Does popular culture (e.g. comics, films, and music) help us to Essay

Does popular culture (e.g. comics, films, and music) help us to understand world politics better Discuss by using relevant examples - Essay Example It is not an issue of popular culture causing political ideologies and actions. Therefore popular culture is not something that someone can say explains the state of a person nor does it make persons think in specific ways. It neither manipulates nor mirrors what individuals do rather people live through it hence no one will be compelled to imitate actions of popular culture. Popular culture in essence refers to artistic, cultural expressions of different genres such as theater, music, dance visual art, the film industry, and literature. In the present age, these cultural activities have been found to play a significant role in shaping the political reasoning in various parts of the world. Popular culture does not have a distinct definition of what it entails and different people have their understanding of the exact meaning of popular culture. John Street refers to it as a product of mass production arising from production companies to achieve high mass sales (1997). The primary focus of popular culture is the means of production distribution and consumption. Thus, popular culture is said to be a form of entertainment that is available to large numbers of people, or that is mass produced. Music production is the most common genre of mass production in popular culture; hence the mass aspect becomes the defining characteristic of popular culture. It is about euphoria of the masses and so is politics explaining the base where both hold joint feature. It is the very reason popular culture is impacting on politics in the world today. The agents that play a role in spreading the music that is television and radio reach far more masses, and their liberalization has helped facilitate emergence of new popular cultures that did not have space in state-controlled media. For instance, the rise of hip-hop music in the 1990s in African states was down to liberalization of media. These celebrities command large following among the youths who are the