Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Culture from Top and Bottom !!

Hey, and welcome to my blog. My blog is going to be a series of observation and ideas regarding pop culture.


This week, we look into the the Politics of Culture and the idea of culture from the top and the bottom.


The idea of culture from the top is theorized as instruments such as media, television and film that is trickled down form large corporations and is largely run by men. In order to continue to stay in power and essentially have domination over other classes they control the information made available to the mass public. An example of this could be network TV. We as individuals think that we have a choice as to what we watch on TV or read in books, but essentially we are being fed that information and are being sectioned into what we can watch, as we can only watch what is made available to us by these corporations. 


Thus, we can see, that when we look into the theory of culture from above, we are not as independent, and as open to free-will as we think we are. We are just puppets on a string of a more dominant force.


The second theory I would like to discuss is the idea of culture from below. This is the less available form of culture available to the general public as it threatens the structure of the capitalist social order. It is the tools for forming a new mindset, a new thinking, a new independence, a new way of life - a way of like that is free from the shackles of fed information. It could be seen in examples of rap music, hip hop music, independent films, underground movements and such arrangements. It is the viewpoint that while this culture could eventually be harnessed into being socially acceptable and profitable, it allows for a new wave of thinking which could lead to disruption to the set standard of conformity.  It would essentially give the general public an alternative view of reality.







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