Impact of Popular Culture on Youth - Essay Example

Youyun Xu WR 121 Essay 2 The Impact of Popular Culture on Youth Definition of Popular Culture is ive and its scope engulfs multifarious aspects of life. Young generation responds to the localized trends of culture with new perspectives. Technological advances and internet revolution have served as guides for the youth in its response to social and cultural challenges. The highly motivated and creative younger generation is not willing to tread the traditional path and hankers after the new options, often taking responsibility of the consequences. The problems faced by the present-day youth are multidimensional, and in this competitive world, survival of the fittest is the mantra. The print and the electronic media, entertainment tools like music and television, have done absolute justice to the job of brainwashing the impressionable minds of youth. Traditional culture and ideology have traditionally been the binding forces of the society, but in the contemporary age, spirit of the youth is being systematically destroyed by the onslaught of popular culture. The traditionalists and the modernists are permanently at war over approaches to social issues. While the modernists are positive that their endeavors are directed at development of a new society, the traditionalists lament about the steady demise of the indigenous values. A world of interconnectedness is slowly emerging and no one can precisely estimate how circumstances would shape up in the future. However, a strong view prevails that this interconnectedness is heading toward decay of moral and ethical values rather than leading to the path of cohesion and prosperity. In its attempt to pursue individual happiness, the younger generation has compromised societal values and become distracted and clueless. Ill effects of their activities mostly outweigh their honest dispositions and merits. An offshoot of the popular culture viz. the growth of Jazz provides an example. Jazz music arrived like an avalanche on the American media and became omnipresent in no time. Its growth was not contemplated, like the spread of greenery in the thick jungles of Amazon. The sapling of Jazz grew as it was watered with the agony of the black people. The roots of jazz can be traced back to the times of slavery when slave work songs were made as ‘call-and-response’ to narrate stories for pastime. These songs reflected the blacks’ internal rebellion against the sufferings and cruelties inflicted on them by the white race. Black people brought with them jazz to the big cities as they started to migrate to Chicago and New York with the motif of improving their financial prospects. The combustible younger generation of America liked this music. They rebelled against the old-fashioned ideas of their parents, surprisingly though! Jazz culture is primarily responsible for creation of a new genre of women known as “flappers”, who cut their hair and endorsed shorter dresses. Berendt argues “Many great jazz musicians have felt the connection between their playing styles and the times in which they live” (4). Jazz music responded to the societal revolution taking place as a result of the ongoing political, cultural, social, and ideological developments. New musical innovations flooded the market and provided the common man with access to music. Jazz music got shot in the arm. American airwaves, dance halls, auditoriums and homes reverberated to the melodies of jazz notes. In 1930s, many jazz bands formed and jazz became the most popular music. Its bouncing beat and swing music made the people rush to dance floors recurringly. In 1950s, though jazz suffered a setback, other forms of popular culture products first caught young generation’s attention in America and from there, propagated to other countries. New technological innovations were frequently introduced in responses to the growing needs of people for entertainment. People began to take fancy for the television whereas musical concerts relegated to the background. This is how popular culture impacted the creativity of the artists. Lack of audiences’ support caused the dance halls to draw their shutters down. The teenagers liked the rock ‘n’ roll shows aired on the television. Music sensations like Elvis Presley became heart-throbs of the American teenagers. In the 1960s, many political and sociological changes took place in America. The civil rights movement impacted jazz music and the educated African American youngsters begrudged the white owned record companies and clubs since the latter received major portion of the income. Some artists launched their own music establishments. Since 1970s, jazz music styles went on the march again in new forms. Fusion acid jazz and Classical blues gained popularity. The 1990s saw the evolution of smooth jazz and retro swing. Berendt argues, “It is our conviction that the styles of jazz are genuine and reflect their own particular times in the same sense that classicism, baroque, romanticism, and impressionism reflect their respective periods in European concert music” (4). Jazz is often mentioned as “America’s classical music”. It has been part of the African American musical tradition for over a century. Jazz is unmistakably linked to the cultural heritage of America generally and particularly to the sufferings of the black people. There are so many varieties of jazz that one definition cannot encompass all aspects of it. Psyche of the composers and the performers matters a lot in jazz music. Jazz has always been a powerful social weapon! Famous jazz musicians migrated to European countries where they were welcomed with greater opportunities. Jazz became a global phenomenon both in quality and quantity. Though Jazz was initially hailed as the creative outburst of the black population highlighting their suffering, soon it was unveiled as the naked tool of popular culture. It enticed young minds and influenced their emotions with the sensual lyrics and tones. Hurting others and misbehaving became acts of bravery and courage rather than abuse and violence. Popular culture made dents in the state of civilizations. The eating habits of youngsters in particular and their lifestyles in general underwent a dramatic change. Amy L. Best writes “Buying French fries from McDonalds to eat during study hall, drinking a Diet Coke bought from a soda machine in the school cafeteria, or listening to music on a CD Walkman on the way to class are increasingly part of normal life in school” (4). Younger generation was encouraged to indulge in the acts of degradation in disguise of fun and entertainment. Weird television programs of popular culture have been doing extreme damage to the psyche of the younger generation. Serial programs were presented systematically to distort the natural aptitudes and attitudes of the audience. Contemporary art has also suffered with the onslaught of the popular culture. In their alleged efforts to make to provoke feelings and enlighten imagination, unmentionable and abominable art forms have been exhibited. TV programs depict drug addicts and chronic alcoholics as celebrities. Programs depict skimpy dressed women drinking in nightclubs and saying erotic phrases. Wild night-outs have become fashion for young boys and girls and have paved way for serious sociological problems like teen pregnancy. The worst aspect of this development in the field of literature is that the script writers are all intelligent and educated people. Thus, popular culture has damaged the social fabric and cultural values of humankind at all levels. Works Cited Berendt, Joachim-Emst. The Jazz Book: From Ragtime to Fusion and Beyond. Ed. Gunther Huesmann. New York: Lawrence Hill Books, 1992, Print Best, Amy L. Prom Night: Youth, Schools and Popular Culture. New York: Routledge, 2000, Print. Read More