Pop culture is a hard thing to get a real grip on. It is incredibly accessible, but the reach across so many different cultures and peoples make much of pop culture almost formless. For me, it is easier to think of pop culture like hamburger helper; it comes to you unfinished, and you have to add your own “ingredients” in order to digest it. Everything from movies, music, TV, video games, etc. rely on the viewer to add some psychological need in order to have them keep coming back again and again. Some media can do this via good writing and/or execution, but the only real way to guarantee that people will come back is if the media fulfills some sort of conscious or subconscious need. The easy example of this would be something like Adele’s album 21, and the need for people to reconcile their own romantic relationships. This allows for catharsis, pathos, etc. so the viewer can feel fulfilled in some way. The human brain has so many needs that are apparent, and not so apparent, that this recent deluge of media that has only been increasing for the last few decades makes pop culture study important. People need to know how what they view affects them them and the positives and negatives of their consumption.
So when something like the Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke controversy pops-up, I feel a need to throw in my thoughts to the current storm of public opinion. I think it is important for people to try and understand how they feel about something because it is that communication that helps people understand each other. Unfortunately, a lot of the dialog seems to be dismissive of the other people’s opinions, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of real communication really happening. The crux of the argument has seemed to settle on how what Miley Cyrus did was “offensive” and how what Robin Thicke did was just as “offensive” if not more so.
One distinction that should be made that I don’t hear a lot of people making is that we should make sure not to confuse Cyrus’ and Thicke’s performance with how they feel personally. It is important to remember that they are performers, and while their acts can come from a real place, the purpose of their job is to elicit a reaction from the audience. Whether or not they feel their actions reflect who they are as a person is practically meaningless, for they are already biased. In the world of pop culture, anything that could affect the popularity of the people in question can’t be trusted. The armies of people who depend on the success of Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus make any sort of definition of their true character muddled in a fog of image construction and press relations. The pothole of judging people based on their performances that I see many other people fall into.
If the performances don’t necessarily reflect the performers, then the projections that people try to force on them reflects the individuals that are projecting onto them. Pop culture in this way creates something of a “dark mirror,” a reflection that shows us culture’s insecurities and needs. The “offense” from Miley Cyrus’ performance (especially in conjunction with the anecdote that this encouraged parents to discuss with their daughters about their own sexuality) seems to come from her juxtaposition of imagery of childhood (dancing teddy bears) with aggressive sexuality. On the other hand, Robin Thicke gains “offense” by also being sexually aggressive, but towards a woman who is half his age and how this fits into rape culture.
Once again, it is important to remember is that performers want a reaction. Improvisation and in the moment changes can occur, but these sort of stage productions require rehearsal and careful planning. Both Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke knew exactly what they were getting into. The only people that didn’t know what they were getting into was the audience. One might wonder if the origin of the strong responses came from the unexpected nature of the performance and maybe much of the outrage is actually misplaced. The suddenness of the performance coupled with the ability to send video internationally within seconds creates a reaction that people then have to deal with. It is problematic because the viewing, reaction, and then people’s reactions to others’ reaction was so fast that it is almost impossible to differentiate between.
I wonder if this sort of widespread reaction is possible, if pop culture needs to become more complex in order to fit the demand for discourse. Both “Blurred Lines” and “We Can’t Stop” both seem to suffer from a sort of lyrical generalness and musical simplicity. Both are most probably created to be able to relate to as many people as possible (including possibly international audiences that may not even speak english) and therefore, are diluted as a result. Trying to read any sort of message, including one about rape culture, is going to be more reflective of the people enjoying the music than anything the artist intended. This is probably a result of the thinking of Laura Mulvey (read a good summary here), but the sort of shortcuts people are using in various blogs and criticism lead to a lot of misunderstanding. That will always be the case whenever someone tries to blanket and generalize the subconscious of an entire audience. A good way to avoid this is for the creator in question to create something more complex and personal that actually speaks to a point of view, instead of leaving a canvas for their audiences to paint with, positive or negatively. Though this may instead lead to the content not being as popular.
The only thing we can hope for is that as pop culture only becomes more and more accessible, that people discussing and sending their thoughts out into the world can create an environment of empathy and understanding instead of an environment of vitriol and misunderstanding. I think that the fact of this discussion is happening is a positive one, and if it doesn’t lead to something that enhances people’s lives, then it will be abandoned. I just hope by “enhancing people’s lives” it adds more perspective into the world rather than stirring up controversy for the sake of attention like the current pop music scene advocates.
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