Integrity Score 150
No Records Found
No Records Found
Today, pop culture has developed into a network of mini pop cults that strive for dominance and our attention. They are also adept at enticing regular people, brainwashing them, and directing their civic energy towards objectives that aren't focused on bringing the larger good to society.
It has all the three elements needed to move people: an authoritative figure, exploitation of minorities, and a medium through which they can function. All these coax people to join and follow pop culture, strengthening its roots deep into our psyche.
The authoritative figure brings in people, their charismatic personality and larger-than-life aura draw people into the apparatus of it. Then mediums like social media platforms and other online forums nudge people through their versatile content and other related algorithms making people fall into the trap. And lastly, the marketing gigs used by brands to exploit people which has devastating effects on them, succumbing them to these schemes. Everything has become a 'club' which works on a subscription basis for continual revenue generation. If one doesn't subscribe to Amazon Prime or Netflix, then they are shut out of the conversation, only because they aren't cool enough.
The pop cult has emerged as a powerful force that influences us to direct our civic energy in a world where social isolation has become a public health crisis and where technology has challenged the idea that community is bound by geography. Additionally, while it satisfies our need for connection, it undermines our capacity to act for the greater good.
It has made us aware of what's happening in the other corner of the world, and people are discussing their favourite artists on social media, but aren't aware of their immediate surroundings. And even though popular culture has helped us build our modern-day groups, it has also created a divide amongst them, one that is seemingly impossible to fill.
Image source: The Panthers