Politics & Popular Culture

With the continuing advancements in technology, so grows the average man’s access to the world around him. Why not more than one hundred years ago, the average American would be lucky to get a daily, if not weekly paper that, other than hearsay and word of mouth, was his only connection to the outside world, and ultimately politics. Now with the numerous advancements in technology (such as T.V., the internet, blackberrys, etc.), a sea of information is now available within arms length, and a touch of a button. So to has politics become so easily available to us. And, as with anything that is easily accessible and widely used by a society, politics has merged with our pop-culture. I feel that this merger is accompanied with many pro’s and con’s.
One thing that I feel is gained through this merger, is that it can make politics more entertaining. Taking some of the stuffiness out of politics, I feel helps get people more interested with it, and hopefully in the end more involved. Another thing that is gained is the fact that in order to be in pop culture it must be simplified in order to hold people’s attention. Listening to, “The senator holding the floor sites Article VI, blah, blah, blah” is not going to hold the public’s attention. So pop culture simplifies politics in a way that more people can understand and relate to. Which also hopefully gets more people interested and involved in politics.
However, this is also a con of the merger of politics and popular culture, because of the power possessed by the media, to show its interpretation of politics, to the public. No matter what type of media you look at, whether it be a morning newspaper, an opinionated web page, or the evening news, chances are that an article will show a hint of bias in its report. Unlike days of old, when one of the only ways of knowing what a candidate had to says was through a public speech, we are constantly barraged by various types of media, suggesting what a person should or should not think. Unfortunately, this can have a profound effect on the non-observant viewer, who may not think carefully about what he or she may have just heard.
In the end of things, having politics and popular culture mixed together is like eating chocolate syrup and peanut butter. In small amounts, its delightful and satisfying. But, have a whole lot of it, and it can make you sick to your stomach.