Don't Bullshit

That I, I, I, I'm so hard

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm so hard

So hard, So hard, So hard, So hard



Dwight Macdonald, a notable American writer and film critic, made an interesting observation about popular culture. Macdonald described four objectives for something to become popular: it has to be promoted to the general public, it is employed by a higher class of people, it isn’t an expression of the common people. That seems to describe the entire music industry. The words you read above is from a song by the multi-platinum artist, Rihanna. Now, either you love Rihanna and think she is a genius or you may think Rihanna is a talentless “artist” who only became successful due to a couple of good beats and some computer technology to help her seem like she can hold a note.



Macdonald did not only describe popular culture only in terms of entertainment but in propaganda as well. How could something become popular when it's used for propaganda? This is possible; in fact, it happens everyday. It can even happen twenty-four hours a day with the right resources. What am I referring to? Well, news broadcasting, specifically, American news broadcasting. American news renders the same slogan, the war against terrorism. If this is not the opening line of a news broadcast, it will definitely be mentioned at some point. Repeatedly hearing this kind of news had made an effect; in one survey, about fifty-four percent of Americans believe some civil liberties need to be sacrificed to have protection from terrorism. The most recent controversy in the U.S. media was about the “World Trade Center mosque.” How did protesting against a mosque become popular? To clarify, I will use Macdonald’s formula.





First, to make something popular, it has to be promoted to the general public. Well, news is something people generally watch. This headline would catch anyone’s attention: “The World Trade Center Mosque.” A number of news stations, from Fox News to CNN, reported about plans of a mosque being built in the same location of the former World Trade Center. Of course, the reaction was shock and outrage. Yet, this information was wrong. In actuality, in a lower Manhattan neighborhood, there were plans being made to build a community center, which would house an auditorium, a library, a day care facility, restaurant and cooking school, and yes, a mosque. Additionally, it wouldn’t be in the exact same area as the WTC; it would stand two and a half blocks away.



Second, to be popular something will be supported by a higher class. Well, in this scenario, Republicans were the biggest promoters for opposing “the mosque.” When this story hit the fan, Republican Sarah Palin found her voice in the controversy. She continuously talked about how building “the mosque” would be a slap on the face to 9/11 families and break their hearts. Not too long afterwards, Palin had a flock of followers and the daily news portrayed outraged protestors.





Third, something popular doesn’t express how the people generally feel. After weeks of news broadcastings about protests against the WTC mosque, another side of the story faintly sparked. Some news stations tried to report the truth about the so-called mosque. Some even tried to subtly reveal that maybe politicians like Palin were using the story to gain popularity.



Macdonald’s point is that popular culture later becomes “mass culture.” The difference is that the mass culture doesn’t provide people with any kind of relation or expression. It simply makes people the consumers of something that doesn’t pertain to life at all. Popular culture takes on social, political, and economic aspects, which is the beauty of its complexity. Yet, when something complex becomes simple and repetitive, it is far from beneficial for the general public.