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Originally Posted by rainheart
there are a much smaller number of people defining pop culture than there are people subscribing to it.
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This I can agree with...
What I take exception to is this:
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Those in the population who are more prone to subscribing to the way of life that is determined for them by the media (who I would dare say are less intelligent, or at least less freethinking), those are the types of people who would be defined more by what is popular and would not be capable of creating what is popular themselves.
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The media does not create popular culture. From what I can see, most popular things start out as "alternative" things. It is those that seek to be "individualistic", "cutting edge", etc. That set the trends. The media just follows along for the ride.
There are a very limited number of people who are truly setting the trends. These are followed by early adopters who popularize something (by this time, the initial trendsetters are on to something new). Trends become normalized and absorbed into the mainstream.
The media does not force anything on anyone. The media does not create culture. The media is a part of culture.
I know it is trendy to point to people who enjoy or particpate in pop culture and call them sheep, but I see nothing prodcutive in this. If you truly want to step out of pop culture loop... the only way to do so is to conform. The more you try to be an "individual" the more you feed the machine.