Culture Industries
Jihyun Kim
The root of the popular culture
epidemic comes from culture industries. They are industries that produce and
sell popular culture as commodities (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). It is these
corporations and firms that feed the minds of Americans with what seems
socially acceptable. Popular culture is nearly always produced within a
capitalist system that sees the products of popular culture as commodities that
can be economically profitable (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). The culture industries
feed us with information on the latest trends, the hottest music and popular
products. The textbook recognizes the Disney Corporation as noteworthy but
there are many more that targets specific cultures rather than a wide range of
various cultures.
The Hollywood movie industries are
also noteworthy such as, Paramount, Dreamworks, Warner Brothers, Weinstein
Company and many more. Movies and other types of media play a huge role in
popular culture. The film industry produces a plethora of movies that targets a
variety of different cultures, from children to college students to senior
citizens. Since the U.S. is a capitalistic society it allows producers of the
culture industries to produce and sell popular culture merchandise such as
movies. Not only are we in a capitalistic society but we are also in a
competitive market, which makes it more viable for producers to create even
more mainstream movies to beat its competition and make profit.
I personally try to stay away from mainstream movies, or rather
mainstream anything. It is clear that there is no stopping in the lines of
productions of culture industries; however, it is getting out of control. It
surrounds us everyday and everywhere, affecting the way we live and how we view
other cultures. The current films the movie industries are producing now a days
are not making as much profit as they did 20 years ago. It just shows are
America is being influenced and becoming dependent on the popular culture
products the culture industry is providing to us.
References:
Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K.
(2009). Intercultural Communication in
Contexts (5th Edition ed). New York, NY: McGraww-Hill.
Cultural industries can seem to dominate and dictate culture, especially in perpetuating stereotypes. Being aware of the cultural industries is very important in lessening the power they exercise over many diverse cultures.
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