Last semester in one of my classes, the professor asked about the the meaning behind a student's shirt. I glanced at it and immediately understood it was a ThunderCats t-shirt. My professor, on the other hand, had assumed it must have been some sort of sports thing.
A brief discussion established that the ThunderCats were smack in the middle of a pop-culture blind spot for our professor. He was too old to have watched the show, and his kids were too young. He had no reason to be exposed to it, and therefore did not understand a symbol that most in our class could instantly identify.
I wonder what kind of pop-culture references I miss simply because I am unaware of them. Often I recognize when a allusion is made that I don't understand. For example, I am 85% likely to not understand a Simpsons reference. My mom didn't like the show and discouraged us from watching it while I was growing up.What references I do catch are based on more recent exposure, and I'm not sure I really grasp the depth of the cultural bond. It's not something that comes naturally to me, but rather something I've made a conscious decision to be aware of. Am I really participating in the shared cultural understanding if I've only skimmed the Wikipedia article?
I fear I have an even larger blind spot that I'm not even aware of, primarily because most of the friends I've made while at BYU are Mormon. There is a large portion of media that we, as a group, limit our exposure to. This leads to a myriad of things that I don't even realize I don't understand.
I watched the Godfather for the first time a while ago. Suddenly a million little references and quotes and parodies floating around in my head made sense. I did not understand the deep roots this film has in our popular culture until I actually experienced the source material. So the question is: Am I okay with this lack of understanding? In the last year or so, I've attempted to delve into some of the prolific material that I've previously abstained from. And the thing is, not all of it is worth understanding. Some of it is complete crap. I honestly wish I didn't know why people chuckle when someone says “This one time, at band camp...”
Another example: having noticed several mentions of the new show Archer around the internet, I watched several episodes so I could be conversant in this up-and-coming popular cultural element. And while the show is funny, and people have been taking about it, it's also pretty dirty. I need to find a balance. How much am I willing to miss out on, culturally? How much am I willing to expose myself to, personally? These are easy decisions to make after the fact; the trick is knowing where the line is before I cross it.
6 comments:
The trick is to find someone who is into it and make them tell you all the good parts without ever having to watch it yourself. That's what I do. ;)
Except The Simpsons. You should really watch that. It's smart AND funny.
(Did you find an edited version of the Godfather somewhere? I'd like to see that... Or you can just tell me all the good parts.)
Also...Thundercats - Ho-ooooooo!
As to the first part of your comment, let me expound on something I touched on but maybe didn't explain.
("Am I really participating in the shared cultural understanding if I've only skimmed the Wikipedia article?")
It isn't really about understanding what someone is referencing. It's more about what my title is alluding to: our shared cultural identity through the medium of pop-culture is a kind of secret code with layers of meaning that go beyond "remember that one scene and how it was funny."
Certain pop-culture elements contain varying levels of humor, connotation, and nostalgia all rolled into one. I can grasp some of that meaning by having someone 'tell me the good parts,' but some of it will be lost on me without having experiences it first-hand, in the time and setting everyone else remembers it. I think this is why I have trouble plugging into the Simpsons-- viewing it in 2010 as a 23-year-old is a vastly different experience than my peers experienced.
Anyway.
My roommate has a Clearplay which edits films as you watch them. Sorry I can't lend you a copy. :)
I know it's not the same. I'm just saying, for those things where it's not worth it, you can still get something and not be totally out of the loop.
Also, I don't know about the peer experience of the Simpsons, but I think the best parts of it would have been wasted on me had I watched it when it was all new and popular. It's a better show, watching it now.
Darn you Clearplay! Fine. I'll just have to get my Godfather context from While You Were Sleeping then.
You may want to try You've Got Mail. It actually has some.
Yes, I do remember the go to the mattresses thing. Did it also have the sleeping with the fishes? Or was that Dilbert...?
"I don't...know." heheehe. Oh Holly. You are missing out on a wonderful quoting fest when you don't watch the simpson's!
In my experience, quotation fests exist to remind you and your friends of good times that you've had together. Other than to be relatively amazing at small talk, I don't know that you need to invest too much time in pop culture.
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