Pop
culture hurts originality, creates dilemma
Kellie
Richardson
Think back on the last few movies you watched. Do you ever get a feeling of
déja vu when you watch a film for the first time? Sometimes it seems
like we’re given the same plots, characters and themes over and over
again. Lately, there seems to be a trend of remaking old movies, such as “The
Producers,” “King Kong” and “Pink Panther.” Or
sequels, like “Ocean’s 12” or “X-Men 3,” are
made to cash in on an already proven formula, or films are recycled to make
parodies like “Not Another Teen Movie.”
Though not all films are so blatant about it, all movies fit into a plot structure
that will satisfy an audience looking for either a laugh, a romance, some explosions
or a political statement.
In fact, originality is all but impossible to come by in pop culture these
days. By definition, something original must not be derived from something
else, but this implies nothing can be original anymore. Since any piece of
pop culture is directly influenced by previous works and cultural values of
the time, no pop culture can be completely original.
While society is constantly changing and theoretically progressing, popular
culture is ruled by knock-offs, stereotypes and hybrids. For example, turn
on the radio. What do you hear? Whether it’s hip hop, pop punk,
country or even indie rock, all of the bands you hear are influenced by those
who came before them. Some bands make it big simply by sounding enough like
another popular band.
In fact, Drive Thru Records has made quite a bit of money off of mass-producing
fun, fan-friendly pop punk bands such as New Found Glory, Finch and Something
Corporate. Similarly, while I will give some rappers credit for trying to achieve
innovation, some of their experiments cheat by borrowing from popular songs
of the past, like the Eminem song that uses parts of Aerosmith’s “Dream
On.” Jay-Z and Linkin Park took it a step further by trying to sell
us “new” hybrid music which is actually just a combination of songs
they already tried to sell to us.
Some musicians, filmmakers and authors borderline on being outright plagiarists,
but escape copyright infringement by adapting their creations to fit societal
norms of the day. Each movie, song and book holds on to a sense of novelty
by evolving to reflect the realities of modern life. Though still addressing
the themes central to human nature such as love, loss, celebration and war
that have endured the test of time, popular culture changes the context and
setting to remain relevant to today’s audience.
Take, for example, “Romeo and Juliet,” which has been around for
ages but still appeals to us today because everyone can relate to the idea
of forbidden love. How many times has this play been remade and recycled and
it still doesn’t get old?
While there seems no way to ever, by definition, create absolutely original
music, movies or literature in this day in age, I don’t think this is
a cause for concern. So long as popular culture continues to entertain
us, inspire us, push boundaries and teach us lessons, I don’t see a problem
with more
James Bond films, Fall Out Boy sound-alikes or Harry Potter books ruling the
pop culture scene.
Kellie Richardson is a sophomore history major.
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