How has culture managed to transition from the realms of art, literature, and classical music into a world of celebrities, reality television, and cosmetic upkeep? As a society, functions have changed, ideals have shifted and priorities have nearly flipped upside down. People of the twenty-first century look to the media for practically every bit of advice and every ounce of their relaxation. That being said, it’s no wonder these things that come to define our society have become demandingly popular. Most people could tell you the size of Kim Kardashian’s engagement ring, or what happened on the last episode of So You Think You Can Dance (or perhaps thrill you with whatever their cultural indulgence of choice is for that month).
Understanding that the aspects of society that the current generation deems important have not always been popular, let alone, have existed is a necessary epiphany one must have in order to gaze deeply into the world which we inhabit. Definitions of culture have embodied from a classical sense what it means to have taste artistically and from an anthropological standing: to understand behaviors and how people interact. It has stretched to encompass class domination and how people respond to that rule. Culture has offered people a way to escape from the capitalistic, hierarchical structures that are their lives, and has simultaneously broken down these ideals and offered people an opportunity to challenge them in innovative ways. The expanse of definitions of culture mentioned above move from what is considered high culture to what is believed to be low culture: yet another way to distinguish between classes, between generations, between sexes, between careers, and ultimately between what is, simply put, good or bad.
Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan’s Introduction entitled “The Politics of Culture” mentions French sociologist Pierre Bordieu’s provocative belief that “culture is a way of distinguishing between positions in the social hierarchy. Those who are born into upper-class echelons will acquire dispositions that allow them to appreciate certain forms of culture (high art, for example), and such abilities will help them secure elevated positions in the class hierarchy” (1026). This observation leads me to the questions, then, how prevalent is this upper-class group of people who can appreciate high art? And what exactly is this high art? The way it seems, most people, high class or not, are consumed by a consumer culture, whether they’re buying from Victoria’s Secret or La Perla, shopping at Target or Saks Fifth Avenue, visiting the Getty or watching Beyonce in concert. True, each one of the above signifies that there are differences between the people who do one versus those who do the other, but ultimately each person is searching for their own identity in the midst of the things that populate the world they live in. Sorting through those things, finding what strikes them as important, and then reflecting that in the way one lives is the most common way to carve out a niche for oneself. Perhaps that is all culture is really supposed to do.
With that said, now would be an appropriate time to watch a little something mentioning the things that bring people together. A little comedy-culture from below never hurt anyone, right? Here is George Carlin's perspective on some of our differences and more of our similarities.
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George Carlin on Our Similarities - YouTube. Perf. George Carlin. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 3 Aug. 2007. Web. 19 July 2011.
