NationStates Jolt Archive

For some time we´ve been hearing that the mass media-specially TV-have been party to a obvious lack of culture in today´s audiences. Inane reality shows, alienating afternoon talk shows, Jerry Springer, movies which seem pleased to wallow in brainless scripts...many say that such relevant cultural outlets have a duty besides mindless entertaining, which is to try not to so much as educate but at least to not further push the average citizen to a beer-induced stupor. Those who purport that TV, the movie industry and such have no role in educating Joe Sixpack say the public merely gets what it wants. So, do you think that there´s any kind of truth in the idea that pop culture promotes the dumbing-down of the general population? Should there be strict headlines for all tv stations to broadcast educational shows? Do you sometimes pray for the appearance of a serial killer that targets pop-corn movie´s directors? If you had to point out a particulary dumbed-down tv show or movie (present or past) which would you nominate?

Dick and Dom's "Ask the Family." My God that show's gone down.

Does popular culture promote the dumbing-down of the population?
Hasn't it always? (Hint: yes.)

do you think that there´s any kind of truth in the idea that pop culture promotes the dumbing-down of the general population?
It would seem to be its purpose: to promote a chaos of comfort that appeals to the irrational part of the mind. The problem you apparently identify as "dumbing down" is in fact an inability to properly utilize the irrational part of the mind. It is due to logic and reason being elevated in our culture above all other things as being "that which is best"; has been, since the era of the Greek philosophers, the "dawn" of our civilization.

Should there be strict headlines for all tv stations to broadcast educational shows?
I take it you mean guidelines, not headlines? :) Well, while each individual station may not have such guidelines, the industry in general seems to. We have the Learning Channel, the Discovery Channel, the Outdoor Channel, the National Geographic Channel, etc., all devoted to educational things. This way, if we don't want to watch something deep, we can deliberate turn to a station selling fluff. The onus is on us to "better" ourselves, not the networks.

Do you sometimes pray for the appearance of a serial killer that targets pop-corn movie´s directors?
No, I don't wish people dead. But, as a side note, the price of pop-corn has caused me to decide to boycott movie theatres.

If you had to point out a particulary dumbed-down tv show or movie (present or past) which would you nominate?
Every sitcom that has ever been. Well, maybe with one or two exceptions that come close to not being dumb, like Mad About You.

I really enjoy' dumbed-down' TV. And it's not justto laug at the inaneness of some of the sharaters/contestants. There's just something genuinely endearing. 'Tho of course, I'd rather watch some high-brow documentary or foreign film or anything with Stephen Fry in it (innit) <`<

Mostly, yes. LCD (lowest common denominator) programming will do that.

Examples:
Gangsta rap, reality TV, and movies like "4 Brothers".

Counter examples:
NPR, miniseries like North & South, and movies like "March of the Penguins".


So I'd say that it's not popular culture so much as it's the deliberate LCD programming that does it. Not everyone likes Casablanca, C-SPAN and classical music. Fine. But don't promote rap music about guns, ho's and drugs, or movies that are nothing but pointless violence...

The whole reality TV thing is similar to what happened in the '70s, when the only movies that were really made were westerns. It's just saturating the market until you've got a major flood and you have to swap to something new.

The whole reality TV thing is similar to what happened in the '70s, when the only movies that were really made were westerns. It's just saturating the market until you've got a major flood and you have to swap to something new.
Go Spaghetti Westerns! Yay!

To be brutally, honest, yes, immensely so. How many potentially fascinating and intellectual television programs are cancelled to facilitate the broadcasting of Big Brother 94 or Fame Acadamy to sataiet the ignorant, intellectually devoid masses?

Furthermore, how many allegorical musical pieces or classical operas are abandoned unpublished to ensure that 'fiddy cent can rant about life in the ghetto and produce another innuendo permeated song with the subtlety of a sledge hammer? Once more, a henious amount.

Historical precedents imply heavily that only through intellectual enrichment and progression does society develop, and the contempory policy of satiating the masses and discarding any intellectual progression accordingly ought to be abated.

Go Spaghetti Westerns! Yay!
Actually spaghetti westerns are today viewed as a artistic manifestation that helped change many features of classic western.
Go Sergio Leone!

Yes it does... It's easier for the big money to control the population when they're all dumbed up.

The only networks I have problems with are MTV and FOX.

Everything that MTV runs is fraught with shamelessness and stereotypes. I haven't seen anything on that channel that doesn't promote stupidity or materialism. Everything from the rap that is rampant throughout the channel (are these guys mulitiplying or something?), to the crap with idiot celebrities like Paris Hilton. It drives me insane!

And FOX? Don't make me sick! There is so much crap on that channel. From "The OC" to the new reality shows that seem to pop up every year. That channel BREEDS idiots.

I always complain about popculture destroying the mind of the nation.
Now, when I read your question I actually considered it for period of time and this what I think is really going on to a large extent.

Popular culture now covers racial, political and regional bounds.
Thanks to global television and radio we all have essentially the same pop icons of music, art and fashion.--by all I mean in the United States--the Europeans have to suffer their own denizens of bad taste and I weep with them.

So we have our (US) pop-icons unified, and so we as popular society become homogenized (s/p?) to a great extent.
This process removes the desire for individual exploration, introspection, and expression. We strive to know and be like each other, hence limiting our choices--limited choices equal limited thought which equals limited imagination which equals a dumbed down society.

I am not certain if I made my idea clear, but it is the best i can do for the moment.
I am despise the all encompassing "pop-fist of anti-culture" but I wanted to really consider if indeed pop-culture promoted stupidity--I believe it does, has and always will---no matter what culture you are in.

I don't suppose anyone else thinks that we were plenty dumb already and entrepeneurs simply catered to that in an effort to make money...

No? Ah, well.

I don't suppose anyone else thinks that we were plenty dumb already and entrepeneurs simply catered to that in an effort to make money...

No? Ah, well.
Thats a interesting matter.
Do the people in the entertainement industry simply give the public what it wants or the public doesn´t seem to anything else because no one ever cared to offer anything diverse?

some does some doesnt.

harry potter is pop culture and it had encouraged millions of children to read big books. thats a good thing eh?

the crocodile hunter might be an ass but he has taught millions of people about unusual animals (and how not to deal with the more dangerous ones)

some of those gansta rappers have taught us all the value of diamond inlays in our teeth...

well OK maybe that isnt the best example

some does some doesnt.

harry potter is pop culture and it had encouraged millions of children to read big books. thats a good thing eh?

the crocodile hunter might be an ass but he has taught millions of people about unusual animals (and how not to deal with the more dangerous ones)

some of those gansta rappers have taught us all the value of diamond inlays in our teeth...

well OK maybe that isnt the best example

NONE of those are good examples IMO.

Mostly, yes. LCD (lowest common denominator) programming will do that.

Examples:
Gangsta rap, reality TV, and movies like "4 Brothers".

Counter examples:
NPR, miniseries like North & South, and movies like "March of the Penguins".


So I'd say that it's not popular culture so much as it's the deliberate LCD programming that does it. Not everyone likes Casablanca, C-SPAN and classical music. Fine. But don't promote rap music about guns, ho's and drugs, or movies that are nothing but pointless violence...

They don't? Oh....*feels super geeky right now*

I always complain about popculture destroying the mind of the nation.
Now, when I read your question I actually considered it for period of time and this what I think is really going on to a large extent.

Popular culture now covers racial, political and regional bounds.
Thanks to global television and radio we all have essentially the same pop icons of music, art and fashion.--by all I mean in the United States--the Europeans have to suffer their own denizens of bad taste and I weep with them.

So we have our (US) pop-icons unified, and so we as popular society become homogenized (s/p?) to a great extent.
This process removes the desire for individual exploration, introspection, and expression. We strive to know and be like each other, hence limiting our choices--limited choices equal limited thought which equals limited imagination which equals a dumbed down society.

I am not certain if I made my idea clear, but it is the best i can do for the moment.
I am despise the all encompassing "pop-fist of anti-culture" but I wanted to really consider if indeed pop-culture promoted stupidity--I believe it does, has and always will---no matter what culture you are in.
But that means that matters of taste are homogeneized by the lowest common denominator...why can´t such leveling of tastes be made according to higher standards?

Do you see a whole lotta Einsteins running around on a steady diet of 'Everybody Loves Raymond', Jessica Simpson, and 'The Sopranos'?

I don't, either.

So... yes.

The only networks I have problems with are MTV and FOX.

Everything that MTV runs is fraught with shamelessness and stereotypes. I haven't seen anything on that channel that doesn't promote stupidity or materialism. Everything from the rap that is rampant throughout the channel (are these guys mulitiplying or something?), to the crap with idiot celebrities like Paris Hilton. It drives me insane!

And FOX? Don't make me sick! There is so much crap on that channel. From "The OC" to the new reality shows that seem to pop up every year. That channel BREEDS idiots.

/clap

They don't? Oh....*feels super geeky right now*

Carry on. We must carry on. :)

NONE of those are good examples IMO.
really? you dont think that a series of books that has a whole generation of children clamoring to read is a good thing?

the books dont have to be great, the next book they read now that they have found the joy of reading can be great.

Ah, yes always has...
I believe its original intent was to inform the general people about issues (like the news or whatever) and have entertainment as a side... but the fact that the average person to whom the media is marketed is...well... not credibly intelligent, ‘dumbs down’ the media a great deal (in order to comfort those that is targets…durr). This leaves all those that are above average with nothing particularly stimulating to encourage their… ‘un-dumb-downed-ness’… thus society is more and more saturated with average people and progression eventually ceases.

So we have our (US) pop-icons unified, and so we as popular society become homogenized (s/p?) to a great extent.
This process removes the desire for individual exploration, introspection, and expression. We strive to know and be like each other, hence limiting our choices--limited choices equal limited thought which equals limited imagination which equals a dumbed down society.
That's quite clever. Well done.

viva la bam and the andy milonakis show...need I say more

I blame Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer.

i think we have a good mixture here in the uk, if you're in the mood for watching something that will enrich your mind you can watch the glorious bbc or channel 4, and if you want to have your brain wasted you can watch 'celebrity i'm a celebrity fat island in their eyes : celebrity!' on itv or 'when sharks attack nazis!' on five.
ultimately it comes down to choice on whether or not you accept being dumbed down.

Do you see a whole lotta Einsteins running around on a steady diet of 'Everybody Loves Raymond', Jessica Simpson, and 'The Sopranos'?

I don't, either.

So... yes.

Thats idiotic, just because super intelligent people don't watch mainstream tv dosen't t mean mainstream tv stops people from becoming intelligent.

Do you see a whole lotta Einsteins running around on a steady diet of 'Everybody Loves Raymond', Jessica Simpson, and 'The Sopranos'?

I don't, either.

So... yes.

Actually, Stephen Hawking loves "The Simpsons" and at least once bet a subscription to Penthouse on a theory... ;)

I don't suppose anyone else thinks that we were plenty dumb already and entrepeneurs simply catered to that in an effort to make money...

No? Ah, well.
That is kind of what I think, kind of...

Pop culture promotes "herd mentality", the more vulnerable someone is to joining-in in "herd mentality" the greater the effect of pop-culture on their particular mind.
This is because "herd mentality" does not promote individual thought--it promotes staying with the group--the group thinks for you--
SO indeed marketers do simply cater to our simple minds--the question is how simple will you allow your mind to become.

A person is smart---People are stupid.