Critique on distribution of popular music

According to the theorists of the Frankfurt school the production and reproduction of culture is somehow alienating and inherently bad. I would like to make an overview on the distribution of popular music in the contemporary society. This sort of music is produced to be easily memorised, which implies it has simple and repetitive lyrics. The usage of language is on a poor and basic level, so that it would be accessible to a wider audience. The 'issues' tackled in 'art productions' like these are often on a basic level of emotions, expressing sexual desires or telling stories of crime etc (e.g. Pitbull: '..I know you want me, you know I want you...' and then in Spanish: ' you have big mouth, start playing with it...', etc). There is no cultural, educational or any sort of value, neither in the lyrics nor in the acoustics. In order to be syncronised with the repetitiveness of the lyrics, the melody is also on a very low productional level. The aim of popular music (as well as most of popular 'art') is to make profit, not to educate. Productions liked by the mass aren't likely to carry any cultural significance. They are made to be simple and easy to understand. This in a sense also links to the reading "On Popular Music" we've already reviewed, and supports Theodor Adorno's theories on popular culture.

Week3 Reading Response Pierre Bourdieu- 'Distinction & The Aristocracy of Culture'

Pierre Bourdieu suggests that there is no economy of cultural goods but there is a specific logic to them. According to the reading no one can fully understand cultural practices unless 'culture' is brought back into anthropological sense.

According to scientific observations 'cultural needs are the product of upbringing and education'. Cultural visits and sharing tastes in music, art and literature refer to a certain educational level and social origin. The family background has a huge impact on our cultural development.

Consuming any work of art is a process of communication, and an act of deciphering and decoding. Nevertheless, in order to understand the meaning of a work of art, the consumer needs to possess cultural competence. This links with Leavis' theory for preserving culture withing the minority and that culture is for the ones that consider themselves educated.

There are different ways of relating to realities through economic and social conditions. Taste classifies the classifier, and the antithesis between quantity and quality corresponds to the oppositions between the taste of necessity and the taste of luxury. Studying cultural consumption is done in order to discover the preferences in art, music, literature etc. It is predisposed, consciously and deliberately or not, to fulfil a social function of legitimating social differences.

As Bourdieu says "But the apprehension and appreciation of the work also depend on the beholder's intention, which is itself a function of the conventional norms governing the relation to the work of art in a certain historical and social situation and also of the beholder's capacity to conform these norms, i.e. his artistic training". This refers to me as that then again he suggests that culture is for the ones that have the capacity to interpret the forms of art, and that art should be preserved within the upper class society. Forms of art could carry different cultural significance that could be interpreted by their historical and social conventions.

I believe that if culture wasn't made accessible to the mass, there also would not had been any development of knowledge. At a contemporary society getting education and seeking self improvement are opened to the public. In my opinion this leads to a more civilised society in the long run. Although there is a majority of nowadays "art products" which are offered to the mass that don't have any cultural value, there is still plenty to be learnt from what is accepted to carry knowledge. Example of that is what we recognise as "quality" television.

'Sweetness and light' in contemporary media

The media text I recognise as offering us 'sweetness and light' is the American Drama series 'Lie to Me'. The programme was released in January 2009 on the Fox network. The tag line for the show is 'The Truth is Written All Over Our Faces". The programme is about Dr.Lightman and his colleagues of The Lightman Group that collaborate in FBI investigations with applied psychology. They read through people's gestures in order to understand whether they are telling the truth or not. The story is based on real scientific discoveries. It is believed that people have universal gestures that point out the way they feel.

I find the programme to have productional and educational value. It goes into deep knowledge of psychology and offers interesting plot and story. Editing is of high standart, as well as the choice of actors. It could be labeled as 'the best that is thought or said' because it is a unique programme and nothing like it has been broadcasted before. The application of psychology distinguishes it from all other crime and police series, which normally have detectives as main characters.

Jeremy Kyle's show- cheap, sentimental and appealing to basic emotions

I personally find Jeremy Kyle's show to attract people from an uneducated background (or in other words that refers to the 'populace'). The show doesn't carry any cultural or educational significance. I personally find the stories shown and told on screen for absolutely inappropriate for broadcasting. The participants have created the impression on me as being of a low class society, tending to have lack of education, manners, values etc. Some lines I have heard on screen have been such as "I hope I am not the dad of my cheating ex-es baby, I wanna live me own life...". Participants on the show have also behaved aggressively and violently at times. In regards to that, I would assume that people that are to watch this sort of programmes, should be a low class uneducated audience to whom cheap and basic programmes appeal to.

As much as I wonder why programmes like that have been put on screen, I know that broadcasters are seeking for higher viewings and they need to deliver programmes to suit all tastes. Unfortunately, they are completely controversial to Arnold's aims for social improvement throughout culture and education, but in nowadays society there could not be such thing as universal value (e.g. culture).

Week2 Reading Response 'Mass Civilasation and Minority Culture'

The reading by F.R.Leavis suggests that culture is at a crisis, and that changes have a catastrophic impact on society. The inventions of machines have been seen as bad influence on religion and family.

The study of Middletown (work of antropology) is dealing with a typical community of the Middle West. Although some refer to Middletown as America but England. Although changes in America have been more rapid, the same processes are valid for England and the rest of the Western world.

Films are suggested to have even a more disastrous impact, as they are to be an illusion of actual life and to have a more potent influence. Films and broadcasting are of passive diversion, but tends to make active recreation.

The reading also discusses "culture" been in minority keeping,among the ones that consider themeselves educated. These might be called the "high- brows". Civilasation is seen to be with a harmful effect on culture, and culture no longer has positive prospects.

My Culture

"Closer" (2004, American Drama film)

"A Love Story For Adults", TIME

I have to admit I needed some time to figure out what would define "My Culture" close enough to the real me. I am with a foreign background so I can't easily describe myself with a British show. That is why I chose my favourite film. I have always felt it expresses my own point of view on how people interact between each other in friendships, relationships etc.

The film is based on an award winning play by Patrick Marber. It follows a London based story of four characters- two males and two females. The opening scene is of Alice (Natalie Portman) meeting Dan(Jude Law) just after she arrives in London from the US. Next thing happening is them in a relationship and Dan being photogrpahed by Anna (Julia Roberts,recently divorced American photographer). Shortly after that is been introduced the last charatcer, who is Dr Larry (Clive Owen).

The film follows the story of these four people being into realtionships with each other and then falling out of them. What mostly attracts me in the film is the way the dialogue is been structured. It is very blunt and forward. The emotions within the film are well expressed through these dialogues. The editing brings the film quite forward as well moving shots from one timeline to another.

I like the openess of the dialogue in the film. Things are said the way they are, and the

way they would be in real life. Despite being a love story, it is not a happy ending Cinderella story and exposes human relationships the way they really are or can be.

I would describe "My Culture" with this film, because it reflects my own personality and has for me a realistic point of view on human emotions. I also like its production value, choice of actors, locations etc.

Cultural Diary for MC513