According to A N Valdivia scholars have disputed that popular culture is an empty concept filled at different times by different people for different purposes Valdivia It is made apparent that people s definitions will constantly vary due to their changing perception of the terms culture ideology and even popular When addressing popular culture culture is considered a particular way of life and as signifying practices within a society The concept of popular culture has been manipulated by the educated and higher social classes in order to maintain their control and authority over ideology by designating good high and bad inferior culture In many cases the term is utilized as a major descriptor of the intellect and or class distinctions and associations with refinement through class and educational changes Jenkins pg 27 With this culture tends to signify the cultivation of the more educated and elite lifestyle rather than the lower classes and the realm of the popular Another term that bears understanding is ideology and like culture it has varying definitions and meanings as well Ideology and culture span much of the same conceptual landscape but within the various definitions ideology encompasses the political element to the shared territory Thus the relationship of politics and power unavoidably signify the ideology and culture landscape This presents the extent of the relation between politics and ideology and how the elite maintain their position at the top by keeping a tight grip on ideology authority Overall the relationship of culture and ideology largely contributes to the understanding of popular culture and is thus a site where collective social understandings are created a terrain on which the politics of signification are played out in attempts to win people to particular ways of seeing the world Storey pg 4
Media culture such as the radio movies and films television programs and other productions of mass media predominantly contribute to the way in which people construct their individual identities and sense of selfhood According to Douglas Kellner his interpretation of the media is often profound and often misperceived source of cultural pedagogy They contribute to educating us how to behave and what to think and feel believe fear and desire and what not to do Kellner pg 7 Within media culture it is common to present those who possess power and those who present to be powerless and thus who is authorized to use force and violence on those who are forced to stay in their places or be oppressed Kellner pg 7 With this the concept of hegemony is introduced and alludes to the way in which dominant groups in society seek to win consent of inferior groups in society Storey pg 10 Some scholars have disputed that media culture only attempts to mirror the ideology of the reigning economic class that control the culture production and acts as nothing more than an instrument for capitalist beliefs Due to the ruling elite class s power and control over the many media outlets and organizations they reveal that the specific materials presented to individuals through media only benefits the upper class s agenda According to Stuart Hall What they produce is precisely representations of the social world images descriptions explanations frames for understanding how the world is and why it works Hall pg 82
A common example would be the television programs that attempt to solve a problem related to race It seems that a majority of the tools utilized in the programs are saturated with words and images that are unconsciously racially charged These tools are based off of stereotypes and assumptions of people of color and in a way informs the audience that people of color are specifically the problem as opposed to the dominant group In conclusion popular and media culture are immensely interwoven into each other and proves how media plays a large and controlling role in the production and representation of popular culture In addition popular culture carries numerous definitions and meanings it is vital to keep in mind the various interpretations of culture and ideology by individuals Although media culture manipulates and brainwashes their audience into a submissive state media culture can empower individuals to resist the dominant meanings in media cultural products and to produce their own meanings Kellner pg 9 Thus the study of culture emerged in hopes of enabling the submissive individuals to refuse media manipulation and develop their own sense of individuality and freedom
