What Are Popular Culture Critics Really Saying?
By: Sami Ghozayel
Popular culture can be a very polarizing topic. For decades, cultural analysts have been worried about the effects of popular culture on our society. Those who critique popular culture will never have a shortage of things to discuss. Though there are those who vouch for popular culture’s societal benefits, I feel that the majority of the critiquing of popular culture is filled with dissent. But when we hear the views and opinions of cultural analysts breaking down popular culture, what are we really receiving from them? Are there hints of their personal beliefs and values sprinkled into their analysis? I believe so.
I feel that Tim Winter, the President of the Parents Television Council, a group with the “…mission to protect children from sex, violence and profanity in the media…” (Winter 2014), reveals some of his personal beliefs and values in his guest opinion article on the Orlando Sentinel newspaper website.
Tim Winter makes the claim that the violence, sex and profanity on television shows is viewed by children because “adults who repeatedly view scenes of extreme violence or sex makes them more tolerant of such content — and more lenient in allowing children to watch the same” (Winter 2014). He goes on to say “Many argue it’s the obligation of the consumer alone to control what they watch, and that is certainly true. But the entertainment industry, too, is responsible and accountable for what it produces, distributes and markets — especially to children” (Winter 2014).
Relaying his thoughts are Los Angeles television critic Mary McNamara, “To argue that entertainment does not impact culture is absurd. Hollywood doesn’t get to take credit for breaking ground with films such as ‘Philadelphia’ and shows like ‘Will & Grace,’ or for that matter ‘Girls,’ only to wash its hands of more-destructive attitudes…” (McNamara 2014).
An issue I have with Winter’s critique is that he does not acknowledge that the entertainment industry has created television programs that have positive effects, whereas McNamara does point out positive elements of the entertainment industry. There are many solid examples of popular culture acting as a societal good such as educational programs “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and “Dora the Explorer.
Winter’s issue is representative of what communications professor Gilbert Rodman calls cultural criticism. In his article “Race…and Other Four Letter Words: Eminem and the Cultural Politics of Authenticity”, Rodman explains cultural criticism as the act of attacking a piece of popular culture for its perceived negative aspects while, ignoring any potential positives from that piece (Rodman 100).
Now to lend a bit of credence to Winter, he is correct that there is certainly truth to the statement the entertainment industry is well aware of what they are marketing and to whom they are marketing towards. They know that the content they distribute may reach the eyes and ears of impressionable young children. When the entertainment industry produces content containing sex, violence and profanity, they are, according to Winter, disregarding the harm it may cause to those who view their content. The most likely reason the entertainment industry continues to do this is for profit. The entertainment industry is a competitive market like many others in our country, and unfortunately the competition it sparks can have harmful effects on our society.
A man like Tim Winter, due to his bachelor’s degree in business administration, law degree, and experience in “big-business” with companies such as the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Parents Television Council), should certainly know the importance of making a profit. So why criticize the entertainment industry when they are merely trying to do what capitalism allows? To me it comes off rather hypocritical. There are no laws that the entertainment industry is breaking. All content is rated and the recommended age group to view the content is on full display before and during the broadcast.
I feel that Winters political ideology may be one of the root causes of his opinions and actions towards popular culture. I peg Winter (admittedly stereotypically) as a conservative for a couple of reasons, his aforementioned experience with “big business”, and for engineering the PTC’s “Cable Choice” program, which sought for consumers to have “the opportunity to select and pay for only those cable channels they want and not channels bundled by their cable operator. Cable Choice, he believes, is the ultimate solution for families who want to control the flow of indecent programs that come into the home” (Parents Television Council).
Common characteristics of conservatives are interest in business, which Winter has, as well as placing value in the free-market system and de-regulation, which is exemplified in the Cable Choice program. Though the PTC refers to themselves as “a nonpartisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment”, it appears to be evident that conservative values are represented in the way Winter views and critiques popular culture.
Another common conservative view is reluctance and hesitance to discuss, view or accept non-traditional images such as sex, violence or profanity. Liberals tend to be more open-minded with culture and media, a stark contrast from conservatives. I also feel that Winter suffers from what Rodman calls a “moral panic;” whenever someone or something comes around that threatens to compromise our morals and values we overreact and ignore the underlying issue at play (101).
It may be possible that Winter, in his crusade against popular culture on television, is, perhaps without even realizing it, pinning conservatives versus liberals. This quote in particular feels like it is out of a campaign rally.
It is difficult to believe we, as a nation, can make any meaningful progress against senseless real-life horrors that stem from domestic abuse, gun violence, sexual assault or sexual exploitation if our entertainment culture continues to trivialize and be awash in such material. If we are to move forward in a positive direction, we must begin to push back against the tide of harmful images, attitudes and actions that are so ubiquitous in today’s entertainment media. Parents need to be parents, and the entertainment industry must take responsibility for its actions (Winter 2014).
The tone and language of this quote, especially the phrase “…believe we, as a nation…make any meaningful progress”, give it the feel of a political speech rather than someone petitioning for more appropriate television programming. It sounds to me like a conservative criticizing a liberal, which in this case would be the entertainment industry. This leads me to ponder if I am really hearing a political speech whenever I hear the hackneyed diatribe of popular culture and its harmful effects.
Another possible explanation for Winter attributing blame to the entertainment industry and criticizing popular culture is the fact that he is a parent himself. Though he does place some of the blame of some of children’s exposure to sex, violence and profanity on the parents, Winter states the entertainment industry is most at fault. But is the Parent Television Council president unfairly criticizing the entertainment industry? I believe it is possible that Winter does not want to blame parents like himself for what televisions exposure does for children and desensitization.
Criticizing parenting is a tricky issue in our society. No one ever wants to be called a bad parent or have his or her style critiqued by anybody else.
But is an issue in our society. The nuclear family of the 1950s, as seen on a piece of popular culture like “Leave it to Beaver”, is long gone. The father working 9–5 with the mother being a housewife attending to the house and watching the children is not nearly as prevalent in today’s society. With women making up a much larger part of the workforce, housework and childcare are now being delegated to nannies or daycare service.
And with the advent and rise of the internet, coupled with the prevalence of mobile devices with access to the internet and other various forms of media, popular culture is an even larger part of children’s lives. Children are given access to the Internet, television and movies often times without supervision. Parents may not even realize what kind of access their children have to popular culture. And once parents do finally realize what their children are being exposed to, a form of outrage, like Rodman’s idea of moral panic, may commence. This places today’s parents in a precarious situation because they are uncertain of what their children are being exposed to.
Though admittedly I may be reading too much into it, Winter may speak for many popular culture critics in avoiding the issue of parenting. Many popular culture analysts may be insecure about their parenting skills or are reluctant to criticize themselves. So rather than pointing the finger at themselves and other parents for not doing a better job at preventing their children from viewing inappropriate content, they use popular culture and the entertainment industry as an outlet for their criticisms and frustrations.
Popular culture is an inescapable aspect of our life that we live with on a daily basis. As a result, popular culture is subject to copious amounts of scrutiny and criticism. The act of critiquing popular culture has been in effect for decades and decades with no end in sight. In general, there are two main dichotomies that form when we discuss popular culture. There are those who either view popular culture as adding something constructive to society, or those who feel popular culture detracts from the wholesomeness of our society. But if we dig deeper beneath the surface of what these critics are telling us, and do some research, we may find that there is more to what they are saying. What we find is that these critics are conveying their values and ideologies to us in their criticisms, as well as tacitly raising issues and topics that we may not like to discuss in our society today.
-Sami Ghozayel
References
“About the Parents Television Council — Tim Winter — President — Biography.” About the Parents Television Council — Tim Winter — President — Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014. <http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/aboutus/winterbio.asp>.
Rodman, Gilbert B. “Race. .. and Other Four Letter Words: Eminem and the Cultural Politics of Authenticity.” Popular Communication 4.2 (2006): 95–121. Web.
Winter, Tim. “Violent TV Desensitizes Adults, Who Become Lenient with Kids.” OrlandoSentinel.com. N.p., 9 Nov. 2014. Web. 08 Dec. 2014. <http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-ed-violent-tv-influence-110914-20141107-story.html>.
