Now that my old blog is dead and buried, I get to post “serious” things here. So…
Just what exactly is pop culture?
Okay, so I know that “pop culture” has something to do with iPods, name brands on t-shirts, and all the music that Austin listens to. But seriously, why is “pop culture” so significant? Why does it merit books and Christian responses?
I ask all this because right now I’m stumbling through Ken Myers’ All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes. And so far, I’m not terribly impressed. For one, people who hate on pop culture are the usually the ones who know least about it. Example: I’ve encountered music teachers who hate on rock music and point to the most obscene bands (Marilyn Manson; Korn) or trivial songs (The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” or the Beach Boys “409″) as proof. In my mind, that’s flat out poor argumentation. If you’re going to condemn something, why not take the time to learn about its best features before you start slamming? Otherwise, you look like your trying to fight scarecrows.
But I digress.
The biggest reason I am suspicious of folks who are all riled up about pop culture is that they often seem clueless that *gasp* – previous cultures were full of sin too! And this is not said to defend our current culture. Rather, I point this out because often, people who glibly condemn today’s pop culture are gluttons of previous cultures. Keep U2, the Beatles, and the Coens far away from our kids—we want to give them Beethoven, Charles Dickens, and Shakespeare.
And I just think that’s kind of fishy.
