Why is "Pop Culture" so important in the US?

[jamesbond]

Everytime I turn on the tv or check out the news on the internet, all I hear about is "guess who Paris Hilton is dating now!" or, "Jessica Simpson may break up with her boyfriend soon." My response is, who gives a rat's ass about celebrities! I mean come on, why do we have to know the personal lives of celebrities? I don't give two shits about Paris Hiltons personal life. I also don't give a crap about what's going on in Jessica Simpsons life!

I sure most Americans don't care about the personal lives of celebrities either! So why does the media keep bambarding us about the lives of celebrities? Now some young people in the US "worship" celebrities, which is a sad state of affairs. Most adults don't give a flying f**k about celebrities but every day we hear about the new gossip regarding celebrities personal lives.

What makes America the only country in the world where pop culture is considered one of the most important news items?

[zboy1]

Maybe its a way for the elites in this country to dumb down the population with the stupid antics of most celebrities. I use the term "celebrities" loosely because most stars today are complete whores or dumbasses. I admire the stars of the past like Katherine Hepburn and Gregory Peck. They were classy in the way they acted and never had the superiority complex you see most stars act like nowadays. Katherine Hepburn did a lot of good charity work for UNICEF and the poor. American's are so obsessed with fame and money--it's absolutely disgusting. No wonder most of the young generation are so pretentious and deluded. And with the exception of some very few movies and TV shows, most of what Hollywood produces these days is total garbage.

[ladislav]

I do not think there is a conspiracy to dumb people down, it is just that they are responding to a society where uneducated people have cash now and these do not want to be bothered with the likes of Gregory Peck. Too intellectual. So, dumb things get ratings and they have to dumb the shows down so that people would not turn them off. Back in the old days uneducated classes had less money and higher classes were the paragon to follow ( plus TV would advertise to them, I guess).
It is all about what the people want to watch. In other countries there is either a very distinct class structure, or there is a populated that is better educated overall.
However, I watched Thai TV ( in Thai) and Philippine TV and these are even dumber. Latin American TV is fake and always shows these white German looking people as protagonists and everything is so fake and the acting sucks.
The only good TV is Korean. Try watching some Korean channels ( the ones in the US are subtitled). Russian TV is gloomy and constantly shows crime and negativity.
I just turn the idiot box off and get online. Enough is enough!

[picasso25]

I totally feel you james bond, I hate the pop culture also, it pushes people to act uneducated to "fit in". It also destroys diversity, many people have to hide their personality, values and opinions or face being ostracized, even if their opinion or view is helpful

[Mr S]

I agree that Korean TV and movies are some of the best around. They put a lot of thought into their story lines unlike American media. If you live in Asia much Korean TV is exported to other countries and translated into local languages. I try to avoid watching TV, i mostly just use the internet. But Korean TV if it's subtitled can be very interesting to watch. Some of their series shows can be addicting.

[Winston]

I do not think there is a conspiracy to dumb people down, it is just that they are responding to a society where uneducated people have cash now and these do not want to be bothered with the likes of Gregory Peck. Too intellectual. So, dumb things get ratings and they have to dumb the shows down so that people would not turn them off. Back in the old days uneducated classes had less money and higher classes were the paragon to follow ( plus TV would advertise to them, I guess).
It is all about what the people want to watch. In other countries there is either a very distinct class structure, or there is a populated that is better educated overall.
However, I watched Thai TV ( in Thai) and Philippine TV and these are even dumber. Latin American TV is fake and always shows these white German looking people as protagonists and everything is so fake and the acting sucks.
The only good TV is Korean. Try watching some Korean channels ( the ones in the US are subtitled). Russian TV is gloomy and constantly shows crime and negativity.
I just turn the idiot box off and get online. Enough is enough!

But you forget that there are whistleblowers that claim that government does conspire to dumb people down. The problem is, such whistleblowers are not covered by the corporate media, only by internet news sources.

William Colburn of the CIA once said upon retiring that "the CIA owns anybody of any significance in the mainstream media". It's long been known that they infiltrate key positions of authority to exert their power and control.

Jordan Maxwell said it best in Zeitgeist The Movie that:

"The government GETS what it pays for, and you better believe that. The reason education is so poor in America is because the government is getting EXACTLY what it wants. Logic will tell you that if it were not getting what it wanted, the government would CHANGE things, but it isn't changing things, so it must be getting exactly what it wants out of our education system."

He made a lot of sense there.

[SNS]

"Keep the people stupid and entertained and you control all of Rome" This remark was stated back during the Roman Empire and it was true back then and it is true now.

Maybe, just maybe the difference today might be the technology of the internet to make a difference. I do not know just yet. The movie Zeitgeist is just one example of just how there may be a way to get the message out to the masses, until the powers that be come up with a way to control the internet. Their ability to do so, i.e. whether or not logistically they can or cannot is being debated by the tech people who work in IT.

[momopi]

My favorite Korean films:

Oldboy <--- all time favorite
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Spympathy for Lady Vengeance
Princess Aurora

I also recommend:
Taegukgi
I'm a Cyborg, but that's OK
My wife is a ganster
My Sassy Girl

For those who like fringe stuff:
Save the Green Planet! (Jigureul Jikyeora!)
Aachi & Ssipak


For TV drama, if you haven't seen Winter Sonata and Dae Jang Geum yet, I'd recommend those 2 for starters. You can order most of these titles from YesAsia.com, or bootleg with your... favorite bittorrent client.

There's a general trend where young people are watching less TV and spending more time online and playing video games. Like declines in newspaper circulation and print media, traditional broadcast media is also losing viewers -- both decline in audience and diversification through increased number of cable, satellite, and HDTV channels. TV viewers today are also more savvy and use technologies like PVR (tivo like device) to selectively record only what they care to watch, instead of channel surfing.

I don't think I've seen Paris Hilton on TV in years. But then I tune in to the Food Network to watch Iron Chef...

[Whoremonger]

Women are the largest consumers of non essentials. They are also nesters. You may not care about Paris, but women do. The compare themselves to those who are in the spotlight. Many sau they read it to feel normal, but most read it with a sense of envy wishing it was them in the spotlight. Celeb lifestyle panders to the inner attention whore of all women and its why reality TV has kicked off to the degree it has. Men are so emasculated they feel they have to be on TV as badly as women.

So they give us what appeals to women, and in doing so create a market to sell their products to. Do you know now that TV studios charge companies and brands to be mentioned in their TV shows? Sex and the City producers made a killing off advertising. If one of those whores is talking about a new product, rest assured the other whores watching it will want it.

Women are attracted to fame and status. Celebrity is just that.

[Repatriate]

It's sad to say but Paris Hilton is the sort of dream celebrity that most American women would want to be. 1) She's completely loaded with money by being heir to a family fortune. 2) Has never had to really work in a day in her life. 3) Spends her time sleeping around and making headlines through being famous for no particular reason.

As far as celebrities go..Ladislav said it best stupid people enjoy stupid things. I think most of the celeb news crap is driven by women's gossip rags and sites like perezhilton which are not coincidentally targeting mostly female celebrity hounds. Celebrity news is also a form of consumer product marketing. Celebs ARE a product. Stars like Brad Pitt are a brand name used to flog the next Hollywood movie. Studio and tv execs know who pays the bills so they work hand in hand with some of these other media company owned magazines/newspapers to pump up the hype.

Thank goodness I live in a country where I have no interest in what's on tv and these days I selectively download movies i'm interested in. Screw giving Hollywood any more money I sleep better at night.

[globetrotter]

It is sad but true that if you want to date in the USA you need to keep up with the trash in the magazines at the checkout line. As I get closer to 50 I find that I simply have no idea who these people are. They are referred to first name only because the women in the US read this crap and actually identify with their soap opera lives.

It is yet another sign of a sick society.

[jamesbond]

It is sad but true that if you want to date in the USA you need to keep up with the trash in the magazines at the checkout line. As I get closer to 50 I find that I simply have no idea who these people are. They are referred to first name only because the women in the US read this crap and actually identify with their soap opera lives.

It is yet another sign of a sick society.

Your right, this obsession with celebrities in the US is ridiculous! I personally don't give a rat's ass about what's going on in celebrities lives. Pop culture in the US has run amuck!

[Adama]

I do not think there is a conspiracy to dumb people down

There is one. I'd have to do about an hour of searching, but the school system in the US is almost set up for children to fail. It is more about brainwashing for their societal roles than educating them.

[Mr S]

There is one. I'd have to do about an hour of searching, but the school system in the US is almost set up for children to fail. It is more about brainwashing for their societal roles than educating them.

I agree. It takes a strong, independent minded personality nowadays to break free of the rigidity of the American school system and determine what is relevant to learn and what can be kicked to the curb. Most of what I learned in school was irrelevant to succeed in life. K-12 education and much of undergraduate studies just try to program you to fill a particular role in society, to be subservient to a hierarchical type business platform. There is no way to understand what actually creates success in an individual and how to understand your own strengths and weaknesses to succeed on your own at your own pace.

Since high school I've pieced together bits and pieces of life and have been able to overcome the odds and actually self-educate myself, using the US government to pay the initial costs for the actual 'paper' degrees. It's not an easy road but I had an inner drive to leave behind what society wants me to be and just figure out what 'I' want to be and do with myself. I come to realize everyone has the power to create their own reality and life. Unfortunately society doesn't want the average person to be aware of this so they attempt the social conditioning and brainwashing from birth onwards, just using different forms as a person matures.

Only a minute fraction of the population will ever understand or escape from this systematic social conditioning. But once they do, their life can never be the same again.

BTW I went through an education masters program with an American university and most of the required classes were BS and had undercurrent political and social agendas. I just jumped through the hoops to get the piece of paper, but realistically most of it was just a bunch of political correct rubbish. Why would the government want to properly educate the masses? They would lose their power in government cause then the average person would be able to see all their lies and fallacies. They realize a small percentage will break out of their matrix and they will either be ostracized from main society or they will be brought into the circle of power as one of their own.

To be able to break away from either of those labels takes a strong sense of purpose and some kind of divine intervention that was agreed upon before birth and intertwined into ones life. There are always people like this that break the mold, but society generally doesn't realize their greatness until they have departed the Earth plane. Individuals that are well ahead of whatever is going on in society are the ones that keep society moving forward, but are often ridiculed in the process of trying to make others see the light. Most people do not have the capability to visualize what the future will bring, or they do it wrong cause they interpret the future using their current preconceived notions of reality.

A true visionary sets themselves apart from the mainstream and isn't offended by brash comments upon their person.

[Nate]

I do not think there is a conspiracy to dumb people down

There is one. I'd have to do about an hour of searching, but the school system in the US is almost set up for children to fail. It is more about brainwashing for their societal roles than educating them.

To deny that the there has been deliberate intent to dumb people down displays...well, dumbness.
This is documented from the beginning of the 20th century. President Wilson and many others clearly stated
the "Public" education had a purpose quite distinct from what the elites might receive. Its purpose was to
"properly educate the common people" so that they would serve the purposes of society (the elites) and
to properly prepare them to be productive within the "great collective".

The movie Idiocracy is no joke. It is about the future of the USA. The society as it now is will be doomed.
Sadly, the average American man or woman I might run into is just a few points short of an idiot badge.
Try engaging them in conversation about the world or even their own beliefs and you quickly find that
half the population are ignorant chuckle-heads, whose beliefs consist of clipped slogans from rock and roll lyrics
and bumper stickers. They are incapable of contemplating any idea in a logical fashion...they are the perfect material
for despots to manipulate. They even lack what I call "primal intelligence". Suggest to a group of college girls that
women are no substitute for men as fathers, and about half will strongly object. To even pose this question to
a group of "ignorant" girls in some remote Philippines village would be considered total idiocy.
Now, in American culture, there is nothing too stupid to be dressed up and dignified with manipulative language.
"Inter-species relational therapy" would no doubt be the term for sex with farm animals.
A society cannot exist long that does not especially excel at family formation and does not have women worth fighting for.

Create a new world for yourself and live in it.

Merry Christmas to all.


Nate