Question

Do you think that popular culture is trivial, transient and without any importance, or whether you believe it is a useful expression of society and the prevailing environment?

Answer 1

One's perception is what is real to that person. Some people attach importance to some subjects that others may find to be inane or trivial. Parts of popular culture are trivial, transient, and without importance -- based on the individual.
It does form a useful expression of society as a whole, but colored through one's own preconceptions, prejudices, and ability to understand the group dynamic.

Answer 2

I think... i don't take much notice of it and consider it trivial and without importance. However...

It is an excellent way to look at societies morals at any particular point in time, and is also a way that people discuss morals without being 'moralistic'.

At an earlier point in time, would pop stars have been so scorned for drink driving? What do incidents such as Mel Gibsons outbursts, the girls drink driving, Amy Winehouses fail recently, tell us about attitudes towards alcohol?

Would Tiger Woods have been so scorned in a different culture? Would Paris's sex tape been seen differently in the Victorian era (yeah, I know they didn't have tapes back then...). And so on.

Answer 3

Pop culture is a mark on fads both historic and present. Anything from the merchandise a society is inclined to buy (due to marketing, advertising, or majority interest) to the food it eats (popular selections, restaurants, fast food,etc). It marks the social trends that exist during multiple periods as well as acknowledging how they've evolved, adapted, or even recurred. It is important in the following aspects as well as others not mentioned:History, Art, Fashion, Education, Literature, Music, Language, and a plethora of other categories that adjusts on micro and macro levels. All this can occur within one society, not to mention how neighboring societies can budge influence on an even higher scale. It's whats hip and happenin' in each generation of the selected culture.

Answer 4

Hegemony serves as a method of survival within a culture, essentially it is the grease on the wheels that keep us moving as a society, of course there are arguments for or against either of these, if you're curious you should look up Transcendentalism, and Niebuhr