You see a lot of media targetted at angry 20 somethings with this anti-mainstream/anti-vapid consumer culture message. And glob knows I see a LOT of wasted emotion getting angry at Kardashians or the boy band du jour or having a mainstream life etc.
See threads on this board about I"m sick of the media forcing Caitlyn Jenner down my gullet!
See Train Spotting, Fight Club, or any of my disaffected age group on social media.
My point is…WHO CARES!
Starbucks is selling a $7 Mocha Kale Peppermint latte, let me reveal a little secret you don’t have to buy it, you don’t have to set foot in a Starbucks.
You don’t HAVE TO buy anything, listen to anything, watch anything, do anything.
I Just find this like getting angry because other people enjoy something you don’t.
Largely I agree but some of the vapid stuff is difficult to avoid. I like watching television news and listening to it on the radio. In amongst the interesting stuff inevitably there are “stories” about Caitlyn Jenner etc. It can’t be fast-forwarded or avoided.
I do opt out and the vapid celebrity culture doesn’t infringe on my time at all. Some people I interact with do seem to get angry at the very things they choose to indulge in, particularly facebook and twitter and I don’t know why they don’t just jack them in.
You certainly can escape it if you choose to, I do.
Yeah, today’s culture is a lot easier to avoid than some of the religious ones in the past that would burn you at the stake for blasphemy - I’d say its an improvement.
In realty, I think those that complain the most are people who want everyone to conform to their values and are mad that society is interested in other things.
Honest answer: I have opted out, and I’ve done it very effectively.
I’m fairly insistent that commercials on the TV either be skipped or muted, and I will seize the remote if the current holder isn’t up to the task. To the extent possible, I forbid commercials in my house. Netflix, time-shift or mute… but keep 'em out.
I also skip the local news fluff stories the same way. They all follow the same pattern: Intro teasers, lead story, weather, Miss Traffic-McPerkytits, last night’s violence, random-starlet-did-something, minorities-in-peril, Apple/Starbucks ad (disguised as news), dog or cat story, and sports. Out of that stuff, the lead story, weather and maybe last-night’s-violence are of interest to me. The rest is skipped.
The following is true… I swear it. My daughter was watching a show featuring a hot-looking woman with a nice rack. I asked her who the hottie was and her answer was: “Dad, that’s Kim Kardashian” (followed with a rolleyes). I literally did not know who she was (although I had heard the name). Any story featuring a starlet is skipped or silenced if I’m watching. The denizens of Hollywood are interchangeable and I’ve long quit caring which is which.
Second true story… I have zero interest in watching men dress in matching outfits and play with a ball; And I resist any print or video input which wastes my time with accounts of their derring-do. I’ve always been the guy who’s clueless about various sports events, and my co-workers actually called me “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” because of it. A few years ago, they were astonished to discover that not only was I unaware the World Series was happening, I didn’t even know our local team was in it somehow. My title was then upgraded to: “The Boy in the Titanium Sphere”.
To be honest, the sheer size of the meaningless fluff flooding airways and internet means some will get past my shields. But I’m able to limit most of it. So the latest story that a random famous person did something doesn’t irritate me… because I’m usually unaware of it.
(1) it’s not like you can really choose between different popular cultures like you choose to go to Starbucks or the Mom and Pop coffeehouse. Either you participate in this thing that you’re most likely to have in common with random countrymen, or you don’t. If you don’t–and especially if also don’t follow sports–you end up pretty isolated. You can have a deep talk with the woman who fixes your car about literature or philosophy, but you’re probably not gonna successfully start the conversation with that. You’re gonna ease into it through talking about something you’re much more likely to have in common. You shut down a huge amount of contact with the world if you cannot give a cursory answer to “what do you think about [x pop cultural phenomenon].”
(2) The “I"m too good for popular culture” pose, accompanied very often by adoring of Fight Club (which is ironic since it was largely satirizing that pose), is of course just one of the many popular subsets of mass culture. That huge group containing millions is also ruthlessly and successfully marketed to, commoditized, and self-conforming.
I pretty much ignore the stuff I’m not interested in and don’t care for, but the downside is that with the media filled up with stuff I don’t want there’s less room for the stuff I do want, or it’s harder to find than simply switching on the TV. Not a huge annoyance, and I’m used to the very minor effort needed to cope with it.
The only hitch is that, working in retail, we do have sales and promotions related to some aspects of pop culture that I need some familiarity with as part of my job. That’s usually at least knowing the name of the teams during a play-off season, or names of characters from movies, especially those aimed at kids. Since it does tie in with my current means of making a living it gives me sufficient incentive to learn what I need to learn without being too irritated.
I can only imagine how great life must be for people that like popular things. Just think: you’re surrounded by fast food places serving stuff you think is yummy, you turn on the radio and they’re playing your favorite music, and most news programs spend big chunks of time reporting on the activities of people you find fascinating. There is no need to waste time seeking out the obscure things you enjoy because they are already everywhere. It’s like you are living in a customized environment built around your personal tastes!
A lot of people do opt out. But then they are ridiculed for being out of touch, grouchy, and “old”.
I’m not a heavy participant in consumer culture. But what can I say, I’m a fan of Target. I like McDonalds and the current donut craze. I like Netflix and binge-watching certain shows. I don’t indulge in everything, but there is a lot of stuff out there that I do like. A person has the right to be anti-everything, but I’m not going to hesitate calling that person “out of touch, grouchy and old” if all they can talk about is what they DON’T like. I totally get not wanting to be tethered to a SmartPhone or broadcasting your life on Facebook. But if you don’t evolve with the times just a little bit, you will eventually get left behind. That could mean everything from missing out on job opportunities to being abandoned by friends. Neither of those things are worth losing just out of principle.
I don’t really recognise this. I’ll pretty much guarantee that I couldn’t give a response to your starter question. I’m not isolated but I do end up only having conversations about stuff that interests me. If that limits the number of conversations I have overall then I don’t see that as a negative. There are plenty of people like me who avoid conversations with strangers, I certainly wouldn’t seek to start one. I’m very happy with that state of affairs.
What, so those who don’t take any interest in mass culture are somehow part of mass culture? I don’t know why we just can’t say that everyone has different tastes and leave it at that.
You could mute the news reports you don’t like. You could get a DVR and fast forward through the commercials and the uninteresting bits. (I have a thirty-second commercial skip button on my DVR and can watch, for example, Jeopardy! in about twenty minutes or less.)
And I didn’t say otherwise. My point was simply that, unlike choosing to patronize Starbucks or not, the decision not to participate in popular culture has larger effects, one of which is to socially isolate you. Some people don’t mind being socially isolated. The internet has been a great balm for people who like to interact but don’t like to interact with randos in their meatspace.
No, my point was different. Consumerism has done a good job of capturing anti-consumerism. Fetishism over Fight Club (mentioned in the OP) is a superb example. Obviously, it is not necessarily the case that everyone who refuses to participate in mass culture falls into that large and identifiable sub-culture I referred to.
You have no right to condemn America if you keep licking her donuts.
There is nothing fair about that, it’s just freeloading. If you are so against commercials the meritorious thing to do would be to skip all programs supported by advertizing.
It’s obviously a waste of energy to rage against the Kardashians. I gotta admire them for creating a product and selling the hell out of it. Not my cup of tea, but they’re not obtrusive if you don’t let them be.
