The Problem of Popular Culture

The Line Between Revolution and Conformity in Popular Culture

Artistic Commentary & Independent Value vs Commercial Success & Selling Out

When something becomes popular, it will have counter-cultural opposition which will challenge its status in culture. This ‘problem’ is a dichotomy inherent in culture as part of social dynamics. This paradox is how we can form authoritative conventions based on resisting authority, and base governments on violent revolution against government.

I made a musical remix of a pop song by a very progressive band, as a fan-fiction open-letter response to the singer basically. My version is worth nothing financially, but enough people were in on the jokes inherent in the theme that it got 5,000 plays within a year. The design was intentional on my part to evoke levels of post-modern humor, to play with fans and the band rather than try to compete for popularity or money. Some of the issues in the music include 1. selling-out means growing up, yet it feels soulless. and 2. placing all our value in money is a problem, rather than using memory to embrace positive aspects of nurturing compassion over individual profit at the expense of others. Without listing more, i mean there is alot going on there that is subconsciously infused in the music and lyrics; only accessible through the lullaby meditation of the chorus, which is hard to explain.

Green Day did that weave between pop culture and rebellion too… Pink Floyd (Mr Waters) is still doing that i hear. We want to walk the line, or at least be able to cross it. Most of us weave on one side and then the other, of all kinds of mixed issues regarding cultural conformity. I remember when i first heard green day it was live in person at a DC club. The Green Day sound i heard was the epitome of british punk, clearly made to sell as pop. I was disgusted when i compared it to bad religion, who they opened for, because to me Bad Religion had deeper content and a more unique sound (west-coast punk harmonies); but obviously Green Day was designed to sell out and it did. From the enthusiasm in the crowd, it was clear that they would soon be more popular than Bad Religion, and so it came to be with aggressive commercial marketing.

Again the irony is that our best examples of success walk the line between rebellion and conformity, or new originality and original oldies, or anarchy and establishment. When we are on one side of obvious rebellion, and then it becomes popular we soon find ourselves on the side of ultimate conformity. Metaphorically maybe that would be better described as massive swerves across the line, but our cultural perceptions are really interesting. It is not just music either, we see this dichotomy played out in political campaigns, and in literature, and in every field of study or practice. America is built on revolution. Revolution is part of our establishment.