I’ve always had a bone to pick with pop culture.
In general I just don’t like it. I find most pop songs way too simplistic and without any real depth. There is character but it’s all superficial.
Hollywood movies are the same. It’s not like they sre all bad but they are meant to appeal to the greatest amount of people possibile and so there is so much they can’t do and they tend to follow the same patterns as a result. For this reason I find them far less immersive.
Just imagine, how much do a 13 year old girl and a struggling immigrant and a mid level manager and a deeply religipus person and an athiest have in common? Hollywood movies need to express things in a way to try and appeal to all these people, and so so much is off limits.
With fashion and products its about instilling a sense of lack and playing on people’s insecurities. “You are only cool if you have this product”.
With values and culture it’s about identity and where you belong. So you have a choice between left right and moderate, traditional or liberal…but that’s only two flavors. Maybe you can join a sub-culture, but in most sub-cultures out of fear of critcism or being treated as an outsider, people conform.
But it’s not as if everything pop is inheritely bad. I know that. I may struggle to see what’s redeemable about certain singers but there really isn’t anything bad about Billie Eyelish or some old Kanye songs.
I realized that it’s not pop culture itself that I have an issue with, it’s how easily people just go with what they are fed.
It’s fine if there are a few ultra popular household names. My issue is with the fact that so many people just adopt what they are exposed to without any kind of exploration or any attempt to challenge themselves.
You don’t need to know every classic Film Noir or be able to name a bunch of post-rock bands or minimal techno DJ’s, but at least look around and see what’s out there.
I don’t expect people to like the same things as me, but I want them to try enough to know that they really like what they say they like. Build up a taste for nuance.
I used to think all beer tasted the same. The. I had Delerium Nocturnum (the one with the pink elephant) and my jaw dropped when I drank it because it was so clearly different from every other beer I had tried up until that point.
From there I tried a bunch of other beers and had the reference point of typical beer and premium belgian beers. From there I learned the difference between darker beers and lighter beers.
I didn’t go much deeper than that. I could have but drinking alcohol isn’t a big part of my life and that’s ok. But at least I have an idea what’s out there. I know that very sour beers and bitter IPA’s and frangrant beers exist and I can see what’s good about them even if I am not the biggest fan. And I can appreciate a simple Kirin or Sapporo because it goes well with food.
My point is, I can go simple and enjoy it but I have something to compare it to and so when I enjoy it, it’s not out of default. I can choose it when it fits and go with the nice Begian white when it fits. I can appreciate each at a deeper layer.
My issue with pop culture is that it seeks to deny us those deeper layers. There may be many layers to enjoy in a pop song or a Hollywood movie and there may not be. The issue is that we so many people let popular opinion (which is about building a sense of insecurity to convince you to consume) and a lack of alternatives decide for us.
Trends become gatekeepers when we allow ourselves to become influenced by them.
I can’t even tell you how many times I had a band I loved abd when someone heard it they commented on how weird it was. Then 2 years later it becomes their favorite band because it’s been featured in a movie.
It’s not as if the music got better. It’s just that some media or online personality they trusted told them it’s cool to like this and exposed them to it through forced repetition.
Expose yourself! You don’t need to wait! It’s a world full of so many riches, you don’t need to wait for an ad or algoirttm to decide your tastes for you! Explore!
If you come across a film that is less well known that you like, check out who directed it and look for other films by them or starring the same actor. If you discover some good unknown music, check out their label or some playlists that feature them, or people they’ve performed with. If you like a thinker or influencer who isn’t super well known, pick your favorite interview by them and check out other interviews on the same channel.
Or just pick a genre or country you heard of and start searching randomly.
If anyone is hungry for something new and wants a door into something different I can offer a few examples of brillaint underrated movies or music or ideas.
A few examples of things I like that very few people know:
Call Me Chihiro - a gentle film about finding peace
Children of the Sea - Probably the most beautiful anime film I’ve ever seen.
Hun Hur Tu - traditional folk songs sometirms blending electronic music, from Tuva Republic
Footwork or Juke music - popular only in certain scenes, energetic electronic hip hop based around a dnace style from Chicago
Tom Waits - quiete well known in the underground, virtually invisible in the pop world. He is a bit hard to stomach at first but i forced myself to listen to Rain Dogs 3 times in universoty and it completely opened up avant garde and experimental music and all things difficult to me.
Terrence Mckenna - ever want to know what drugs feel like without trying them? Probably the best person to listen to.
J. D. kristnamurti - an Indian philospher who helped me understand how to really meditate. He’s more of a scholar than a spiritual teacher but he helped me develop spiritually.
I could go on and on but I think it’s more fun if you find stuff for yourself. There is so much great stuff out there and most people hardly even scratch the surface. It doesn’t need to become a household name, we need to go out and look for it!
What is something you love that almost no one knows?
Here is some of my challenging music:
Bad Dreams
