club C B G B
flaw less skin normalizes otherw ise unattainable expectations of body definition,
maintained a clothing line th at grossed double the revenue of the actual live music
physical fitness, and sexual allure. Perhaps as a result, college cam puses have
venue (W a lk e r 2008a, p. 9). Is it any w onder th a t Apple’s celebrated iPod has
recen tly w itnessed an epidem ic of eating disorders am ong w om en. According
outsold all other lesser know n brands of portable MP3 players (over 170 million
S3
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C H A P T E R 3: M O N S T E R S , INC
units sold, as of 2008), even those
tobacco com panies regularly advertise to children and adolescents on Com edy
th a t offer the sam e featu res for
Central, ESPN , and BET, and in magazines such as Rolling Stone, Clamour, InStyle,
less m o n e y?
and Sports Illustrated, as exemplified by the long-standing use of kid-friendly ad
Brands are especially pow er­
m ascots th a t have included R. J. Reynolds’ Joe Camel, and Budw eiser’s menagerie
ful symbols among small children.
of Clydesdales, frogs, lizards, and Spuds M ackenzie (Schor 2005, pp. 132—36).
According to a 2001 Nickelodeon
Com panies advertise inside public high schools and universities through th eir
s tu d y, “ th e a v e ra g e te n y e a r
sponsorship o f athletic team s (Nike, Adidas), exclusive soft drink and fast-food
old has m em orized 300 to 400
vending contracts (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, M cD onald’s, Subway,
brands. Am ong eight to fourteen
Burger King), bookstore m anagem ent (Barn e s and Noble), and Channel One,
ye a r olds, 92 percent of requests
a video-based teaching aid th a t requires students to sit through com m ercials
are brand-specific, and 89 percent
w edged into pseudo-educational current-events program m ing (Klein 2002).
o f kids agree th a t ‘w hen I find a
M eanw hile, corp orations re cru it young people to becom e cool hunters— th a t
brand 1like, I tend to stick w ith it’”
is, to research the underground trend s of fash ion-forw ard yo uth in order to
(Sch o r 2005, p. 25). M eanw hile,
appropriate th em fo r m ass consum ption (G ladw ell 1997, 2002; Klein 2002).
a n o th e r study revealed “ n early
B u t w hile the critical approach to und erstanding m edia and pop culture
tw o-thirds o f m others th oug ht
provides us w ith a useful w in d o w into the m achinations of the culture indus­
th eir children w ere brand a w are
tries, it cannot an sw er all o f th e questions th a t in terest social scientists and
by age three, and one-third said it happened at age tw o ” (p. 25). No w onder that
other scholars. For example, w hile the culture industries are deeply influential
in 2005 the m ost popular Kellogg’s breakfast cereal w as Tony the Tiger's Frosted
tastem akers, are we not equally subject to the oppositional messages delivered
Flakes, and Q uaker O ats’s best-selling cereal w as super-sugary Cap’n Crunch.
by com peting pow erful institutions of social co n tro l? (W hile cigarettes m ay be
How do corporations make their products more appealing to children?
For m any years the top-selling b reakfast cereal has been kid-friendly Cheerios
advertised to children in magazines, young people are constan tly w arn ed about
w hich is ow ned by G eneral Mills, the brand em pire th a t also ow ns W h e a tie s,
the harm s of sm oking in th e ir schools and b y an e x trao rd in arily w ell-funded
Trix, Lucky Charm s, and Chex cereals, as w ell as com fort brands such as B e tty
m edical establishm ent.) M oreover, given the brute dom inance o f the culture
Crocker, Pillsbury, H am burger Helper, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Fruit Roll-Ups,
industries, how is it th a t m edia firm s regularly fail th e ir shareholders by losing
and Haagen-Dazs.
valuable profits and m arket sh are? If they are indeed tone-deaf to the real needs
and desires of consum ers, w h ere does cultural innovation and dynam ic change
When Popular Culture Attacks
come fro m ? And since big-budget m arketing cam paigns do not alw ays succeed
According to the critical approach to popular culture, the prim ary m otivation for
in spite o f the best intentions of advertisers, how do w e adequately explain how
designing and program m ing m edia and popular culture is m oney— not c re a tiv ­
less-well-promoted fads and fashions often do becom e popular over tim e ? In
ity, not free expression, not pleasure, and certa in ly not fun, but the unabashed
spite of the critical p erspective’s utility, answ ering these questions w ill require
pursuit o f profit. According to such a perspective, the celebration of a film as a
an additional approach— w h a t sociologists call an interaction approach, to be
w o rk of art, the cheerful adoration of a professional football team , and the jo y
exam ined in the next chapter.
o f a cartoon as experienced by a young child each sim ply serve to reinforce the
po w er and hegem ony of the culture industries. This p o w er represents the eco­
nom ic dom inance of the corporation (through its control o f capital, intellectual
property, jobs) as well as a w idening of the social gulf betw een the industrialized
and developing world, m u ltination als and th e ir non-unionized w orkers, men
and w om en, w hites and racial and ethnic m inorities, and the affluent and less
w ell-off classes in Am erica. The hegem ony of the culture industries represents
a so fter kind o f p o w er as w ell, a m eans of m anip ulatin g consum ers through
clever advertising, brand exposure, and the habituation of fashion cycles. The
end resu lt is a w o rld th a t feeds on style o ver su bstance, su p e rfic ia lity o ver
gravitas, and m yth over reality.
Y e t in recent decades the strategies of the culture industries have grow n
even m ore insidious. In th eir attem pts to expand their m arket base, alcohol and
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