essays on pop culture

Presentations made painless

Get Premium

111 Popular Culture Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Popular culture is a fascinating and ever-evolving aspect of society that influences our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. From music and movies to fashion and social media, popular culture shapes our daily lives in countless ways. If you're looking for inspiration for your next essay on popular culture, we've got you covered with 111 topic ideas and examples to get you started.

The impact of social media influencers on consumer behavior
The evolution of hip hop music and its influence on society
The portrayal of mental health in popular culture
The rise of reality TV shows and their effects on viewers
The cultural significance of memes in the digital age
The representation of gender and sexuality in popular culture
The influence of celebrity endorsements on consumer choices
The role of fashion in popular culture and self-expression
The impact of streaming services on the music industry
The cultural appropriation of minority cultures in popular culture
The influence of video games on youth culture
The representation of race in Hollywood films
The phenomenon of binge-watching TV shows and its effects on mental health
The popularity of true crime documentaries and podcasts
The rise of K-pop and its global impact
The portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters in popular culture
The influence of technology on popular music production
The nostalgia trend in pop culture and its appeal to millennials
The role of fan communities in shaping popular culture
The impact of social media on celebrity culture
The representation of women in superhero movies
The influence of TikTok on music trends
The phenomenon of viral challenges on social media
The portrayal of mental illness in TV shows and movies
The popularity of superhero movies and their cultural significance
The evolution of online dating and its portrayal in popular culture
The cultural significance of tattoos in modern society
The impact of streaming platforms on the film industry
The representation of disability in popular culture
The influence of gaming culture on mainstream media
The rise of eco-friendly fashion in popular culture
The portrayal of drug use in popular music
The influence of celebrity fashion on trends
The cultural significance of sports in popular culture
The representation of body image in advertising
The impact of cancel culture on celebrities and public figures
The influence of political satire in comedy shows
The portrayal of mental health in music lyrics
The popularity of true crime podcasts and their appeal to audiences
The role of nostalgia in marketing and advertising
The representation of technology in science fiction movies
The influence of social media on beauty standards
The evolution of dance trends in popular culture
The cultural significance of food trends
The impact of social media on body image
The representation of race and ethnicity in TV commercials
The influence of celebrity endorsements on fashion trends
The role of fan fiction in popular culture
The portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships in TV shows
The popularity of ASMR videos and their effects on viewers
The influence of Instagram on travel trends
The representation of women in advertising campaigns
The impact of streaming services on the film industry
The cultural significance of street art
The evolution of language in popular culture
The influence of reality TV shows on beauty standards
The portrayal of mental health in young adult literature
The popularity of conspiracy theories in popular culture
The role of nostalgia in music trends
The representation of gender in video games
The influence of social media on fashion trends
The cultural significance of emojis in communication
The impact of celebrity scandals on public perception
The portrayal of addiction in TV shows and movies
The influence of social media on body positivity movements
The phenomenon of influencer marketing in the beauty industry
The representation of race and ethnicity in fashion advertising
The popularity of true crime documentaries on streaming platforms
The evolution of internet slang and its impact on language
The influence of gaming culture on fashion trends
The cultural significance of street style photography
The portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters in young adult literature
The impact of social media on mental health awareness
The role of nostalgia in music festivals
The representation of disability in children's literature
The influence of celebrity chefs on food trends
The popularity of DIY culture in the digital age
The evolution of online dating apps and their impact on relationships
The cultural significance of drag culture
The portrayal of race and ethnicity in social media influencers
The influence of social media on travel destinations
The phenomenon of viral challenges on YouTube
The representation of mental health in comic books
The impact of streaming services on the TV industry
The role of fan art in popular culture
The influence of celebrity fashion on street style
The cultural significance of dance trends
The evolution of slang in rap music
The popularity of wellness trends in popular culture
The portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships in romantic comedies
The representation of race and ethnicity in beauty advertising
The impact of celebrity endorsements on skincare trends
The role of fan fiction in shaping TV show narratives
The cultural significance of streetwear fashion
The evolution of language in pop music lyrics
The influence of social media on body image
The phenomenon of influencer marketing in the fitness industry
The representation of mental health in young adult novels
The popularity of true crime podcasts and their appeal to listeners

These are just a few examples of the many ways popular culture influences our lives and shapes our society. Whether you're interested in exploring the impact of social media on beauty standards or the representation of race in Hollywood films, there's no shortage of topics to explore in the world of popular culture. So pick a topic that interests you, do some research, and start writing your next essay on popular culture today!

Want to create a presentation now?

Instantly Create A Deck

Let PitchGrade do this for me

Hassle Free

We will create your text and designs for you. Sit back and relax while we do the work.

Explore More Content

Custom Essay, Term Paper & Research paper writing services

testimonials

Toll Free: +1 (888) 354-4744

Email: [email protected]

Writing custom essays & research papers since 2008

100 best popular culture essay topics.

Popular culture essay topics are interesting and exciting to read about. They have mass appeal and most people can relate to them. Pop culture can take different media forms. It can range from comic books to films about superheroes. The list can also include fashion, social media, and slang.

As such, selecting pop culture topics to write about is not easy for some students. Although learners have many ideas to consider, they should think carefully before they start to research and write. Pop culture is often criticized for being superficial and primitive. Some people think it’s from indie groups. But, how justifiable are these beliefs? These are some of the issues that can form the basis of popular culture topics for essays. But, if struggling to choose what to write about, here is a list of popular culture topics to consider.

Argumentative Popular Culture Essay Topics

Most people love reading argumentative essays. However, writing argumentative essays on pop culture topics is not easy. It requires skills and time. Here are some of the topics to consider if you want to write an argumentative essay about pop culture.

Popular television shows do not portray what society considers important
Social media does not affect the movies that we watch
Globalization does not affect the pop culture
Globalization affects pop culture significantly
Social media affects movies significantly
Social ideas and pop culture do not have a connection
Popular culture is defined by social ideals
Celebrities influence the buying decisions of most people
Most people will buy a product that is sold by a celebrity
The popularity of soap operas will keep rising
Soap operas are no longer part of the popular culture
Music connects people and other music topics
Connecting with people that listen to different music style is not easy
Music can connect even people that listen to different genres
The internet does not affect what people enjoy
The internet affects what people like
Artists with a low following should watch everything they do and say
Artists should not worry about younger followers that mimic what they do and say
Weather channels should be an aspect of popular culture
Disney princesses affect young girls positively

When writing on any of these pop culture argumentative essay topics, students should be persuasive and provide relevant examples. What’s more, they should be logical in their thinking to convince readers to believe their viewpoints.

Topics about Culture and Science

It’s not easy for some people to think that science and popular culture can merge. However, some topics touch on both science and popular culture. If looking for a pop culture topic that allows you to talk about science, consider these ideas.

Some scenes in pop culture films are accurate
Experiments from Frankenstein can be conducted today
Some experiments from Frankenstein can be conducted in the future
Pluto should be considered as a planet in the current age
Evolution is real when viewed from a pop culture’s perspective
Evolution is a myth when viewed from a pop culture’s perspective
Discuss the popular existential crises attitudes in the 21st century
What can humans learn from watching television about neuroscience?
What parallels can be drawn from Huxley’s Brave New World with the current drug industry?
How does the Gattaca movie resemble current genetic editing
Discuss the popular attitudes towards 21st-century space exploration
Discuss changes in the evolution’s opinion in the popular culture over the centuries
What are the most common objections to eating meat as popular culture?
Can popular culture be studied in science professions by academics?
How has the perception of healthy eating changed?
How does popular culture portray scientific questions with a link to existential philosophy?
What is the effect of climate change movies on impact reduction?
Has the understanding of the solar system and stars been changed by popular science?
Discuss the popular objections that some people have towards vegetarianism
Why is the inclusion of popular culture references in academics wrong?

This list also has some of the best pop culture debate topics. Nevertheless, you should pick the idea to write about carefully. That’s because some ideas are the basis of controversial pop culture topics. As such, you must also convey contrary opinions and take a stance when writing your essay.

Social Issues and Culture Topics

Some pop culture essay topics tie with some social issues. A topic is popularized by society. That’s why most films, television programs, and books focus on social issues. Therefore, good pop culture topics are relatable to most people. Here are some of the best social issues and pop culture paper topics to consider.

Popular culture implication on dumbing down the youth
Racism and popular culture over the last century
Impact of the popular culture on the moral compass
Why some religions are popular than others
Which are the most popular religions?
Why does free speech stress some people in today’s society?
Discuss the impact of social media on popular movements in society
Analyze the current popular culture and consumer behavior trends
Analyze popular culture and consumer behavior in the past 100 years
Discuss the changing landscape in the popular culture and gender equality
How does popular culture represent terrorism
Discuss changes in terrorism representation over the past years
What are the most popular clans in the world?
What is the influence of popular clans?
Discuss the changing attitudes towards gender equality
How is the moral landscape changing?
What are the most influential cults in popular societies
How has feminism affected popular culture?
How does pop culture create apathy in modern society
How does homosexual attitude differ in society due to popular culture?

These pop culture research paper topics touch on social issues too. They show that popular culture is an important aspect of society. Students can focus on these pop culture research topics to show that this essential aspect can cause or solve issues in society.

Controversial Pop Culture Topics for Research Papers

Some popular culture research topics are generally controversial. Writing about such topics entails addressing the controversy that is witnessed almost every day by students. Nevertheless, writing about controversial American pop culture topics, for instance, requires analytical skills. Here are examples of topics in this category.

The government should ban some countercultures
Some cartoons are catchy and bright- Discuss with Toy Story in mind
Products of pop culture bend the present-day youth’s aesthetic perception
Social media activity should be moderated strictly
Some old music and books are better than some of the modern bestsellers
Most people criticize some products of pop culture for being trash
Celebrities should be accountable for racist messages
Most celebrities include sexist messages in their work
Parents should be attentive to the music listened to by their kids
Reading comic books can cause a superficial perception of daily reality

It’s crucial to remember that you should always be ethical when writing about controversial popular culture topics. That means you should focus on making a strong argument with sufficient evidence when writing your paper or essay.

Interesting Culture Speech Topics

Some educators ask students to write speeches on global and American popular culture topics. These topics can also be great for debates. Here are examples of topics that learners can choose for their speeches.

Negatives and positive effects of popular culture on young people
How pop culture can influence the current generation’s moral code
How the values of feminists are represented in contemporary cartoons
How pop culture denounces gender inequality
How popular culture promotes gender inequality
Discuss religious conflicts in pop culture
Explain the influence of pop culture on consumer behavior
How does pop culture lead to political apathy?
Is pop culture the reason why society has accepted homosexuality?
How is the fight against terrorism represented in popular culture?

These are great culture research topics that can also be great for speeches and debates. Nevertheless, they also require research to come up with detailed facts and present them properly.

Extraordinary Culture Essay Topics

Students that like thinking outside the box should pick extraordinary popular culture research paper topics. Here are examples of such topics.

Traveling is part of the modern popular culture
Pop culture is important for modern education
What is McDonaldization?
Discuss the American history representation in modern television series
Compare the portrayal of yakuza in Western and Asian pop culture
Contrast the portrayal of yakuza in Western and Asian pop culture
Contrast pop culture and folk culture
How has the childhood concept been changed by pop culture?
How has popular culture influenced the global economy?
Explain your relationship with the popular culture phenomenon
What is Black Dandyism?
Discuss the pop art principles
Explain ethical problems using pop culture’s technologies
What role do anime and manga play in modern popular culture?
How does American popular culture affect the rest of the world?
How is the US criminal justice system represented in pop culture?
How are the US courts represented in pop culture?
Discuss a famous historical personality in pop culture
How is the mentality of children influenced by their faith in superheroes?

Students can choose from a wide range of global, Asian, or American culture topics. However, it’s crucial to pick a pop culture topic that a learner is interested in. Our term paper writers are here to help. They make writing a paper or essay interesting and easy.

All Online Classes
2024 Destination Retreats
The Portal: Summer 2024 Writing + Healing Program For Women Creatives
Testimonials

Create account
— View All Workshops
— Fiction Classes
— Nonfiction Classes
— Poetry Classes
— Lit Agent Seminar Series
— 1-On-1 Mentorships
— Screenwriting & TV Classes
— Writing for Children
— Tuscany September 2024: Apply Now!
— ----------------
— Dublin 2025: Join List!
— Iceland 2025: Join List!
— Hawaii 2025: Join List!
— Paris 2025: Join List!
— Mackinac Island 2025: Join List!
— Latest Posts
— Meet the Teaching Artists
— Student Publication News
— Our Mission
— Testimonials
— FAQ
— Contact

Shopping Cart

by Writing Workshops Staff

#Creative Writing Classes
#How to Write About Pop Culture
#Pop Culture
#Writing Creative Nonfiction
#Writing Tips

How to Write Personal Essays About Pop Culture

"It was mostly through pop culture, through hip-hop, through Dungeons & Dragons and comic books that I acquired much of my vocabulary." -Ta-Nehisi Coates

Write about Pop Culture with Lit Hub and Crime Reads contributing editor Lisa Levy

We all engage with pop culture every day: we check gossip sites, we hit Spotify, we read about a new movie; we play an alphabet soup of games, we scan websites, or watch a YouTube video, or binge a Netflix show. There are as many forms of popular culture are there are ways to write about it.

We start engaging with pop culture as soon as we're able to perceive the world around us. You know when you're a teenager, and you have all these obsessive interests that might seem strange to anyone who doesn't understand the rabbit hole you've gone down (or live in)? Your entire world revolved around a grunge band from the 1990s that only released one album with five good songs, but you listened to those songs on repeat and learned every lyric.

Or you were obsessed with this one character in an animated show about animals that was too odd for adults, but it was just so funny, even now. Or, you followed every move of some boy band from the early 2000s that you can only find on YouTube now (a few rungs below LFO).

Some of these obsessions follow you into adulthood, or you're discovering them for the first time years later. What do all of these things have in common? They are all obsessively obsessed with pop culture. And while they might seem trivial or silly, they also offer a lot of great insight into who we were as younger people. Or who we are now. Or who we have discovered ourselves to be through some portal into the long-forgotten.

Why did we love this particular thing or moment so much? How did it impact us as young people in forming our own identities? Why did we like it so much at the time? And would others benefit from our intelligent and incisive commentary?

Want a great example? Read The Ecstasy of Frank Ocean by Doreen St. Félix, MTV News.

What Is a Personal Essay About Pop Culture?

In the Washington Post , Sonny Bunch wrote, "the best writing about popular culture — about music, about movies, about TV shows, about books, about whatever — interrogates the way we think rather than what we think." Indeed, pop culture is an integral part of the development of a person's personality and identity.

And a personal essay about pop culture can be like any other essay you've written. You might have fond memories of watching The Office and choose to write about how it worked its way into your life at the time, how it shaped your sense of humor, or the conversations you had at school or work. You can look back on it and recognize a link between how you felt about the show and how you feel about it now. If you enjoyed it back then, you might still enjoy it now, but you might also notice flaws you didn't see at the time. It can be the starting point for a personal essay that takes a second (or third or fourth) look at the pop culture that shaped or changed you.

Want a great example? Read The Grace of Keanu Reeves by Angelica Jade Bastién, Bright Wall/Dark Room

Writing Your Essay About Pop Culture

Of course, writing about The Office is but one of infinite possibilities. Writing your essay about pop culture is about finding the small details that link your past (recent or otherwise) to the present day. How does the fictional character you were obsessed with or the album you cared so much about still inspire you in your life now? Or, how does it show the flaws in the way you might have thought about culture then as now?

Do you think about the plot of the movie or book you read often? What do you think about the music or song lyrics that impacted your life? How do you think that specific moment shaped who you are today?

When you write your essay about pop culture, try to focus on specific details that link you to the time; you don't have to try to go for some grandiose idea of how it changed your life, but that is fine if you do. What matters is the emotional connection you make on the page. As the cliche goes, to be genuinely universal, you need to be specific, so write into the details that stand out, are personal, and will be relatable to your reader.

Want a great example? Read As Not Seen On TV by Pete Wells, The New York Times

We live in an age of democratized criticism: the only thing stopping you from writing about your favorite show or game or app is you.

When you write a personal essay about pop culture, you might be trying to praise or critique the cultural artifact in question. However, to make your piece of writing more impactful, you should focus on how it impacted your life and how it still impacts you in the present day in some way.

Pop culture connects us and, in many cases, shapes who we become and what we like and molds our worldview and ethos, and it's important to reflect on these moments that shaped us and our identities.

Want a great example? Read The Weight of James Arthur Baldwin by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, BuzzFeed

More Examples:

Read The Babysitter's Club by Jesse Barron, Real Life

Read The Confessions of R. Kelly by Chris Heath, GQ

Meet the Teaching Artist: Writing Advanced Flash Fiction with Tommy Dean

Writing the Dark, the Funny, and the Darkly Funny: an Interview with Kritika Pandey

Meet the Teaching Artist: Art of the Query with Emma Brodie

Meet the Teaching Artist: Book Proposal 101 with Tawny Lara

2 weeks ago

How to Get Published

Pop Culture Essay Topics: Find Out the Pulse of Modern Society

Pop culture is an influential and ubiquitous force that permeates the daily lives of millions worldwide. Movies, series, music, games, and other forms of entertainment play an important role in our lives, shaping our experiences, influencing our opinions, and building social connections. Given this, discussing popular culture has become an increasingly essential practice.

Popular culture reflects and criticizes contemporary social, political, and cultural issues through artistic expression. When writing about topics related to culture, there are important things like the representation of minorities, feminism, changing aesthetic standards, or the entertainment industry.

Additionally, discussing popular culture allows individuals to express their creativity and personal opinions. Popular culture evokes intense passions and emotions, creating a space for students to explore their perspectives and interpretations. This personal expression is very important for developing critical thinking and analytical skills and encouraging self-discovery. That is why an essay about pop culture should be developed by all students at least once.

Therefore, engaging in pop culture essays is more than a relevant practice. This practice becomes increasingly important as we recognize the impact of popular culture on our lives and its ability to shape our worldview. See some of the important topics that can be addressed in this subject and the suggestion of exciting topics to develop an essay.

American Pop Culture Topics

American pop culture essay topics are a fascinating phenomenon that affects not just the United States but the entire world. This includes a wide range of elements such as music, film, television, sports, and even iconic brands and products.

Examining issues related to American popular culture allows us to analyze its social impact, evolution over time, and relevance to contemporary issues. Here are five topics for essays on American popular culture issues:

The Social Media Phenomenon and Its Impact on American Popular Culture
The Role of American Reality Television Shows in Constructing the American Identity
The Expression of Diversity and Religion Clash in American Culture
The Influence of Popular Culture on Political Opinion Formation
The Role of Celebrities Influence and Historical Personalities in American Popular Culture

Sports in Pop Culture: Essay Ideas for the Ultimate Fanatic

Sports in pop culture topics have helped unite fans worldwide and create communities of passionate enthusiasts. The relationship between sports and pop culture is complex, ranging from sports idols and historical events to the influence of sports on film, music, and fashion.

Examining sport-related issues in popular culture allows us to analyze the social impact of sports, sports stories that engage audiences, and the intersection of sports and entertainment. Here are five essay topics on the topic of sports:

Sport as a Form of Cultural Identity
The Role of Sport in Breaking Down Social Barriers
Culture of Supporters and Sports Fans
Sports and Sports Stories in the Pop Media
The Impact of Sport on Celebrity Fashion and Culture

Film-themed Popular Culture Essay Topics

Cinematic popular culture is a global phenomenon that fascinates audiences, and pop culture influences many aspects of society. Movies are not just entertaining. They also reflect and shape our culture, values, and worldview.

Exploring the pop culture issues that essay films address allows us to understand the impact of cinema, the trends and influences it creates, and the messages and expressions it conveys over time. Here are five writing topics in “Film-themed Pop Culture Essay.”

Film Action Hero Development in the Mass Media
Representation of Minorities in Cinema and Mass media
The Role of Cinema in Disseminating Ideas and Values
The Impact of Remakes and Reboots on Popular Culture
The Power of Independent Films in Pop Culture

Essay Topics on Style and Pop Culture

The fashion industry and pop culture are inextricably linked, influencing and being influenced by each other. Fashion is how people express their identity and personality, while popular culture reflects and shapes the trends and styles of the time.

Delve into style and pop culture topics to analyze the evolution of fashion, the influence of celebrities and social media, and the intersection of fashion and social issues. The five writing topics under “Style and Pop Culture” are:

The Role of Social Media in Influencing Fashion
Fashion as a Form of Female Empowerment
The Impact of Hip-Hop Music Culture on Fashion
The Relationship Between Sustainable Fashion and Popular Culture
Fashion as a Form of Resistance and Cultural Expression

Social Media’s Influence on Pop Culture

The impact of social media on pop culture today is undeniable. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok have changed how we consume entertainment, discover new trends and connect with others.

Investigating questions about the impact of social media and mass media on pop culture allows you to analyze the effects on celebrities, the entertainment industry, the dissemination of trends, and engagement with the general public. Here are five essay topics on “Social Media’s Influence on Pop Culture.”

The Role of Digital Influencers in Pop Culture
The Transformation of Celebrity in the Age of Social Media
The Diffusion of Trends and Challenges in Popular Culture
The Democratization of Entertainment Through Social Networks
The Impact of Social Media on the Entertainment Industry

Essay Topics on Evolving Pop Culture Trends

Pop culture trends constantly evolve to reflect the social, technological, and cultural changes around us. These trends influence how we express ourselves, dress, consume media, mass media, and interact with each other.

By examining issues related to ever-evolving trends in popular culture, we learn how these changes impact our society and social media’s role in spreading trends. You can analyze the influence of cultures and artistic movements. Here are five essay topics on evolving trends in popular culture.

Subculture’s Influence on Pop Culture Everyday Life
The Impact of Social Networks on the Dissemination of Trends
The Evolution of Fashion and Celebrity Gossip in Pop Culture
The Expression of Diversity and Cultural Appropriation in Pop Culture
The Power of Streaming Media in International Relations.

Pop Culture Paper Topics in the Digital Age

Pop culture has undergone significant changes in the digital age due to technology and global connectivity. Modern technologies, social media, music, video streaming, video games, and content-sharing platforms have played an important role in spreading and developing popular culture.

Investigating issues surrounding pop culture in the digital age explores issues related to the impact of technology on entertainment, changes in the way popular culture is consumed and participated in, and the analysis of privacy and authenticity.

Here are five writing topics on “Pop Culture in the Digital Age”:

Impact of Social Media and Pop Culture Objects on Fandom
The Era of Binge-Watching and the Popular Culture Influence
The Relation Between Folk Culture and Popular Video Games
Privacy and Trust in the Digital Age for Young People in the Mass Media
The Role of Content-Sharing Platforms in the Democratization of Popular Culture

Music and Pop Culture

Popular music is an integral part of popular culture, influencing and being influenced by many aspects of society. It reflects the values, trends, and artistic movements of the time and plays an important role in constructing individual and collective identities.

Investigating issues related to pop music trends and pop culture makes it possible to analyze the influence of popular music on fashion, cinema, politics, and social change. Here are five essay topics about pop music and pop culture.

The Influence of Music Affect on Pop and Folk Culture
Music and Pop Culture Promote as a Form of Social and Political Activity
Pop Music Industry and the Rise of Latin American Pop Music
Music Shape as an Expression of Identity and Subcultures in Young People
Impact of Sunshine Pop Music Era on the Entertainment Industry and Consumer Behavior

Controversial Pop Culture Topics

Pop culture often provokes debate and controversy because it deals with sensitive and potentially divisive issues. These controversial issues range from the representation of specific groups in the media to the impact of popular culture on society and traditional values.

Addressing these questions in a culture research paper topic allows you to explore different perspectives, contrast ideas, and encourage constructive discussion. Here are five writing popular culture topics for “Controversial Issues in Pop Culture.”

Representation of Minorities in the Media – A Vital Pop Culture Change
Political Apathy and Celebrity Pop Culture Reflect These Two Entities
Sexuality and Eroticization in Pop Culture – Positive or Negative Impact
Censorship and Culture Influence Consumer Behavior
Capitalism and Commercialization of Pop Culture Influence and Celebrity Worship

Comic Books in Pop Culture

Comics have played an important role in pop culture and captivated fans of all ages around the world. They are a visually powerful medium for storytelling with iconic characters and compelling narratives.

Examining the issue of cartoons in popular culture allows us to analyze the impact of modern cartoons on film, literature, representation of minorities, and social discourse. Here are five essays on popular culture topics: “comic books in popular culture.”

Impact of Comic Book Adaptations in Soap Operas
The Development of Comics as an Art Form
Representation of Minorities Romantic Relationships in Comics
Comics and Modern Bestsellers as Educational Tools
Independent Comics and Their Impact on the Teenage Generation

Pop Culture Research Topics for High School

Considering pop culture topics in high school is a great way to engage students in relevant discussions and spark an interest in contemporary culture. These topics range from analyzing cultural trends and influence to examining how popular culture reflects and shapes society.

Exploring these topics in essays helps students develop research, critical thinking, and persuasive writing skills. The five writing topics for Pop Culture Research for High School are:

The Role of Pop Culture in the Formation of Adolescent and Young Adults’ Identity
The Impact of Popular Culture on Education
Representation of Minorities in Modern Popular Culture in the School Environment
Use of Social Networks in Schools to Access Modern Pop Culture
Pop Culture and the Fight for Gender Equality

Pop Culture and Science

The interface between pop culture and science is an exciting and ever-evolving field. As science advances, it finds its way into popular culture essays through movies, television shows, literature, and other forms of entertainment.

Likewise, pop culture often inspires science, with discoveries and innovations inspired by fictional ideas. Exploring the relationship between popular culture and science allows writers to analyze how these two fields interact and reflect the values and aspirations of today’s society.

Here are five essays on the topic of “pop culture and science”:

Influence of Pop Culture on Scientific Research Papers
Dissemination of Science Through Pop Culture
How Pop Culture Mediums Tackle Complex Ethical Questions Surrounding Scientific Advancements
Influence of Science Fiction on the Scientific Imagination
Important Representations of Science in Pop Culture and Online Learning

Sexism and Feminism in Pop Culture

The presence of sexism in pop culture and the struggle for feminism are relevant and complex issues that provoke heated debates. Popular culture often reflects and reinforces gender stereotypes, but it can also be a space that challenges these norms and promotes gender equality.

Investigating issues of sexism and feminism in popular newsroom culture allows us to analyze the portrayal of female characters, the objectification of women’s bodies, the media’s influence on the construction of gender identities, and much more.

Here are five essay topics on “Sexism and Feminism in Pop Culture” with feminist values represented.

Evolution of Female Representation and Feminist Values in Popular Culture Essay
The Objectification of the Female Body in the Celebrity Culture
The Influence of Pop Culture on the Construction of Gender Identity for Young Girls
The Role of Feminism in Pop Art Culture and Modern Society
Analyzing the Portrayal of Women in Video Games

In summary, the good pop culture topics covered above are a few suggestions for starting pop culture argumentative essay that include a variety of related topics. Discussing these popular culture essay writing is very important, as it brings many benefits to the training of students pop culture influenced.

Appreciation of pop culture stems from its powerful influence on our daily lives. Exploring his artistic expression allows him to understand and reflect on current social, political, and cultural issues. This comprehensive understanding will enable you to develop critical thinking skills and gain a broader view of the world through popular culture essay.

Poetry Analysis: Unboxing Topics and Outlines in a breeze
Extensive List of 200+ Dissertation Topics for Strong Research
Culinary and Food Research Topics: 100 Tasty Ideas for Students
Business Research Paper Topics: Management, Commerce, Entrepreneurship, etc

Improve your writing with our guides

Psychology Essay Topic: Theories Explaining Human growth and Development

200 Best Ideas for Research Paper Topics in 2023

Reflection Paper Topics: Art

Get 15% off your first order with edusson.

Connect with a professional writer within minutes by placing your first order. No matter the subject, difficulty, academic level or document type, our writers have the skills to complete it.

100% privacy. No spam ever.

American Pop Culture

This essay about American popular culture examines its significant role as a medium for expressing and shaping societal values, norms, and ambitions. It discusses the origins of American pop culture in mass media, its evolution through music, film, television, and social media, and its impact on shaping public opinion and individual identities. The essay also explores how American cultural elements have influenced global trends and practices, highlighting its role in the international cultural exchange and its continuing evolution in the digital age.

How it works

American popular culture serves as a potent and pervasive vehicle for expressing and shaping societal values, norms, and ambitions, reaching far beyond the United States to influence global society. This essay delves into the nuances of American popular culture, exploring its origins, defining characteristics, and its extensive international reach.

This culture is a vibrant collage of music, film, sports, television, fashion, technology, and social media. These components do more than entertain; they reflect and influence societal trends, shape public opinion, and mold individual identities.

The development of American popular culture is marked by continuous innovation, consumer participation, and the shaping of a collective societal identity.

The genesis of American popular culture traces back to the early 20th century with the advent of mass media. Radio emerged in the 1920s and television in the 1940s, serving as platforms that mainstreamed popular culture. The 1950s rock ‘n’ roll revolution, spearheaded by figures like Elvis Presley, challenged existing norms and elevated youth culture to a predominant status within popular culture.

Television reshaped this cultural landscape by delivering visual media straight into American households, fostering a shared cultural experience. Seminal shows such as “I Love Lucy” and “The Ed Sullivan Show” became societal staples, bridging regional disparities and crafting a common cultural thread. The introduction of cable networks like MTV in the 1980s further transformed the music industry by synergizing music with the visual appeal of television.

Film, too, has significantly contributed to the trajectory of American popular culture. Hollywood, as the center of the global film industry, has produced a plethora of films that mirror and influence American life. Central narratives often revolve around the American Dream, exploring themes of ambition, success, and the quest for happiness. Movies such as “The Godfather,” “Star Wars,” and “Forrest Gump” have not only entertained global audiences but also served as lenses through which societal values and challenges are examined.

Music remains one of the most expressive elements of cultural expression, continually evolving to reflect changes in generations and technology. From the rhythms of jazz and rock to the beats of hip-hop and pop, each genre has shaped and been shaped by social movements and identities. Cultural icons like Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Beyoncé have utilized their platforms to influence fashion, politics, and broader societal issues.

With the advent of social media, a new dimension of modern pop culture has emerged, transforming both the consumption and production of culture. Platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok allow individuals to generate their own content and directly influence cultural trends. This democratization of cultural production has enabled the rapid dissemination of trends and ideas globally, highlighting the adaptability and vibrancy of American popular culture in the digital era.

Globally, the influence of American popular culture extends well beyond national borders, affecting international trends and cultural practices. Though sometimes viewed as a form of cultural imperialism, this influence also facilitates a rich global exchange of ideas, styles, and values.

In conclusion, American popular culture is a complex, dynamic entity that both influences and reflects the societal zeitgeist. Its diverse elements—not only as entertainment but also as conduits for reflection, resistance, and change—continue to evolve, ensuring its place at the forefront of global cultural dialogue. As American popular culture progresses, it will undoubtedly continue to play a pivotal role in shaping and reflecting who we are and who we aspire to become.

Cite this page

American Pop Culture. (2024, Apr 22). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/american-pop-culture/

"American Pop Culture." PapersOwl.com , 22 Apr 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/american-pop-culture/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). American Pop Culture . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/american-pop-culture/ [Accessed: 13 May. 2024]

"American Pop Culture." PapersOwl.com, Apr 22, 2024. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/american-pop-culture/

"American Pop Culture," PapersOwl.com , 22-Apr-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/american-pop-culture/. [Accessed: 13-May-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). American Pop Culture . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/american-pop-culture/ [Accessed: 13-May-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

Dissertation
PowerPoint Presentation
Book Report/Review
Research Proposal
Math Problems
Proofreading
Movie Review
Cover Letter Writing
Personal Statement
Nursing Paper
Argumentative Essay
Research Paper
Discussion Board Post

Pop Culture Essay – Thoughts on Writing

The very concept of culture is rather broad – that’s why in order to write a good paper, it is better to focus on some kind of culture. For the purposes of this blog post, let’s focus on pop culture.

The benefits of writing on pop culture is that you, as the writer, have already experienced it and are experiencing it almost every day of your life.

What you hear from your car’s radio, what you see on TV, and what you find browsing online make up the pop culture of the modern time. In other words, a pop culture is the combination of images, perspectives, opinions, ideas and other components that are mainstream within a certain national culture.

The emergence of the pop culture

The term itself appeared in the 19th century and at first was associated only with those social strata that lacked education and were on the lower end of the income ladder. The pop culture was opposed to the official culture with its higher education and income standards.

After the World War II, the term acquired the new meaning of “mass” culture, or “consumerism” culture.

Even though the word “pop” is short for “popular,” the two have a difference in meaning. While “popular” is used to characterize a phenomenon that acquired popularity, “pop” has a narrower meaning of something that has qualities of mass appeal.

There are as many as six definitions of popular culture, none of which covers the full range of meanings.

How to write about pop culture?

There are SO many ways to write about pop culture, and we will only name a few possible directions you could follow.

High class and low-class cultures – what are they?
The message that the pop culture sends
The impact of pop culture on religion
The roots of counterculture
The responsibility of those producing popular culture to those consuming it
The issue of low-quality popular culture – is it possible for a pop culture to be of a low quality at all?
Can popular culture be an advocate of positive social changes?
Pop culture values – why people trade genuine talent for mass appeal?
The likely development of pop culture
Comparison of pop cultures of different decades
What could and could not be predicted in the development of the pop culture of the previous years?
The chances and the mechanism of a niche cultural movement being destroyed by people who don’t understand it
The influence of pop culture on shaping the personality
All things Andy Warhol as the father of pop art movement
The tattoo art as a part of the pop culture
Hip hop and its appeal for masses
The influence of pop music on social events
The influence of music on our social choices
The subjectivity in evaluation of classic and popular music quality
Where does the line between low class and high-cžlass music lie?
Pop music and its role in promoting the values of globalization
The current state of pop music
All things The Beatles
Narcotics abuse by major pop music figures
Michael Jackson as a key figure in the development of pop music
The complicated relationship of online piracy and pop culture
The influence of reality TV on the development and shaping of popular culture
The role of soap operas in popular culture
Media as sources of pop culture
The influence of the online world on popular culture and our choices within it
The impact of advertising on popular culture
The contribution of reality TV into the development of pop culture
All things The Simpsons as a quintessence of pop culture
Celebrity worshipping as a part of popular culture
The difference between celebrity worshipping and hero worshipping

Music, art, literature, movies – there are virtually no limits as long as you make a point by carefully choosing and presenting arguments. This is the beauty of writing creative papers, so use it as much as you can.

What Makes A Good Leader: Essay Hints

How To Write A Strong Obesity Research Paper?

Tips On Writing Your Divorce Research Paper

220 Pop Culture Topics for an A+ Essay

There are many ways to define popular culture . Here’s one of them: pop culture includes mainstream preferences in society within a specific time frame. It covers fashion, music, language, and even food. Pop culture is always evolving, engaging in new trends, and leaving the old ones behind.

Our specialists will write a custom essay specially for you!

This article offers you a list of pop culture topics covering its numerous aspects. Continue reading to find helpful tips on how to choose a perfect topic for your assignment. And don’t forget that custom-writing.org is ready to help you with any task. Check out our resources!

🔝 Top 10 Pop Culture Topics

✅ how to choose a topic, ⭐ top 10 pop culture essay topics.

🎵 Music Topics
📰 Mass Media Topics
📚 Popular Literature
📺 Movies & T.V.
🇺🇸 American Pop Culture
🌐 Internet Phenomena
✍️ Pop Culture Analysis
🤔 Pop Culture & Social Issues

🔍 References

How is politics related to sport?
Is religion related to pop culture?
Does music affect the fashion industry?
The ways technology affects pop culture
Is traveling a part of modern pop culture?
Pop culture’s impact on consumer behavior
How does globalization affect pop culture?
Is there a negative effect of popular fiction?
Entertainment industry during different generations
How does fandom culture vary around the world?

Choosing a topic is the first step towards completing an assignment. This section will help middle, high school, and college students identify the right subject for an essay. Ask yourself these questions:

What are the requirements? Make sure you understand the task you need to complete.
You are free to choose your topic. Keep in mind the purpose of the course and the material covered in class. Brainstorm your ideas and choose the one you like the most!
You are provided with a list of topics to choose from. In this case, start by reviewing every option. Eliminate the ones you are least excited about. Then, select a subject that seems the most interesting to you.
What do you already know? Of course, you could choose a topic that is brand-new for you. But working with a familiar subject will make the research easier.
What does your instructor say about the topic? Don’t hesitate to consult with your instructors before writing. Make sure that the selected topic fits the requirements.

Now you understand how to select the right subject for your assignment. Let’s see the topic options! If you looked through the list but still haven’t found anything that insterests you, try your luck with an essay ideas generator .

Gender equality in fashion
Is food a part of pop culture?
Characteristics of pop art
Pop culture vs. folk culture
K-pop culture’s impact on fashion
How cultural appropriation affects media
Consumer culture and the world economy
Entertainment industry and mental health
The role of media in the music industry
Is TikTok a part of modern pop culture?

🎵 Popular Culture Topics about Music

Music never stops changing. It came a long way from hand-crafted instruments to computer programming. You can write about music that was popular in a specific timeframe or discuss the latest trends. Here is a list of topic ideas on this subject.

How did space-age discoveries affect rock music?
Discuss music marketing in the digital era.
Describe the features of Latin American pop music.
What makes K-Pop stand out?
The role of pop music for your generation.
Write about the origin of hip-hop.
Select a time period and write about its music trends.
Analyze the evolution of pop music starting from the 1950s.

Write about the occupational hazards of being a musician.
The origin and development of sunshine pop.
Choose a music album and analyze its impact.
Which pop music era seems the most interesting to you?
Pick a famous band and describe their career path.
Compare two different pieces of music from the 20th century.
What are the main features of rock music?
How do pop songs influence the teenage generation?
The role of radio broadcasting in the pop music industry.
Popular vs. serious music: a comparison.
Talk about a person who largely contributed to pop music.
What are the functions of film music?
Can popular songs influence public opinion on a specific subject?
Why do some people develop a very negative attitude towards pop music?
Describe the role of music in your life.
Do famous artists influence the lifestyle of their fans?
Discover why some entertainers remain famous even after their death.

📰 Mass Media Pop Culture Essay Topics

Popular culture exists and survives because of the mass media. With its help, it reaches and unites billions of people. Television, radio, and newspapers are the main outlets of mass media. Here is the list of media-related pop culture topics to write about.

Just in 1 hour! We will write you a plagiarism-free paper in hardly more than 1 hour

Do magazines publish celebrity gossip too often?
Describe the way mass media dictates fashion standards to young adults.
Analyze the link between pop culture and mass media in the U.S.
Does mass media influence the preferences of the audience?
Describe how the media contributes to stereotypes about minorities.
Should newspapers expose sensitive details about celebrities’ lives?
How can one make sure not to consume fake news?
Analyze the peculiarities of New Journalism.
Discover the influence of the New York Times on the press.
Write about radio stations contributing to pop culture in the past.
Discuss racial stereotyping on television.
Talk about an influential online news resource.
Body as a subject in media and marketing.
What kind of pop culture topics are not broadcast via mass media?
Would you consider Twitter a mass media source?
Talk about the media and the global public sphere.
Write about promotional campaigns via mass media.
Is it possible for an artist to gain fame without the internet?
Which websites are known for spreading fake news ?
How to avoid information overload nowadays?
Conduct a semiotic analysis of a perfume commercial.
Can pop culture survive without American media?
Describe the American Idol phenomenon.
Talk about the internet’s effects on journalism.
Which influencers do you personally prefer and why?

📚 Modern Popular Literature Essay Topics

This section will be fun for book lovers! The term “popular literature” refers to writings intended for a broad audience. It’s no surprise that such books often become bestsellers. You can describe this type of writing as fiction with a strong plot. Look at this list of topic ideas for a great analytical, argumentative, or informative essay.

Describe the magic of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books.
Discover the initial public opinion about The Handmaid’s Tale .
Why did The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo become a bestseller?
Principles used in Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson.
Why did Enduring Love by Ian McEwan gain popularity?
What charmed the readers of The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton?
Discuss the theme of change in Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee.
Discover the way the sad ending in The Lucky One affected the readers.
Orange Is the New Black: Netflix series vs. book.
What made The Wednesday Letters different from other love novels?

How did The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins become iconic?
Describe the characters of Katherine Min’s Courting a Monk .
Discover the way Atonement by Ian McEwan impacted the readers.
What values are encouraged in Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks?
Discuss the initial public opinion about Life of Pi by Yann Martel .
Self-awareness in The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman.
Analyze the success of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie .
Discuss the literary issues of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air.
How did the public accept the controversial message of The Da Vinci Code ?
Did Aziz Ansari’s reputation contribute to the fame of his book Modern Romance ?
What made The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer popular?
Analyze the fanbase of The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler.
What draws the readers to Confessions of a Shopaholic ?
Explore confession and forgiveness in The Lovely Bones.
Why did The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield gain popularity?

📺 Pop Culture Topics: Movies and T.V.

Movies and T.V. shows are an integral part of U.S. culture. This category includes films based on popular literature and all-time-classic movies. T.V. production is often accompanied by a massive amount of merchandise that fills clothing and toy stores. The following list will help you select an on-point essay topic.

Write about the way the Star Wars saga unifies several generations.
The Wizard of Oz in relation to populist movement.
Analyze the impact of King Kong on cinema.
What makes New York City an iconic location for movies?
Describe the role of fandom in pop culture.
Is it better to watch a movie at home vs. in theater?
Why is Lord of the Rings considered one of the greatest trilogies?
Define the genre of Scarface.
How does Groundhog Day relate to Buddhism?
Did The X-Files inspire conspiracy theories?
Analyze the way Friends logo entered the clothing industry.
Write about the role of the media in Jerry Maguire.
Why did the movie Aliens become popular?
Discover the effects of Western movies on Arab youth.
What has brought Terminator into pop culture?
Write about the impact Rocky had on viewers.
Discuss what fans appreciate about The Matrix movies.
Racism and masculinity in A Soldier’s Story.
Write about a successful Marvel movie .
What makes D.C. movies iconic?
Describe the role of social workers in Crash.
Discuss the periods of The Simpsons ’ fame.
Analyze the way Parks and Recreation reflect the U.S. culture.
Talk about your favorite blockbuster.
Should government control the contents of T.V. shows?

🇺🇸 American Pop Culture Topics

The history of the United States was always reflected in various art forms. Today its pop culture highlights social identity and carries on the American heritage. In this section, you can explore the elements that contribute to American pop culture.

How did globalization impact American pop culture ?
Analyze the influence of the American movie industry on the world.
Write about Hispanic American culture.
Explore the place of alien encounters narrative within American culture.
Write about a specific period of American pop culture.
Examine the popularity of American movies overseas.
Write about the history and influence of Halloween.
Discover the economic value of the American entertainment industry.
Write about an aspect of the American pop culture you’re most proud of.

What would you like to change about the U.S. pop industry?
American folk culture vs. pop culture.
Which countries are not influenced by American culture at all?
Describe the role of T.V. broadcasting for the U.S.
Talk about American fast food as a part of pop culture.
Discover vacation destinations in and outside of the U.S.
Why is so much of today’s pop culture focused on the 80s?
How significant is Disney for Americans?
Discover the roots of U.S. pop culture.
How does the American pop industry portray sexuality?
Analyze the way pop culture unifies American citizens.
What are the destructive trends prevalent in the U.S.?
Discuss gender roles in American cartoons.
What does American pop teach about lifestyle?
How quickly do new fashion trends spread across the U.S.?
Discuss the way the U.S. pop culture reflects its historical values.

🌐 Popular Culture Essay Topics on Internet Phenomena

The internet is the ultimate means of communication worldwide. The rise of online trends is quite unpredictable, which is why it’s called internet phenomena. Memes, videos, challenges will be the focus of this section. Continue reading to find a fun essay topic!

What purpose was intended for the Ice bucket challenge ?
What made the dab famous worldwide?
Describe a dangerous internet phenomenon.
Why were teens attracted to the fire challenge?
Analyze the way Harlem Shake went viral.
What is people’s attitude towards social media?
How does something become an internet phenomenon?
Describe the influence of the Thriller dance on the world.
Debate the ethics of Coffin Dance.
What’s the reason for Gangnam Style’s fame?
How did the Momo challenge turn into a worldwide phenomenon?
Write about an internet phenomenon that emerged in 2020.
Talk about an online challenge you participated in.
What made Bongo Cat famous for many years?
Write about a politics-themed online phenomenon.
What distinguishes popular video games nowadays?
Analyze the role of TikTok in song advertisement.
Write about a comics book that gained popularity online.
Discover online challenges that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Describe the Bernie Sanders phenomenon among college students.
What internet phenomena are popular amongst the older generation?
Discuss the outcomes of a viral fundraising challenge.
Talk about one of the earliest internet phenomena.
How did the first memes appear on the internet?
Write about a web cartoon that qualifies as an internet phenomenon.

✍️ Pop Culture Analysis Topics to Write About

Pop culture includes many components you could write about. For an analytical paper, feel free to pick any aspect of pop culture. You can focus on positive, negative, or controversial factors. Make sure to use academic resources and professional critique. Here are some topic examples of your future paper.

Receive a plagiarism-free paper tailored to your instructions. Cut 15% off your first order!

How does pop culture impact public health?
Analyze Coca Cola marketing strategies from the sensory perspective.
Will the entertainment industry survive without encouraging predatory behavior?
What percentage of the U.S. population is currently involved with pop culture ?
Analyze a popular culture artifact of your choice.
What makes a pop song relatable?
Why is popular literature often made into films?
How does Instagram affect people’s lives?
Will your generation be drawn to pop culture decades from now?
How can one become famous in the age of informational overload?
Analyze the price one is paying for remaining popular.

Why do some classic paintings become a commodity?
Write about a person who significantly impacted T.V.
Pick a T.V. show and analyze its rise to popularity.
Discover how one becomes an influencer.
Do video games have any positive effects?
In what ways does politics influence pop culture?
How necessary is funding for the pop industry?
Why have memes become a popular form of communication?
What things should celebrities stop promoting?
Analyze YouTube’s contributions to pop culture.
Talk about the important messages in current pop music.
What catches the attention of modern consumers?
How did the 2020 pandemic influence pop culture?
What happens to famous artists who quit their career?

🤔 Popular Culture and Social Issues Essay Topics

Pop culture reveals social issues and creates new ones. In your paper, consider various aspects of society. Think about popular culture’s effect on different generations, languages, or values. The following list will help you select an interesting essay topic.

Describe ways in which pop culture divides social groups.
Do pop songs represent the voice of society?
What social issues does pop music contribute to?
Analyze the media’s influence on women’s self-image.
How does an expectation of the zombie apocalypse affect the Americans?
The impact of T.V. shows on self-realization amongst teenagers.
Does popular literature disconnect teenagers from society?
Why do people incorporate fictional characters in protest marches?
What do modern toys teach children about body image ?
Did pop culture contribute to social unrest in the U.S.?
Discover the way popular movies contribute to discrimination.
In what ways do memes influence public opinion?
Analyze the effects of mass media on one’s sexuality.
Examine the impact of YouTube on young adults’ career choices.
Does pop culture promote promiscuous behavior?
Describe the way modern movies stigmatize obesity.
What family values are projected in today’s mass media?
Explore the harming side of fandoms .
Does mainstream media sabotage social norms or encourage them?
Do pop songs encourage rebellious behavior amongst teens?
What kind of lesson does pop culture teach about gender?
Correlation between mobile games and the overuse of display devices.
Discover stereotypes that are prevalent in the pop industry nowadays.
Analyze the effect of television on bullying.
In what light does pop culture portray religion?

We hope you found this article helpful and choose an excellent topic for your assignment. Now go ahead and write an A+ essay on pop culture!

How Do We Talk About Race and Pop Culture Without Going Insane?

Pop culture has been in a state of upheaval and growth in recent years, leading to fascinating art and even more complex conversations. When Wesley Morris’s essay “ The Morality Wars ” was published by the New York Times yesterday, it set off a renewed conversation about pop culture today — how it is consumed, how it has changed, what we feel comfortable critiquing, and where it may be going in a fraught atmosphere in which politics are pointedly important and beloved stars are “canceled” in the wake of various moral missteps and failures. While some critics praised the piece , others felt it painted an incomplete, even disingenuous picture of the modern media landscape. Vulture gathered a group of critics — our own Angelica Jade Bastién and E. Alex Jung, Vulture contributors Jasmine Sanders and Miriam Bale, and BuzzFeed critic Alison Willmore, to consider a host of questions. Namely, what is the responsibility of critics — particularly critics of color — in an age in which representation and cancel culture have become intrinsic to conversations around art?

Let’s start by talking about what brought us all here in the first place: Wesley Morris’s recent critical essay about social justice, morality wars, and what they mean for art right now. One of his main points is that it’s nearly impossible to critique art made by people of color in today’s climate. What are your thoughts on the essay? Do you think Morris grapples with this tangled issue well?

Angelica Jade Bastién: Wesley Morris taps into a very fascinating topic that I have been talking about amongst friends and colleagues in private. We are in a very interesting place in regards to how we discuss art in which our expectations of it — particularly politically — has changed in dramatic and necessary ways. But I found his essay to be improperly framed. Part of the problem is he casts a wide net of examples that don’t quite work when discussed together. The other issue is, there are in fact a lot of writers of color giving complex, nuanced conversations of, say, work like Insecure (which I hope I did in critiquing the failures of this season ) on aesthetic and political levels; they just aren’t always happening in the New York Times . Didn’t Robin Givhan write a fairly nuanced critique of Beyoncé’s Vogue cover ? There’s also something oddly conservative about discussing this as an era of “morality wars.” Let’s be real — people aren’t really getting canceled. Louis C.K. has wormed his way back into the spotlight . I also found Morris’s hand-waving of the very valid critiques of Zadie Smith’s Get Out essay to be reductive. In discussing these works, Morris reflects the same myopia he is trying to critique.

Jasmine Sanders: I thought the essay began with a compelling premise: Wesley, a black man and black cultural critic, offering a critique of a prominent black work, Insecure . It was interesting to see Wesley posit the critique, and ensuing melee, within a personal context — he’s at a dinner party, among friends. It’s a reminder that criticism isn’t isolated to the internet, or even writing. After that opening bit, the essay got a bit unwieldy for me — an interpretation of certain cultural phenomena that felt a bit misrepresented or mischaracterized.

Miriam Bale: Angelica, it’s interesting that you refer to it as Zadie Smith’s Get Out essay (which it was) when Morris did not really cover that aspect of the essay. He focused entirely on her reaction to Dana Schutz’s “Open Casket” painting of Emmett Till. Which is interesting because he’s been very supportive of Get Out , while Smith, months after it had been in the theaters, gave one of the first prominent negative reactions to the film (or negative reactions to the positive reactions) — that is, after Armond White . He also mentions the critical reaction to her use of the word “quadroons.” Was that your fault, Jasmine?

JS: I am claiming responsibility for the quadroon discourse, Miriam. I think that what Wesley took to be a “canceling” (which I’m not sure I believe to be an actual thing; that the term has a pithiness, an air of finality, that the thing does not) was largely just disagreement and discussion. I don’t recollect there being a call for Zadie’s “canceling.” My fascination with Zadie referring to her children as “quadroons” is that it pointed to how deeply race/racism has rendered us all completely insane. This biracial black woman has married a white man and is referring to their progeny, albeit cheekily, by antebellum slave terms. Quadroon, mulatto, etc. are funny to see online because they’re so anachronistic, you know? But they also conjure the history of sexual violence inherent in slavery. Seeing Zadie invoke them was so wildly intriguing.

Alison Willmore: Morris’s flattening of everything into “canceling” is maybe the most frustrating thing about that essay to me, and echoes in an unfortunate way other pieces I’ve read that want to posit that various things have “gone too far.” As you pointed out, Angelica, he cites a lot of examples that don’t feel like they belong together. Ian Buruma was “canceled” because of what many felt were failures in his role as editor of the New York Review of Books . Insatiable was “canceled” because the internet hated it, except, as he notes, Netflix renewed it for a second season. Zadie Smith was “canceled” because people disagreed with what she wrote and how she wrote it.

JS: He also rubs up against one of the more prickly aspects of so called “cancel culture”: Bill Cosby still has ardent supporters. It’s so, so subjective. One can be “canceled” in one niche community of the internet and be perfectly fine in another. Wesley revealed a lot of his own biases in this essay.

MB: The problem with the essay, for me, came from the idea of “goodness.” Not just Morris’s device of “good work” versus moral goodness. But focusing on the idea of “good” versus “bad.” His focus on quality leads him to support The Cosby Show as objectively good art! It is entertaining and memorable, yes. But what are the show’s implicit values? They’re quite conservative. And of course it came to define a generation (maybe generations?) of respectability politics. Those respectability politics and conservative values are something not tied directly to Cosby’s rapes, but are, in a way, tied to his obsession with and abuse of power.

E. Alex Jung: Someone texted me and said that the essay would have been a good cocktail conversation, but not a written piece. To that end, Morris used a lot of compelling, but slightly glib arguments that certainly would have gone down better with an Old Fashioned in hand. The only thing I’d add is that his historical comparison to the panic of the “Moral Majority” of the late ’80s and ’90s struck me as a selective reading of history. Yes, the religious right was attacking the NEA and major art institutions, but the white liberal critical establishment was also attacking works by people of color and dismissing it as “identity politics.” There is the game-changing Whitney Biennial in 1992 that featured works by predominantly people of color that was a critique of the art institution itself and made (white) critics practically apoplectic. It was also when Bill T. Jones staged “Still/Here,” which Arlene Croce at The New Yorker famously refused to see and yet still decided to review, calling it “victim art.” This is to say, we were having the same exact conversations back then that we are now. The major difference is that people of color have slightly more power today in shaping mainstream discourse.

AW: Oh, it was definitely a cocktail conversation — I think there’s a reason it started with that anecdote about the dinner party, and that’s why it felt like it was building a wide-reaching and messy argument on top of something very personal. It’s something I have no doubt we’ve all talked about in private, which is what it feels like to not like, or not relate to, something that is supposed to be for us, or for some larger group under whose umbrella we fall.

That’s a good lead-in to the next question, Alison. Do you think there’s some truth to the points Wesley’s raises? For example, have the conversations around politics and morality affected or ever made you doubt your own voice as a critic? Was there ever a movie or show you wanted to critique, but felt you couldn’t because of the larger swell of public support and marketing surrounding it (i.e. Crazy Rich Asians, Get Out , etc.)? Basically, are you ever scared of critiquing certain things because you’ll get attacked online for it?

JS: As a person who dislikes everything all of the time, I now err on the side of caution with what I publish. There’s also the fact of the media milieu making that decision for you. Black women are already so rarely called upon to critique films. I’m trying to gauge the likelihood of a “critical take” being accepted, and I don’t think it’s very high. It feels like we’re in an era where everything black… is amazing. BlacKkKlansman is amazing. Sorry to Bother You is amazing. It kind of makes my head spin. I went to a screening for a movie, in which I was one of four black people in the theater. The movie ended and the white audience members literally stood and applauded. Afterwards, in the bathroom, I ran into another black woman who basically said, “Okay, what did you really think?” Criticism can feel like that. I’m also a very new critic so I’m prone to second-guessing, self-doubt, etc.

AJB: For me that movie is Get Out. I never wrote about the film in-depth mostly because I felt burned-out by the conversation and was worried I would get intense backlash. I have critiqued beloved works by black people and gotten intense backlash from all corners — both from black fans and white critics. Sometimes I feel like the risk isn’t worth it. Jasmine is so right. We are in a strange era in which everything black is being considered amazing out of some odd corrective measure. But guess what? Black people can make trash, too. I mean y’all saw Sorry to Bother You with its 101 politics and horse dicks all throughout the third act!

EAJ: To Wesley’s credit, I do think the anxiety he’s feeling is one that we feel when it comes to these questions of when to critique something, and how vociferously. Many of you have written really thoughtful and provocative criticism of the shows that have that air of untouchability around them. (Angelica, I’m thinking of how you critiqued The Handmaid’s Tale during season one of all times.) I do feel like what I end up doing is a calculus over whether something is worth it or not — both for whatever personal blowback I might get and whether it seems like a valuable conversation to have. And the fact that, for instance, I do have an investment in Asian-Americans representing and making good work means that whatever critique I make will be coming from a place of knowing just how little we’ve had. So maybe it’s not such a terrible thing that I think extra hard about whether it’s worth dunking on Dr. Ken . (And I have!)

JS: I thought Wesley’s expression of anxiety was incredibly relatable.

AW: I definitely felt relief when I liked Crazy Rich Asians . There have been so few American movies with primarily Asian casts, it creates the added pressure that to critique a movie like that might somehow hurt the future of Asian-American studio film.

AJB: That’s a good point, Alison. I often feel the pull to be kinder to works starring and made by people of color, particularly black and Latinx folks, because of my background. But I always end up deciding that doing so would be a disservice to myself as a critic and to my readers.

AW: It’s funny — when I didn’t like Ocean’s 8 , someone claimed I was using “Gamergate language,” which I thought was hilarious. Part of the challenge here is that creators and studios and networks have started to use language about representation in talking about their own work — and they should! — but it becomes a kind of shield. Like, it’s possible to think Ocean’s 8 is a bad movie without wondering if you’re dealing with internalized misogyny.

JS: The temptation to be the one brave enough to say, “No, I certainly did NOT like Frozen ” and publish some polemic is also real. I try to weigh/consider all of these things.

EAJ: I think some of the problems in criticism are coming less from “cancel culture” and more from stan culture, where a lot of us (I include myself) are performing an undying fealty to some person, place, idea, or thing. (Yes, those are two sides of the same coin.) Generally, I sense quietness now when something doesn’t quite land. When people don’t really like something, they just don’t say much about it. That’s been very telling.

AJB: I’m glad you brought up stan culture, Alex. Fandom and stan culture has become one of the most myopic and often nastiest aspects of the modern pop-culture landscape. People are nearly religious zealots about what they love to the point where even a measured critical essay about something is taken as being a “hater” and can get a writer death threats. A lot of this comes down to how what people love has become a marker of identity and how the representation that people have rightly been clamoring for has become a marker of identity as well.

When it comes to critiquing POC-fronted works, how do you see the conversation playing out differently among white critics and critics of color? Does it ever feel like there are separate conversations happening? Relatedly, do you ever feel like it’s not “your place” to critique a work? And do you think that applies to other critics?

JS: I struggle with thinking it’s my place in a published piece; my Twitter is like the gladiator arena — we can fight to the death in there. I have only recently realized that there should be such a delineation.

AW: Weirdly, I feel better about writing pieces that take on things I’m maybe scared about. Twitter I’ve been fading off of recently just because I feel like everything becomes a fight, and at least in a piece I can make a whole argument before people start yelling at me.

AJB: To get more to the question, it is sometimes startling to see how much of a different conversation is going on between white critics and critics of color. Even with Wesley’s piece, my timeline was starkly divided.

MB: Yes. And, going back to Twitter, the difference between the public conversation and the one in the DMs.

AJB: I think white critics are in a weird crisis right now. I’ve seen some … interesting pushback to critics of color who talk a lot about politics. Which on one hand, I do think some critics of color who are new to the game do not know how to balance talking about aesthetics, the history of the medium, and the political dimension of a work. On the other hand, white critics remain a mess in many ways, too. But that is also on editors who are pushing young critics of color to do these clickbait-y, angry, not all that nuanced criticism of art from a distinctly and sometimes solely political perspective. This is something I have been thinking about a lot.

EAJ: It felt like Wesley was yearning for the days of classical exegesis when we’re ideally in a space where critical discussion is considering a lot of different aspects of production, history, aesthetics, and political content. Part of the problem with the spate of “is this good or bad for the culture” critiques is that you still have a raft of white editors who are the gatekeepers. To use a specific example, I was struck by the L.A. Review of Books review of Morgan Jerkins’s This Will Be My Undoing . The writer said she had submitted it to multiple places and it had been rejected. I thought it was a smart, tough piece of criticism that, regardless of whether you “agreed” with it or not, was worth publishing. Of course I don’t know what the pitching process was, but it’s not hard for me to imagine that there may have been a reluctance on the part of white editors to publish something that was critical of a black female memoir.

JS: White people are absolutely in crisis. It’s so interesting to consider how something is only “racial” once it’s not white. If it’s about whiteness, it’s about race as well. But most Americans have no idea how to begin excising their own racial identity.

One of the implications of Wesley’s piece was that art itself is less interesting now because of the pressure to be politically correct. Do you think there’s any truth to that?

EAJ: I’m a little ambivalent about this. I do think art is slightly less interesting, but I don’t think it’s because of political correctness, but rather commercialism. The ties between capital and art or artistic production are only getting more intertwined, and when something must have monetary value first , as well as artistic value, things start to get less interesting. I was thinking about what Donald Glover said in his New Yorker profile — “The system is set up so only white people can change things” — because it is a system of white capitalism that’s determining whether something has “value,” whether that’s actual or potential.

That said, if we’re comparing television (a populist, inherently commercial medium) then to now, it’s certainly better now. It’s also somewhat about where you direct your gaze: I’ve written about this before, but comedy is way more interesting now than it ever has been thanks to the rise of alt-comedy spaces and queer comics. They’re edgy, gross, boundary-pushing, and fucking weird.

JS: Yes! There’s a critic I adore, Tobi Haslett ( @TobiHaslett ) who created this amazing thread about the relationship between art, the academy, critics, and commerce. Danielle Butler ( @Daniecal ) was another super-insightful, incisive thread. They’re two very even-keeled, funny writers who I always look to, something like a lodestar, when conversations like this happen.

AJB: I totally agree, Jasmine! I always look to @daniecal when something pops off. Her perspective on Twitter is a balm and a clarion call. And for the record, I agree with you, Alex. I am also ambivalent on this. The issue is complicated. I think Hollywood film is at its least interesting point in a long time. But television is so fascinating and rich with a lot of options. It all depends on where you are looking. That feminism and so forth have been co-opted to both market pop culture and give it the veneer of progress is a big problem, and it makes art boring as hell.

AW: Oh, agreed, Alex. It’s been depressing to me the degree to which the conversation about POC creators has focused on getting to make mainstream work and be hired by large media companies but so much less on elevating work made outside the system. I don’t want to discount the latter! Or the importance of getting people paid and shifting who’s in power within those structures. But it’s often the least interesting and least daring source of art.

AJB: Alison, you bring up a really good point about how progress for people of color equals being swept up in the mainstream and — I’ll take it further — having the same markers of success as white people. I say burn it all down. The most interesting work to me is happening outside of the system in many ways. But that has always been true in one way or another.

We are in a time where it’s truly impossible to separate the art from the artist. How much do you think about the author of a story as you’re writing about it?

AJB: This is a really complex question. I want to answer the first part a bit personally. When Kathryn Bigelow’s film Detroit came out, I was still freelance and did a review for RogerEbert.com which exploded because I wrote this: “Watching Detroit I realized that I’m not interested in white perceptions of black pain. White filmmakers, of course, have every right to make stories that highlight the real and imagined histories of racism and police brutality that pointedly affect Black America. There are, of course, a litany of films by white filmmakers about subject matter unique to the black experience that I find moving — The Color Purple comes to mind. But Steven Spielberg’s film was based on a novel by Alice Walker and produced by Quincy Jones. Detroit was directed, written, produced, shot, and edited by white creatives who do not understand the weight of the images they hone in on with an unflinching gaze.”

I have never received more hate mail and criticism from white and black critics accusing me of saying white people can’t write/direct films about black pain, which is not what I said. It angered me because I feel there is a way to discuss how the makers of a piece of art might be myopic due to their background, which prevents them from meeting the goals they set out for with a film. I don’t think you can separate art from the artist. But most of what we are talking about are very collaborative mediums, and for the most part, I am pretty anti-auteur theory. Which is to say, this is a complex issue that changes depending on the work we are talking about, the production process, and so forth.

MB: I was haunted by something Bigelow said to Variety during the promotion for Detroit : “I thought, ‘Am I the perfect person to tell this story?’ No, however, I’m able to tell this story…” I see many “allies” with that logic. It seems that question of who is able to tell stories should be more a primary concern.

AW: I feel like “art from artist” arguments have always been bullshit, or at least deployed selectively.

EAJ: It’s funny how many critics have coded work by women and people of color as personal or “autobiographical,” whereas work by white men is somehow transcendent of that.

AJB: Ain’t that the truth, Alex. That just puts into harsh relief how we (as in critics, generally) talk so differently about the work of people of color and white people.

As much as we can’t separate those the art and the artist, does it ever feel like it simplifies the conversation around art, where a “good person” translates to a “good work” and a bad person therefore creates “bad work.” For example, after the Junot D í az controversy, in which he was accused of sexual misconduct , there was a lot of criticism of his previous work — was some of it valid, and did some of it conflate him with his work?

JS: For the record, I did stan Junot for a period, but I do agree with the summation that a man writing abusive male characters … may or may not himself be an abusive male character. The same with lots of male auteurs and creators. I think we’re smart enough to not conflate character and art, or I hope so. I don’t know if there was a conflation with Díaz or just a retrospective enlightenment? Hindsight is 20/20, etc.

EAJ: There is a conflation happening around personhood and the work itself that’s now part of “branding.” You definitely see some people trying to use that as cover to inoculate themselves from criticism.

AW: Like Dan Fogelman blaming white male critics for Life Itself ’s bad reviews !

EAJ: That was some of the most suspect co-opting of social justice rhetoric in 2018!

Let’s talk about how art and politics intersect in 2018, when it comes to the work itself. Does the way some works focus so intently on the experience of racism/sexism/etc. lead to characters who have no interiority beyond the message they’re supposed to communicate?

MB: I have become very suspect of any recent work that adds in a police shooting of a black person for topicality and gravitas.

AW: I was just hanging out with a friend, who’s an indigenous filmmaker, who was telling me about how a lot of the work she’s been seeing from her community, especially people starting out, is focused on instances of oppression and racism rather than lives in which those things are an element, and it frustrated her. I feel like there are a lot of structures in place, both commercial and in terms of grants, that incentivize that kind of work in a lot of POC communities, because it fits an idea about what is “important.” It frustrates me, too — like, the lens through which we get to see POC characters is often so narrow and so focused on pain.

MB: There’s a current movement called “Afro Bubblegum” that calls for films about Africa to be fun, fierce, and frivolous, for exactly those reasons, Alison. And I feel that impulse! On the other hand, the only film I’ve seen from that movement, Rafiki , was pretty mediocre. (You didn’t hear that from me! Another instance of proving Wesley correct.)

JS: There are definitely those plainly obligatory, utilitarian characters in books and film. They always feel hollow or arbitrary; I’m thinking of Donald Glover’s appearance in season two of Girls . Like, just let the show be white, I’m fine with a white show! (I think that Girls is as much about white East Coast womanhood, though not ladyhood, which I perceive as something different.)

AJB: Sometimes it is okay for a show to not be intersectional — sometimes it is actually dishonest when it is. The girls of Girls not being close to or interacting with people of color much reminded me of white women I have known who lead insular lives. Like, that is a real thing that happens.

EAJ: I did a recent interview with Alan Yang where he talked about how he got some criticism about his new show, Forever , because it wasn’t explicitly about race. And yet, there were a lot of little touches about race that you could pick up on that aren’t as explicit. It’s about race even if it’s not about “oppression.”

AW: I have definitely heard creators of color talk about feeling pressure to make stories about their communities, and some of that is self-created pressure — when there’s a dearth of people who look like you onscreen, and you’re in a position to do a little bit to change that, you tend to feel like you should. But, to Alex’s point about Alan Yang, I think a lot about Justin Lin taking over The Fast and the Furious series and slowly pushing it from being this dumb Point Break -but-with-cars (as if anything else could ever live up to Point Break !) to being this gloriously dumb multiethnic ensemble series that snuck in a stealth Asian male lead, and the power that comes with working with material that isn’t inherently, in this case, Asian-American, and inserting that POV anyway.

EAJ: Tokyo Drift is the best of the franchise and Sung Kang should have been a fucking movie star and I will take that with me to my grave.

I feel like there’s a deep parallel between this and the Memoir Industrial Complex that often asks for women and people of color to cut themselves open and share their pain and trauma. It still seems like it’s ultimately for a white gaze, and that’s why I feel ambivalent towards those works, because often I think they’re not doing something formally inventive or challenging, but merely playing into a genre that renders their subjectivity as abject and easily digestible for a white readership.

This is a great way to get into the final question. What are examples of works that strike the right balance between having a strong political intent and being artistically dynamic?

MB: I think the goal is not a balance between political and artistic goals, because all art is political. Superior work is going to be so political that it transcends partisan views, and is no longer about right and wrong sides but instead criticizes every view, including your own. Good artwork should make everyone uncomfortable. I’m trying to think of an example! (The only thing that comes to mind is Eastwood, but I don’t really want to get into that.)

EAJ: Right. Work by women and people of color often gets marked as “political” in part because their effects are counter to the current regime, whereas something like Home Improvement would have been seen as apolitical because it followed the smooth grain of patriarchy.

AW: The term “political” has gotten weirdly and unfortunately claimed by a certain type of reactive Twitter troll as a slight. What I’m really interested in is our having more conversations about aesthetic choices in addition to social/political/content-focused ones, because I feel like criticism (and I don’t excuse my own writing from this) leans really heavily toward the latter at the moment.

AJB: You also can’t adequately even critique the political dimension of a work — especially mediums as visual/aural as film and television — without bringing in the aesthetics of a piece.

EAJ: Totally. Aesthetics and politics are separated far too often, when in fact, one informs the other. Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts (which, it should be said, has a troubled relationship with race), many episodes of Atlanta (“Teddy Perkins” most recently), Moonlight , BPM , Jane the Virgin , and a boatload of queer comedy feel aesthetically vital because they upend conventions, challenge form, and are also really fucking well-crafted.

AW: Maybe because we’ve been talking about it offline, Alex, but the first thing that came to mind for me is Lee Chang-dong’s Burning , which is at once a mesmerizingly good, beautifully crafted thriller and a bitterly incisive exploration of class. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, or Steven Yeun’s dead-eyed yawns. And I thought The Rider , my favorite film of the year so far, was an amazing look at masculinity and economic precariousness and life on a reservation, while feeling the need to give none of these elements the double underscore.

MB: I agree Atlanta is a great example. I also like when white artists address whiteness, like Lena Dunham at her best in Girls , but not necessarily when she thinks she’s doing it, when she makes it opposed to blackness. The politics and style of Alice Rohrwacher’s Lazzaro Felice serve each other well. It’s hard to think of many American examples.

AJB: When I think of works that are actively thinking about power, politics, and are also formally inventive, my mind doesn’t immediately think of the present but the past — I feel noir during Hollywood’s classic period did this beautifully. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend , Jane the Virgin, Killing Eve, Annihilation , Jennifer Phang’s amazing film Advantageous (if she doesn’t have a long, great career as a director I will be livid) are all good examples. These days, I feel a lot of heavy genre works are the most interesting. Horror, noir, and science fiction offer a fascinating set of tools, values, and aesthetic experimentation that allows filmmakers to hit on these notes very well.

Hearing your responses urges me to be more exact when it comes to discussing these matters, personally and critically. Like Alison, I deeply want more nuanced criticism that takes into consideration the aesthetics, production, and medium’s history when it comes to pop culture, while keeping in mind the social and political.

vulture homepage lede
wesley morris
pop culture
roundtables

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

Lower case letters (a-z)
Upper case letters (A-Z)
Numbers (0-9)
Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

163 Popular Culture Topics and Questions for Essays & Research Papers

Are you looking for popular culture essay topics? You’re at the right place! StudyCorgi has compiled a list of popular culture topics for you to debate in argumentative papers or use for essays, projects, and other assignments. Feel free to use these pop culture research topics for your inspiration!

👨‍🎤 TOP 7 Popular Culture Research Paper Topics

🏆 best pop culture topics to write about, 🌶️ hot popular culture ideas to write about, 🎓 most interesting pop culture essay topics, 💡 simple pop culture research topics, ❓ pop culture research questions, 🗣️ pop culture persuasive speech topics, 💃 pop culture criticism topics, 🌺 more popular culture topics.

Why Are Fantasy Films so Popular?
The Influence of Popular Culture on Society
Exploring Popular Culture in Architecture
Michael Jackson’s Influence on Pop Culture
Functionalism and Other Theories of Popular Culture
“Cultural Theory and Popular Culture” by John Storey
The Impact of Popular Culture on Body Image
Popular Culture via the Lens of Marxism, Postmodernism, and Psychoanalysis The purpose of this paper is to describe a popular culture through the lens of Marxism, Postmodernism, and Psychoanalysis.
Popular Culture’s and Fashion Industry’s Influences The popular culture influences particularly the youth. This paper creates awareness for the audience concerning the effects of the manufacturers’ advertisements.
The Impact of Popular Culture on Body Image in Women This paper is about how the media and film industry promotes unhealthy body image toward women and how it affects women consumers.
How Popular Culture Influences Morality in Society The article titled “Readers on Morality: Don’s Let TV Be Guide,” reveals much insight regarding what most content consumers feel about popular TV shows.
Popular Culture in “Inglourious Basterds” Film One of the most well-known and controversial movies about World War II, “Inglourious Basterds” by Quentin Tarantino, is densely packed with references to popular culture.
The Influence of Popular Culture on Society’s Perception of Wealth as Life’s Priority The modern world has long entered the era of technological advancement that broadened the scope of popular culture manifestations.
Pop Culture in America Pop culture is a multidimensional concept acting in many interpretations as the opposite of elitist types of cultures and is often replaced by the term mass culture.
Pop Culture in Movies: How Far Can It Get? Pop culture is music, films, products etc. in a particular society that are familiar to and popular with most ordinary people in that society.
The Impact of Technology on American Popular Culture in the 20th Century The work aims to examine how the development of technology influenced the popular culture of America in the twentieth century.
How Popular Culture Can Promote the Idea of Sexual Assault in Society Popular culture, including articles, songs, videos, and other materials from influencers in social media and life, can promote the idea of sexual assault in society.
Interconnection in Popular Culture With globalization and commercialization of culture, every aspect of culture seems to be merged into one single realm.
Cars in Popular Culture and Mass Media The entirety of ideas, fancy images, attitudes, and perspectives within the cultural mainstream define what is known as popular (or pop) culture.
Doctor Faustus in Popular Culture This paper examines the image of Doctor Faustus in popular culture, using the examples of the works by Christopher Marlowe and George Lucas.
“TV, Ideology, and Emancipatory Popular Culture”: General Idea and Sub-Points The author sees mass media as a powerful tool of influence on the public as well as a great sphere for the social struggle against social unfairness.
Pokémon Go Pop Culture Analysis Pokémon Go became one of the most popular games in the world right after its release in 2016. For a short time, the game became part of pop culture.
Worldly Writing on Music: K-Pop Culture Music is an essential component in the socio-cultural mainframe of any community due to the trickle-down effect of influencing emotional connectivity despite diversity.
Gendered Details and Variations Between Popular Culture
Method Acting and 1950’s Popular Culture
Differences Between Popular Culture and Indigenous Culture
Baseball and American Popular Culture
How Does Popular Culture Mirror America Life?
Media and Popular Culture During World War I
Popular Culture and Border Musical Audience
American Popular Culture Definition
Popular Culture Affect Gender and Sexuality
American Music and Popular Culture
Advertising and Senior Citizen Treatment by Popular Culture
Popular Culture and Consumerism
European Witchcraft and Popular Culture
Christianity and Popular Culture
Did the Popular Culture of 1960 Do More Harm Than Good?
Popular Culture and the Influence of TV News
Shakespeare and Modern Popular Culture
Contrasting and Comparing Mass Society With Popular Culture Media
How Does Popular Culture Stereotype Latinos?
Bureaucratization and Popular Culture
Asian Americans and Popular Culture
American Popular Culture and Advertisement
American Popular Culture and Gender Roles
Immigration and Popular Culture
Korean Popular Culture and Its Influence in India
Society’s Changing Views Reflected on Popular Culture
Popular Culture American Family in Television Entertainment
Moscow’s 1980 Olympic Games and Russia’s Popular Culture
American Influence on Popular Culture in Australia
Japanese Popular Culture and Traditional Culture
Pop Culture and Serial Killer in Darkly Dreaming Dexter The essay compares and contrasts how the literary study could explore “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” differently than a film analysis could of the TV series.
Pop Culture: Developments, Recycling and Revitalizing Pop can be defined as the usual way of life of Americans. It refers to the popular culture that at least all Americans agree to.
Popular Culture and the Cold War Popular culture was strongly restricted. The Cold War had an immense influence on the lives of people since they were afraid to be considered communists.
Popular Culture: Introductory Perspectives Population culture includes all the aspects of life that we live by. Popular culture helps businesses to grow because they have to get what is trendy at to meet the people’s needs.
Einstein’s Impact on Science, Pop Culture, and Diversity Albert Einstein was chosen because he is one of the most recognized figures in science and pop culture and his name is well-known to people and children.
The Link Between Pop Culture and Stereotypes The majority of movies in the military and action genre involved Russians as primary antagonists. Such films used the stereotypical version of Russians.
Resistance in Popular Culture In the 1970s, with the development of equal rights movement, popular music was enriched by a number of songs, which sought to de-construct androcentrism.
Aspects of the American Pop Culture The paper states that the American film industry is one of the main components of the nation’s popular culture. It highlights the domains in the US.
Pop Culture in “The Godfather” by Coppola The Godfather film is a part of the pop culture because it is regularly cited as an inspiration by many filmmakers.
Anime in Pop Culture: Art Review Anime as a form of art presented a new storytelling method. The link between cinema and anime is evident in the technology and storylines used.
“The Star Trek” Film and Popular Culture This paper analyzes the book Star Trek and Popular Culture and analyzes the issues addressed such as Trump’s politics, civil rights, war, and gender inequality.
Popular Culture and Musical Success This project aims to establish the link between popular culture and marketing and promotion of an indie record label, Elusive Records.
The Impact of Popular Culture on Racial Perceptions Dehumanization through the use of racial stereotypes in popular culture extends as far as labeling minorities “exotic.”
Popular Culture: Artifacts, Icons and Myths Popular culture helps businesses to grow because they have to get what is trendy at any particular time in order to meet the people’s needs.
Gender Representation in American Pop Culture The excerpt of the book “The Pop Culture Freaks” focuses on the representation of gender in American pop culture that is a powerful tool capable of impacting social tendencies.
Pop Culture as a Potent Globalization Tool Pop culture popularizes different ideas and makes them familiar to people from various countries, which helps to minimize the number of misunderstandings.
Hip-Hop Influence on American Popular Culture The sphere of the hip-hop influence on American popular culture is constantly extending, involving new forces and new interpretations.
Dickson’s “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” & Pop Culture Emily Dickson vividly portrays that modern society is influenced by mass culture and customization which leads to the selfless and nameless society.
Popular Culture: Native American Communities BBC and Reuters, the Times, and the Look portray that low-class location prevents many Native Americans to obtain social respect and opportunities available for the white majority.
Michael Jackson: Essay on His Influence on Music & Pop Culture Jackson has received a place in pop history as a pioneer and legend, which is why he will always be remembered as the King of Pop.
American Popular Culture and Globalization Effects The ubiquity of wealth-concentrated American popular culture in the lives of modern people threatens the generally accepted system of values and causes adverse shifts in it.
Pop Culture, Entertainment and Media Representation This paper reviews three articles: Medhurst’s “Batman, Deviance, and Camp,” McBride and Bird’s “From Smart Fan to Backyard Wrestler,” and Kidd’s “Methodology Moment.”
Rhetoric in “Pop Can: Popular Culture in Canada” The way words are presented has a huge influence on the manner readers will get the intended message while interpreting aspects such as logic, emotions, etc.
Female Pop-Culture in “Where the Girls Are” by Douglas In “Where the Girls Are”, Susan J. Douglas analyzes the state of the media in the 1960-1970s. She describes and explains the female pop-culture images of the time.
The American Popular Culture in New York City
Modern Popular Culture: Katabasis
Latin American Popular Culture’s Transformed
The Erudite and Popular Culture and Music
New Femininities, Gender Constructs, and Popular Culture
Heroes Throughout History and Popular Culture
Asia and American Popular Culture
Subcultures: Popular Culture and Cultural Capital
Popular Culture, Gender Constructs, and “New Femininities”
Heterosexuality and Gender Ideals in Contemporary Popular Culture
Has Popular Culture Turned Marriage Into a Joke
Market Imperative and Popular Culture
Communism and Popular Culture
Vampire Genre Storms Popular Culture
Transcendentalism Through Popular Culture Project
Politics and Popular Culture During the 1960s
The Air Jordan Brand as Popular Culture Object
Popular Culture and Media Portrayals of Child Abuse
Japanese Popular Culture and Eastern Media Societies
Popular Culture and Feature Films
Popular Culture and Music Affect U.S. Public Opinion On
Critical Thought and Popular Culture
Australian Popular Culture Influenced by the United States
Popular Culture: Historical Icons and American Culture
Mass Media, Popular Culture and the American Dream
Indian Cinema and Popular Culture
Folk Culture and Popular Culture
American Popular Culture: Trends and How They Affect Personal Decisions
Gender Roles and American Popular Culture
Does Popular Culture Teach Immoral Values?
How Did “Frankenstein” Become an Essential Part of Pop Culture?
How Does the Line Between High and Popular Culture Become Blurred?
How the Popular Culture in the United States Depicted the 9/11 Attack?
Why “The Beatles” Revolutionized Music and Popular Culture?
Why Video Games Have Made a Shift Into Mainstream Popular Culture?
What Area the Differences Between Pop Culture and Reality?
What Are the Effects of the Simpsons Television Show on Pop Culture?
Will Western Popular Culture Destroy National Culture in Thailand and Malaysia?
Does “Romeo and Juliet” Deserve to Be Considered Pop Culture in the Elizabethan Era?
How Pop Culture and Mass Media Affects Each and Every One of Us?
How the Popular Culture and Politics of the 1970s Shaped American History?
What Negative Effects Popular Culture Has on Adolescent Women?
What Does Pop Culture War Mean and What’s Its Influence on Modern Society?
What Is the Change Into Popular Culture Through Media and Other Forms?
Why the Gap Between High and Pop Culture Is Still So Huge?
What Does the Popular Culture’s Critical Attention Mean?
How Can New Media Help Enhance the Spread of Local Pop Culture?
How Does Popular Culture Shape the Way Students See the World?
How Popular Culture Has Impacted the Smarts of the USA?
How and Why Japanese Pop Culture and Anime Comunity Has Invaded the U.S.?
How Does Popular Culture Shape Teen Society?
How Did the Infusion of Pop Culture in Educational Discourse Happen?
How Can Popular Culture Help to Engage Students in the Classroom?
How a School Shooting Affected a Nation, From Gun Control to Popular Culture?
What Event Has Forever Changed the Pop Culture of America?
Can stricter video game regulations help reduce youth violence?
Hollywood films should prioritize diversity and minority representation.
Do reality TV shows harm our relationships and values?
Music artists are well-positioned to foster political and social change.
The hidden dangers of the use of celebrity endorsements in advertising.
We should boycott fashion companies using excessive Photoshop and image editing.
Internet memes are a powerful tool to use in social activism.
Pop culture artists should challenge gender stereotypes.
Binge-watching as a threat to mental health.
Is it ethical to use CGI to resurrect dead actors in movies?
The lack of diversity in mainstream movies and TV shows.
Unrealistic standards promoted by fashion magazines.
The overemphasis on consumerism and materialism in pop culture.
The shallow nature of paparazzi culture.
The impact of digitalization on the homogenization of pop music.
The cult of youth and the marginalization of older pop culture icons.
The objectification of women in pop culture.
Modern pop culture: art as a commodity.
The promotion of toxic masculinity in pop culture and its effects.
The influence of pop culture on body image and eating disorders.
The impact of pop culture on adolescents’ identity formation.
The portrayal of gender and sexuality in pop culture.
Video games as an educational tool.
The depiction of mental health issues in pop culture and its effects on stigma.
The link between pop culture and consumerism.
The role of memes in modern communication.
The place of cosplay and fandoms in pop culture.
The impact of pop culture on fashion trends.
The influence of streaming services on the film and TV industry.
Pop culture’s role in shaping national identity.

Cite this post

Chicago (N-B)
Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2022, March 1). 163 Popular Culture Topics and Questions for Essays & Research Papers. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/popular-culture-essay-topics/

"163 Popular Culture Topics and Questions for Essays & Research Papers." StudyCorgi , 1 Mar. 2022, studycorgi.com/ideas/popular-culture-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2022) '163 Popular Culture Topics and Questions for Essays & Research Papers'. 1 March.

1. StudyCorgi . "163 Popular Culture Topics and Questions for Essays & Research Papers." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/popular-culture-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "163 Popular Culture Topics and Questions for Essays & Research Papers." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/popular-culture-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "163 Popular Culture Topics and Questions for Essays & Research Papers." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/popular-culture-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Popular Culture were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 22, 2024 .

Pop Culture and Print Media: Trends Propagated by the Print Media Essay

Introduction, trends propagated by the print media, reference list.

Popular culture refers to the collectivity of beliefs, attitudes, practices, and other phenomena that are adopted by man depending on his ability to learn and transmit knowledge to the next generations. They are agreed upon informally by the practicing group, and it’s highly influenced by the external surrounding. The popular culture among American society takes the form of music, films, advertising, magazines, and television, among others.

The mass media has greatly influenced the way of life in the modern world. In our day to day life, we are constantly being bombarded with a lot of information through the mass media, and we have to make decisions depending on that information which in turn influences our way of life.

Print media affect our lives on many levels, in generating ideas, shaping our opinions, influencing our emotions, and the way we behave. This has further intensified due to increased time devoted to the mass media as well as a rapid change in information technologies that allow the distribution of information to larger audiences.

The current print media is a transformational agent to social and economic changes in the world. It is a form of communication through paper, billboards, magazines, newspapers, fliers, etc. It has both negatively and positively affected human perception towards culture. The views depicted in these magazines often influence people’s reactions to various issues that they address.

This has resulted in the development of popular culture in America. Americans tend to identify themselves with the idols found in the magazines and other print media and aim at achieving a lifestyle close to the one displayed by these people. This has changed the cultural orientations of the Americans towards the new lifestyles that are characterized by popular culture.

Popular American culture embraces the print media, which has transformed the advertising industry and promoted consumerism. It does this by influencing people’s perception towards a product hence determining their consumption of the same. The print media tend to promote analytical thinking. That’s why in the nineteenth century, when people relied largely on books and newspapers as their source of information, they displayed a highly rational approach to political issues (Cogan & Kelso, 2009).

The print media sets the aesthetics standards among American society. Fashion magazines have been the popular determinants of fashion trends in America. They have influenced people’s attitude towards modes of dressing by repeatedly promoting certain modes of dressing over others. The magazines display the intended fashion trend targeting the potential consumers who in turn, make their decision to adopt it depending on their attitude and perception towards them.

The print media extensively research on consumer behavior and promote products accordingly. They achieve this by displaying them in male and female models that meet the American society acceptable standards body types. Since these model sizes are desirable among the Americans, they promote sales. However, the print media has occasionally misrepresented the consumer products making it appear perfect to the consumer while it has hidden side effects.

This has disappointed consumers and often led to the loss of self-esteem as people consume the goods with the hope of achieving satisfaction as presented by magazines. Some companies have been sued following misrepresentation of their products in the print media and have consequently paid heavy damages to the consumers.

The print media has also influenced the political orientations of the Americans. Through the news papers, information is constantly printed out concerning the prevailing political conditions. When people read the news papers articles on issues relating to politics, they make a decision depending on how the issue or the political leader is presented in the media.

The print media has also been charged responsible for creating gender and sexuality norms, which include maleness, femaleness, and homosexuality (Nyoz, 2008). The recent emergence of homosexuality is evidenced in how the print media has promoted gender insubordination. Some of the print media display conflicting lines of intimate relationships hence portraying sexuality in these ways. Print media also influences the changing trends in how sexuality is portrayed in society.

Print media also sways the American population by setting a status quo where men are generally viewed as an acceptable member of the society than women. For women, for example, in athletics, media focuses more on their attractiveness and femaleness other than what is marketable. Print media displays trivialized presentation and marginalized status of women in the media (Nyoz, 2008).

The print media raises questions on issues of consumerism and freedom of choice. Print media greatly inhibits consumer freedom since they unconsciously influence people’s decisions, depending on what they read. The American population is constantly falling victim of consumerism and following blindly the mainstream culture.

Every individual, therefore, should critically think before making a decision, analyze whether it brings justice to self and if it makes them feel complete as human beings (Nyoz, 2008). This will help people to overcome blind homogeneity, which makes them accept things just by their face value.

Cogan, B. & Kelso, T. (2009). Encyclopedia of politics, the media and popular culture. California: ABC-CLIO.

Nyoz, V. (2008). Popular culture and print media . Web.

Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, April 16). Pop Culture and Print Media: Trends Propagated by the Print Media. https://ivypanda.com/essays/pop-culture-and-print-media/

"Pop Culture and Print Media: Trends Propagated by the Print Media." IvyPanda , 16 Apr. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/pop-culture-and-print-media/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Pop Culture and Print Media: Trends Propagated by the Print Media'. 16 April.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Pop Culture and Print Media: Trends Propagated by the Print Media." April 16, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/pop-culture-and-print-media/.

1. IvyPanda . "Pop Culture and Print Media: Trends Propagated by the Print Media." April 16, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/pop-culture-and-print-media/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Pop Culture and Print Media: Trends Propagated by the Print Media." April 16, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/pop-culture-and-print-media/.

Gender Inequality in Interdisciplinary Lenses
Acadian Culture in Cape Breton in Nova Scotia
Feminist Education, Peer Influence, and Socioeconomic Dynamics
Reality TV Role in Human History
Woman Image in the Arab Media
Social Media Marketing Attitude Survey
Television Show "What’s My Line?"
What Was the CNN Effect?

Home — Essay Samples — Entertainment — Pop Culture — Impacts Of Popular Culture On The Society

What is Popular Culture and How It Impacts The Society

Categories: Pop Culture

About this sample

Words: 1737 |

Published: Jul 10, 2019

Words: 1737 | Pages: 4 | 9 min read

Introduction: what is popular culture, impacts of pop culture in the society today, works cited:.

Bartz, G. K. (1997). Michelangelo: The complete sculpture, painting, architecture. Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Bull, G. (2020). Michelangelo: A life in six masterpieces. Penguin.
Campbell, S. (2005). Michelangelo: critical studies. Wiley-Blackwell.
Cole, B. (1992). Italian art, 1250-1550: The relation of Renaissance art to life and society. HarperCollins Publishers.
Condivi, A. (2005). The life of Michelangelo. Penn State Press.
Goffen, R. (1999). Pieta, in Michelangelo's Three Pietas: http://www3.nd.edu/~ggoiffon/htdocs/papers/pieta.html
Harris, B. (1998). Michelangelo's David: Florentine history and civic identity. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 61, 1-54.
Mundy, J. (1996). Michelangelo. Bantam.
Parker, H. (2016). Michelangelo: Complete works. Taschen.
Seymour, C. (2012). Michelangelo’s sculptures: The finest quality cast reproductions. Titan Books.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

Expert in: Entertainment

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

6 pages / 2896 words

5 pages / 2604 words

1 pages / 612 words

2 pages / 993 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

What is Popular Culture and How It Impacts The Society Essay

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Pop Culture

Over the years, humans have been adaptive and accepting to the minorities and changes in our society. Nevertheless, it is hard to say that they have been successful in adapting the changes since problems like racism, sexism and [...]

“A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” Through her use of linguistics, these wise words effortlessly show the poise, sense of love, and feminism of the [...]

The Korean Pop Music (K-Pop) has its own way to connect to its fans both in Asia and the world. K-Pop is a whole production industry that comes with high profiled artists, variety of music genres, videos and well-choreographed [...]

Acting and lying are two rather different things with some remarkable similarities. Such as how both can hold a truth, whether hidden within the context, or sprinkled in amongst the words spoken. Along with how the technique [...]

A computer games engine is the building blocks of a video game. It provides a software framework which game developers can use to create and edit content for video games. They can feature a large range of tools and elements to [...]

Stumbling around every corner, lurking into the night, flesh eating creatures, once human, are taking over the world, or at least that’s what pop culture predicts will happen . This zombie culture, like the monsters [...]

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

Instructions Followed To The Letter
Deadlines Met At Every Stage
Unique And Plagiarism Free

International edition
Australia edition
Europe edition

a man with dark hair in a suit holds a microphone

No Jerry Seinfeld, the ‘extreme left’ hasn’t killed comedy

The comedian’s claim that wokeness is the reason why comedy is no longer as funny is lazy – and inaccurate

J erry Seinfeld is currently at saturation point, promoting his new Pop Tarts movie Unfrosted . Still a canny operator, however, Seinfeld understands that the last thing anyone in the world wants to hear about is his new Pop Tarts movie. After all, there is realistically only so much available media interest in a streaming period comedy film about a breakfast product. And so Unfrosted has taken something of a backseat to a much more newsworthy proposition: Jerry Seinfeld mouthing off for clicks.

Until now, Seinfeld’s targets have included the film industry (the people he worked with “don’t have any idea that the movie business is over”) and his disdain for dabblers (“There’s nothing I revile quite as much as a dilettante”), despite being a man who has just directed his first film at the age of 70. True, he has also tried talking about things he actually enjoys, like his love of watching surfing videos on YouTube, but that isn’t really what gets the clicks these days. And so, with some inevitability, Jerry Seinfeld has pulled out the big guns and declared that the left is destroying comedy.

Speaking on the New Yorker’s Radio Hour , Seinfeld said: “Nothing really affects comedy. People always need it. They need it so badly and they don’t get it. It used to be that you’d go home at the end of the day, most people would go ‘Oh, Cheers is on. Oh, M*A*S*H is on. Oh, Mary Tyler Moore is on. All in the Family is on.’ You just expected [there will] be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight. Well guess what? Where is it? Where is it?”

Which isn’t entirely true – Curb Your Enthusiasm just wrapped up its 25-year-run with a universally beloved episode that Jerry Seinfeld was actually in – but it’s broadly valid. Despite the glut of streaming services that now run in addition to the major networks, a smaller and smaller percentage of their output is comedic in nature. One answer might be that people are turning online for faster, funnier, cheaper comedy that appeals directly to their tastes. But Jerry Seinfeld has other ideas.

“This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people,” he explained, going on to state: “When you write a script, and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups – ‘Here’s our thought about this joke’ – well, that’s the end of your comedy.”

The problem seems to be that too many people delight in performative outrage these days, and a well-intentioned joke might end up being taken out of context and being escalated to a cancelation-level event. Luckily, the extreme left wasn’t a thing back in Seinfeld’s day, which is why something as famously edgy as – let’s see – Cheers was able to stay on air for as long as it did.

On the surface, this is an incredibly dreary thing to say, not least because it doesn’t fit Seinfeld as a performer at all. It’s hard to complain that you’re not allowed to offend anybody any more when your stock in trade is deliberately inoffensive comedy. Jerry Seinfeld is a man who has just made a film about some pastry. Unless all the clips and trailers have done a particularly good job of hiding a scene in which one character looks straight to camera and declares that all trans people are an affront to God, Unfrosted probably isn’t going to appall the delicate sensibilities of very many people at all.

This is a man, remember, who is proud of his family friendly image. The 2011 HBO special Talking Funny has aged incredibly badly – it’s a roundtable discussion of comedy that features both Louis CK and Ricky Gervais – but Seinfeld’s contributions hold up. During his discussion, he defends his decision never to swear onstage, insinuating that it’s an easy way to get laughs. It’s a subject he followed up on a few years later, telling the Guardian: “A person who can defend themselves with a gun is just not very interesting. But a person who defends themselves through aikido or tai chi? Very interesting.”

And let’s not forget that, when Seinfeld’s co-star Michael Richards ended his career with a racist rant onstage, Jerry Seinfeld not only brought him on Letterman to explain himself, but treated the incident with such grave intent that at one point he sincerely ordered the studio audience to stop laughing, telling them: “It’s not funny.”

So there have always been gatekeepers to what is and isn’t funny. Indeed, in his own work Jerry Seinfeld has been one of the staunchest gatekeepers of all. Perhaps the problem here isn’t that the extreme left has a stranglehold on comedy. Perhaps it’s just that Jerry Seinfeld is getting old.

Jerry Seinfeld
Comedy (Culture)
Comedy (Stage)

This Is the Best Start to a Year We’ve Had in Pop This Decade (Essay)

By, like, a lot .

By Andrew Unterberger

Andrew Unterberger

Share this article on Facebook
Share this article on Twitter
Share this article on Flipboard
Share this article on Pinit
+ additional share options added
Share this article on Reddit
Share this article on Linkedin
Share this article on Whatsapp
Share this article on Email
Print this article
Share this article on Comment
Share this article on Tumblr

Taylor Swift performs with Sabrina Carpenter at Accor Stadium on Feb. 23, 2024 in Sydney, Australia.Swift performs with Sabrina Carpenter at Accor Stadium on February 23, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Don Arnold/TAS24/[SOURCE] for TAS Rights Management)

Around this time two years ago at Billboard , we were all asking: Where are the new hits ?

Through the first few months of 2022, the Billboard Hot 100 was stocked almost exclusively with holdovers from 2021 and even 2020 or earlier, with totally new music in precious short supply in the chart’s top tiers. Relief eventually came that month in the form of Harry Styles’ instant runaway smash “As It Was,” and then as April turned to May, via new albums by Future, Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar. But it still felt like the year was playing catch-up, like at midyear 2022 was still only just properly getting started.

J. Cole or Drake: Who Needs to Respond More to Kendrick Lamar's Verse? The Cases for Both

See latest videos, charts and news

Trending on Billboard

Let’s start with the list of A-list artists who have already released entirely new albums by May 9: Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Ye & Ty Dolla $ign, Future & Metro Boomin (twice!), J. Cole and Dua Lipa. (Depending on your “A-list” definition, you could also potentially throw Usher, Justin Timberlake and Kacey Musgraves on that list as well.) Hell, you could probably cut the list after the second name and the point would still stand: Any year where you get new sets by Beyoncé ( Cowboy Carter ) and Taylor Swift ( The Tortured Poets Department ) — the two most celebrated pop stars in the world right now — before Memorial Day, you’re probably off to a pretty fast start. And both sets have been enormous, world-building, culture-conquering affairs, with huge Hot 100-topping lead singles and no shortage of critical and fan discourse over their deeper implications.

Speaking of “Like That”: That Kendrick Lamar-assisted chart-topper essentially knocked the hip-hop world off its usual axis, kicking off the back-and-forth with Drake that has somehow managed to overshadow everything else that’s gone on in popular music so far this year. J. Cole responded first to Lamar’s pot-stirring “Like That” verse, on his lukewarmly received Might Delete Later mixtape and its closing “7 Minute Drill,” before publicly bowing out of the beef and deleting “Drill” from streaming services. But Drake was determined to get his money’s worth: He responded with both the leaked “Push Ups” and the social media-released “Taylor Made Freestyle” — which featured unlicensed, AI-generated guest verses “from” West Coast legends Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur, and was eventually taken down upon threat of legal action from the Shakur estate.

The Kendrick-Drake feud has been the biggest in music this year, but it wasn’t the first. The stage was set for that blockbuster beef by the January back-and-forth between Megan Thee Stallion, whose “Hiss” was thought to have subliminals aimed at rap rival Nicki Minaj (as well as additional lyrics assumed to be shots at Drake and other rap-world figures), and which inspired a response track (in addition to a lot of social media talk) from Minaj in the form of “Big Foot.” The fallout from that beef was mostly contained to the release week of the two tracks, but it helped Megan secure her first-ever entirely solo Hot 100 No. 1 for “Hiss,” and generally established the competitive tone for hip-hop among its biggest 2024 artists.

But the real reason 2024 has been so exciting, even beyond all these recognizable names showing up and showing out, is the equally impressive list of rising stars who have made their mark on the year so far.

Música Mexicana phenom Xavi began the year with two songs already climbing the top 100, and plenty more seemingly to come. Teddy Swims and Benson Boone have forced top 40 to make room for big soulful vocals and even bigger screaming guitar, with their crossover smashes “Lose Control” and “Beautiful Things,” respectively. Alt-rock has seen its fortunes revived on the chart through Djo’s psych-leaning “End of Beginning” and Artemas’ darkwave-inspired “I Like It When You Kiss Me,” both surprise top 20 Hot 100 hits. Even longtime cult favorite Hozier, a decade removed from his breakout hit “Take Me to Church,” is now back with a somehow-even-bigger hit: “Too Sweet,” lifted to No. 1 by good TikTok buzz and the currently rising tides of alt-folk and soul-pop.

For a few of these breakout artists, the success has been a long time coming. Sexyy Redd built up momentum for most of 2023 with viral hits “Pound Town” and “SkeeYee” — culminating in a feature appearance on Drake’s For All the Dogs No. 11 hit “Rich Baby Daddy” — but she’s taken it to a new level this year with her first solo top 20 hit, the dancefloor shout-along “Get It Sexyy.” Glorilla has taken a similar path to solo success with her own self-referencing smash “Yeah Glo!,” while also joining forces with Megan Thee Stallion for the chart-storming “Wanna Be.” Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan were pop favorites with critical acclaim disproportionate to their actual top 40 presence — but following opening slots on Taylor Swift’s and Olivia Rodrigo’s recent tours, they’ve both seen raised profiles and higher levels of crossover stardom with new singles “Espresso,” and “Good Luck Babe!,” respectively, both all but sure to keep growing into the warm-weather months.

The sheer volume of impressive hits so far this year can be seen in the amount of turnover on the Hot 100 — particularly in the top spot, where no one song has reigned for more than three consecutive weeks (“Like That,” again). We’ve already seen 11 different songs top the Hot 100 across the first 19 chart weeks, compared to seven last year and just six in 2022. Both of those years saw a No. 1 hit reign for 15+ weeks seemingly almost by default: “As It Was” and Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” didn’t dominate because they kept finding new ways to infiltrate pop culture (a la Lil Nas X with “Old Town Road” ), but simply because the competition usually just wasn’t strong enough across the board to consistently threaten their supremacy. This year, with everything that’s been happening, it seems unlikely that either song would even get to double-digit weeks on top.

Regardless of the reasons, it’s been a transfixing start to the year in popular music, with major contributions seemingly coming from all different corners of the music world, and from all different levels of artists. And what’s more, it doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon: This Friday brings with it a new album from Gunna and a new single from Post Malone and Morgan Wallen, the latter being arguably the biggest remaining recording artist in contemporary music who we haven’t heard much new from this year. And then the week after, it’s time for Billie Eilish’s much-hyped Hit Me Hard and Soft album, her first full-length set to arrive with no advance singles. Get your rest days in where you can and maybe hope for a bit of a summer vacation in a couple months, because it doesn’t look like pop is going to be taking it easy on us anytime in the near future — we’re exhausted, but elated.

Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox

Want to know what everyone in the music business is talking about?

Get in the know on.

optional screen reader

Charts expand charts menu.

Billboard Hot 100™
Billboard 200™
Hits Of The World™
TikTok Billboard Top 50
Song Breaker
Year-End Charts
Decade-End Charts

Music Expand music menu

R&B/Hip-Hop

Videos Expand videos menu

Culture expand culture menu, media expand media menu, business expand business menu.

Business News
Record Labels
View All Pro

Pro Tools Expand pro-tools menu

Songwriters & Producers
Artist Index
Royalty Calculator
Market Watch
Industry Events Calendar

Billboard Español Expand billboard-espanol menu

Cultura y Entretenimiento

Get Up Anthems by Tres Expand get-up-anthems-by-tres menu

Honda music expand honda-music menu.

Sophia Bush comes out as queer, confirms relationship with Ashlyn Harris

Actor Sophia Bush came out as queer in an emotional essay in Glamour and confirmed she’s in a relationship with retired U.S. Women’s National Team soccer player Ashlyn Harris.

“I sort of hate the notion of having to come out in 2024,” Bush wrote in a cover story for the fashion magazine published Thursday. “But I’m deeply aware that we are having this conversation in a year when we’re seeing the most aggressive attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community in modern history.”

Bush noted that there were more than 500 anti-LGBTQ bills proposed in state legislatures last year and said this motivated her to “give the act of coming out the respect and honor it deserves.”

“I’ve experienced so much safety, respect, and love in the queer community, as an ally all of my life, that, as I came into myself, I already felt it was my home,” she wrote. “I think I’ve always known that my sexuality exists on a spectrum. Right now I think the word that best defines it is queer . I can’t say it without smiling, actually. And that feels pretty great.”

The “One Tree Hill” star filed for divorce from entrepreneur Grant Hughes in August. People magazine first reported in October that Bush and Harris were dating, but neither confirmed nor commented on the report. The pair later attended an Oscar’s viewing party together in March .

In the essay, Bush addressed online rumors that her relationship with Harris began before Harris had officially divorced from fellow soccer star Ali Krieger, in September.

“Everyone that matters to me knows what’s true and what isn’t,” Bush wrote. “But even still there’s a part of me that’s a ferocious defender, who wants to correct the record piece by piece. But my better self, with her earned patience, has to sit back and ask, What’s the f------- point? For who? For internet trolls? No, thank you. I’ll spend my precious time doing things I love instead.”

Bush said that after news about her and Harris became public, her mom told her that a friend called and said, “Well, this can’t be true. I mean, your daughter isn’t gay .”

“My mom felt that it was obvious, from the way her friend emphasized the word, that she meant it judgmentally,” Bush wrote. “And you know what my mom said? ‘Oh honey, I think she’s pretty gay. And she’s happy .’”

Bush wrote that she felt like she was wearing a weighted vest that she could finally put down.

“I finally feel like I can breathe,” Bush wrote. “I turned 41 last summer, amid all of this, and I heard the words I was saying to my best friend as they came out of my mouth. ‘I feel like this is my first birthday,’ I told her. This year was my very first birthday.”

For more from NBC Out, sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Jo Yurcaba is a reporter for NBC Out.

Drafting Socrates into the Culture Wars?

Have Classical schools become a right-wing recruiting ground?

Recently, my husband and our eight-year-old son went to cheer on friends who participated in an Academic Challenge competition. These trivia-style contests involve questions on such subjects as history, geography, science, math, and popular culture. One question that night, however, involved a topic near and dear to my heart: which ancient Greek philosopher died by drinking hemlock? None of the middle school-aged competitors knew the answer, although one hazarded a guess: Aristotle?

Maybe that’s fair. Ancient Greek philosophy, history, or literature are no longer standard fare at most public schools in America. But there is one type of schooling where, at least sometimes, they are still taught: Classical schools. As it happens, the Classical approach to education has found itself in recent years in the crosshairs of culture wars.

How did we get here? Can there really be burning controversy around learning a dead language, or reading some dead poets with frog choruses? As someone with a PhD in Classics (of the Greco-Roman variety), but who also is a Classical homeschooling parent, I have found the heated conversations around the topic remarkably confused and confusing.

In an excellent recent article in the New Yorker , “ Have the Liberal Arts Gone Conservative? ,” journalist Emma Green provides what may be the best (and most balanced) survey of the Classical education movement that I have seen from an outsider to it all. In what follows, I would like to begin with an overview of Green’s arguments and then offer my own response as an insider of sorts—as a homeschooling parent who has been involved for many years in a Classical education co-op and as someone who still uses methods of Classical education in homeschooling children and holds a PhD in Classics.

Historians like to complicate things, and here I would like to complicate the picture of Classical education a bit. While some public faces of the Classical education movement, including conservative politicians, do see it through the lens of culture wars, the reality looks different for the majority of ordinary families—like my own. Try as some might to see every act as political, sometimes it’s about the oikos , not the polis .

Lost Tools of Learning

For some time now, Green has been interested in the nexus of conservative politics and education. Last spring, for instance, she wrote an in-depth profile of Hillsdale College. Turning her attention to Classical schools may seem a logical next step—since they are the main pipeline of students who end up at schools like Hillsdale. Many of them, indeed, were either educated in Classical Christian schools or were Classical homeschoolers.

Green begins her piece by setting up the contrast between Classical education and mainstream public education. Classical education places an emphasis on phonics rather than sight words when teaching kids to read. It requires much rote memorization of facts in an age where most educators oppose the idea. Last but not least, Classical education privileges reading Great Books as opposed to modern “quick lit” or graphic novels and the like.

Can the movement be inclusive of students who are not white and Christian, if Doug Wilson is one of the movement’s spokespeople?

However, the classical view of education involves more than just what is learned and how it is learned. There is an emphasis, in the process, on moral formation—the why piece of education, which is too often lacking in modern public education. The education of the whole person in the virtues is essential, and that’s where many in the movement eagerly cite Dorothy Sayers’ famous 1947 essay “The Lost Tools of Learning.” It seemed to Sayers that her society had lost the hunger for learning, and she attributed this lack of appreciation for the true, beautiful, and good to the inadequacies of modern education. Dismissing recent educational innovations, she instead talked up the Medieval Trivium, with its emphasis on the building blocks of grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

Green is impressed by Sayers’ argument. Her curricular approach seems very sound. Why then would people like author Diane Ravitch wield the charge that “Classical charters have become weapons of the Right”? Green sees two related problems. First, the emphasis on moral formation and civics—along with the use of mostly white male authors in the curriculum—sets up Classical education for conservative takeover. Or, at least, it seems to be an attractive alternative to the “woke” public school education. The politicians on the right whom Green quotes indeed say as much.

Second, the idea of pursuing goodness, truth, and beauty sounds grand in theory, but not everyone defines these terms the same way. Green is left wondering: how can the Classical education movement grow without embracing a pluralistic definition of these values? Some decry wokeness in response to this very question, while others, like Jessica Hooten Wilson , note that the task is one merely of restoring the voices who had always been a part of the movement anyway. Still, the question remains: can the movement be inclusive of students who are not white and Christian, if Doug Wilson is one of the movement’s spokespeople? This is a good question, and Green is not the only one asking. When she interviewed Susan Wise Bauer, a writer and teacher widely respected in the Classical education circles, the latter noted: if she and Wilson were having a conversation about Classical education, perhaps the only thing they would agree on is the importance of teaching grammar. (I guess this means she’s opting out of “ No Quarter November .”)

Green has done her homework, and yet, the Classical education movement is even more diverse than perhaps she realizes. I contend that the key to seeing Classical education flourishing between the left and the right is to examine Classical homeschooling.

Doing Homer at Home

I first stumbled into the world of Classical education completely by accident. In the summer of 2012, I was trying to figure out the homeschooling approach for the following year for my then nearly seven-year-old, when a homeschooling colleague at the secular state university where we were both teaching at the time told me about a Classical Conversations homeschooling co-op that was meeting three minutes from my then home in rural Georgia. I had never heard of Classical education as a philosophy, nor had I heard of Classical Conversations. I did, however, hold a PhD in Classics and had been planning to teach my child Latin and Greek at some point. And I was firmly committed to homeschooling.

In retrospect, my complaints against American public schools bore a remarkable resemblance to Sayers’s own jeremiad against mid-twentieth-century British education. She phrased her concerns much better than I could, but like me, she was a trained Classicist, and studying dead languages was what she loved best—with the possible exception of learning languages that weren’t quite so dead. She did, after all, master Renaissance Italian just to be able to read and translate Dante.

Alas, Classical Conversations turned out to be a different sort of Classical schooling than I expected. I suspect Sayers too would have been disappointed. CC involved no Greek, only minimal Latin until middle school (and then taught poorly out of an appalling textbook first published in 1938), and no Greco-Roman Classics until high school. There were also factual errors in some of the “memory work” that kids were supposed to memorize at the grammar stage of the program. The history curriculum peppily referred to the Civil War as “the war between the states.” And then there was the logic curriculum used in middle school, crafted by an illogical guy who contradicted himself regularly—his name was Doug Wilson, and I had never heard of him before my child had to suffer through his logic textbook, which we promptly took out with the mixed paper recyclables at the end of the year. Oh, how I miss 2015, when one could be a conservative evangelical and not be familiar with Doug Wilson.

Classical homeschooling dwells between the right and the left, because the love of life-long learning and the idea that this kind of intellectual curiosity is part of what makes us truly human is not a partisan value.

Still, for all its flaws, Classical Conversations proved mostly good for my oldest, who attended it for six years, and for my middle son, who thoroughly enjoyed his one year with it. The emphasis on memorization at the elementary school level proved wonderfully useful for such subjects as math and geography. In early middle school, my oldest and his classmates were able to draw both a map of the US and the world on a massive blank sheet of paper from memory. That was pretty impressive, to say the least. Most importantly, some of the moms I met in CC are still friends who are dear to me, even as our oldest kids have now graduated high school.

As I think back, the reason that we stuck it out with CC for six years had nothing to do with the curriculum, which was a mixed bag. Rather, our decision to stay had everything to do with friendships and with location. It was a community that met close to my home, and it was a community that really bonded as a community of friends with diverse political and theological views, but with a shared commitment to teaching our children together. When that meeting site closed and the nearest chapter was thirty minutes away, we were done with CC.

Longing for Beauty

We were not, however, done with Classical education. Most of the truly Classical content that my kids have learned has always been, after all, at home. The homeschooling method my family uses these days, as we homeschool our younger two kids, is closest to unschooling. Still, our unschooling has a Classical flavor of the sort that Sayers would approve—even if perhaps the idea of a child standing on his head while trying to solve a math problem would have appalled her as much as it might appall anyone who has never homeschooled an energetic boy. Or maybe Sayers would have just joined him herself. She definitely had enough spunk.

Speaking of spunk, my eight-year-old is currently in his second year of koine Greek. He asked if he could start Latin next year. Who am I to deny such a request? He is also a walking encyclopedia of information on US and world history—largely because of his own reading. He always had a great memory, but the Classical emphasis on memory training—the process of having to memorize facts, poems, speeches—seems to have strengthened his memory further. Last but not least, we read a lot of Great Books, both as family read-alouds and also individually—books that the eight-year-old reads to himself. We are deliberately picky about reading materials for all ages. In particular, while modern bookstores too often peddle subpar offerings to children, I am firmly convinced that children’s books should be beautiful .

It is this quest for beauty in everything we read, consume, and analyze that drives the selection of books and topics we study. It is a particularly powerful instinct for my youngest, who recently turned five, and is currently in the throes of learning to read. She loves writing—the beauty of crafting letters painstakingly, one at a time. Words to her are beautiful pictures to decorate. A graceful dancer and an enthusiastic singer, she draws rather than writes the names of friends, family members, and her doll.

This longing for beauty in the every day, however, brings us back full circle to the questions Green had set out to investigate in her research on Classical schools. Is this kind of education inherently political? Perhaps it is, as the views of some political leaders who have expressed support for the movement declare. Outside the realm of education, I have previously written about the far right’s obsession with Socrates . And the hijacking of the Greco-Roman Classics for various political aims, including by the Third Reich, is well documented. But these are not people in my home. Should the quest for beauty in the every day, including in education, be coded “left” or “right”? This sounds utterly absurd, and nowhere is the absurdity as clear as in the highly libertarian environment of schooling at home.

The real question may be: is this desire for beauty, goodness, and truth political for me and my family? Is it political for every homeschooling family that opts for a similar approach? This is a more difficult question to answer. I never thought, when I was first attracted to the study of the ancient world as a (then) secular Jewish high school sophomore, that signing up for Latin class was a political statement. I simply loved the beauty of intellectual puzzles. Over a quarter century later, I still do.

And so, searching for political motives in Classical schooling is complicated, especially so among Classical homeschoolers. While none of us exist in a vacuum, it is more difficult to peg individuals into any specific category. Besides, the quest for human flourishing, including the intellectual flourishing of children and families, should not be a partisan affair.

The story of Classical homeschoolers, more than anything, is a story of an incredible diversity of motivations, transcending the predictably facile political categories. Classical homeschooling, in other words, dwells between the right and the left, because the love of life-long learning and the idea that this kind of intellectual curiosity is part of what makes us truly human is not a partisan value. Indeed, as I wrote six years ago , the study of Latin has been growing faster among homeschoolers than any other segment of the population. These Latin-studying homeschoolers are remarkably diverse politically and religiously. I noted at the time that “lest you think that Classical education is entirely a Christian homeschooling phenomenon, Wiccans are able to claim it as their own thanks to Martianus Capella, the Late Antique pagan writer who first proposed the idea of the Seven Liberal Arts.” Green’s own experience in visiting an immigrant and POC-serving Classical charter school that is thriving in South Bronx underscores the point.

In some ways, of course, everything any of us do is political. By choosing to homeschool, we already made a possibly unintentional political decision: the local public school is funded based on the number of children enrolled. No less political, perhaps, is the decision to teach my children Latin and Greek. What else could they be learning instead? This has become a political question, a real hot-button issue.

But as a homeschooling parent, grounded in my own family’s day-to-day life, it is not a question for which I have time. I’m too busy reading Homer with my eight-year-old.

Book Review A Nobel Polemicist Samuel Gregg

Essay Unanchored in El Salvador G. Patrick Lynch

Book Review The Rule of Historicist Judges? David Lewis Schaefer

Forum Constitutional Government After Chevron ? Adam White

Book Review Orwell’s Arresting Ambiguities Theodore Dalrymple

IMAGES

(PDF) Essay
📌 Essay Sample on Pop-Culture
How Pop Art Reflects the Values and Culture of the U.S.
Writing perfect pop culture essays: How to master a skillful presentation
25 Best Pop Culture Examples (A to Z List)
PPT

VIDEO

Vintage photographs. "Valley of Poverty": Daily Life in Eastern Kentucky in the Early 1960s

COMMENTS

Free Pop Culture Essay Examples & Topic Ideas
Popular culture essays are becoming an increasingly prevailing task for students from different majors. Yet, if you want to write an indeed great paper, you should first figure out how to define the phenomenon. Popular culture is the set of trends that predominates at the current time. It is determined by several aspects, including clothing ...
111 Popular Culture Essay Topic Ideas & Examples
If you're looking for inspiration for your next essay on popular culture, we've got you covered with 111 topic ideas and examples to get you started. The impact of social media influencers on consumer behavior. The evolution of hip hop music and its influence on society. The portrayal of mental health in popular culture.
Top 100 Popular Culture Essay Topics For 2021
Here are some of the best social issues and pop culture paper topics to consider. Popular culture implication on dumbing down the youth. Racism and popular culture over the last century. Impact of the popular culture on the moral compass. Why some religions are popular than others.
The Influence and Impact of Pop Culture
Pop culture has become an integral part of modern society, shaping the way people think, behave, and interact. This essay seeks to explore the influence, significance, and impact of popular culture on society and individuals, with a focus on its definition, evolution, societal impact, forms and artifacts, critiques and controversies, and its relationship with globalization.
How to Write Personal Essays About Pop Culture [+ Examples]
How to Write Personal Essays About Pop Culture. "It was mostly through pop culture, through hip-hop, through Dungeons & Dragons and comic books that I acquired much of my vocabulary." -Ta-Nehisi Coates. Write about Pop Culture with Lit Hub and Crime Reads contributing editor Lisa Levy. We all engage with pop culture every day: we check gossip ...
100+ Pop Culture Essay Topics and Ideas
Pop Culture Essay Topics: Dive into the Pulse of Modern Society. Pop Culture, short for 'popular culture', is a fascinating area of study that delves into the various elements of entertainment, fashion, news, and daily living that are prevalent in a society at a given point in time. The culture we consume, whether it's the music we listen ...
11 Pop Culture Research Topics That Pop
Pop culture research topic #9: Pop culture's promotion of social change. While it's certainly true that pop culture can be filled with crazy trends in clothing, hairstyles, and catch phrases, pop culture can also be an instrument of social change. Consider how the Occupy Movement and Black Lives Matter increased awareness.
Pop Culture Aspects and Role
In essence, pop culture is a concept that revolves around different spheres of life that can be differentiated by various aspects including but not limited to age, gender, period of time, geography, nationhood, ethnicity and religion. That is, popular culture may be evident in a particular age group, geographical area, ethnic group, and so on.
Pop Culture Essay Topics: Find Out the Pulse of Modern Society
The Power of Independent Films in Pop Culture; Essay Topics on Style and Pop Culture. The fashion industry and pop culture are inextricably linked, influencing and being influenced by each other. Fashion is how people express their identity and personality, while popular culture reflects and shapes the trends and styles of the time.
Essays on Pop Culture
Pop Culture is an essential aspect of modern society, influencing our music, fashion, and even our way of thinking. Writing an essay on Pop Culture allows us to explore and understand the trends, attitudes, and beliefs that shape our world today. It's a fascinating topic that offers endless possibilities for research and discussion.
Pop Culture Essay Topics
Popular culture essay topics are diverse, attention-grabbing, and enjoyable to most people. Several issues are to write about, including celebrity gossip, music trends, modern technologies, culture change, and cultural influences. Here are some popular culture essay topics on the internet. Facebook. Criminogenic Media.
American Pop Culture
American Pop Culture. American popular culture serves as a potent and pervasive vehicle for expressing and shaping societal values, norms, and ambitions, reaching far beyond the United States to influence global society. This essay delves into the nuances of American popular culture, exploring its origins, defining characteristics, and its ...
Pop Culture Essay
The pop culture was opposed to the official culture with its higher education and income standards. After the World War II, the term acquired the new meaning of "mass" culture, or "consumerism" culture. Even though the word "pop" is short for "popular," the two have a difference in meaning. While "popular" is used to ...
220 Pop Culture Topics for an A+ Essay
220 Pop Culture Topics for an A+ Essay. (7 votes) There are many ways to define popular culture. Here's one of them: pop culture includes mainstream preferences in society within a specific time frame. It covers fashion, music, language, and even food. Pop culture is always evolving, engaging in new trends, and leaving the old ones behind.
Dancing in Spite of Myself: Essays on Popular Culture on JSTOR
In its most sophisticated forms, such an argument is not intended merely to say that rock has become establishment culture or that it has been colonized by corporate interests (both of which may be true to some extent). Instead it points to the doubly paradoxical situation of contemporary popular music. First, there seems to be an enormous ...
Race and Pop Culture: A Roundtable Conversation
Pop culture has been in a state of upheaval and growth in recent years, leading to fascinating art and even more complex conversations. When Wesley Morris's essay " The Morality Wars " was ...
163 Pop Culture Topics and Questions for Essays & Research Papers
The impact of digitalization on the homogenization of pop music. The cult of youth and the marginalization of older pop culture icons. The objectification of women in pop culture. Modern pop culture: art as a commodity. The promotion of toxic masculinity in pop culture and its effects.
Pop Culture and Print Media
The popular culture among American society takes the form of music, films, advertising, magazines, and television, among others. We will write a custom essay on your topic a custom Essay on Pop Culture and Print Media: Trends Propagated by the Print Media
A Critical Analysis of Pop Culture and Media
Abstract: Studies have revealed that in the age of digital media, popular culture has emerged as a. powerful phenomenon. With this in mind, this article critically examines how media is the key ...
Pop Culture Argumentative Essay
1. This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples. Cite this essay. Download. Pop culture should be studied because it will rejuvenate old culture, keep society up to date, and, overall help individuals find solutions to their daily conflicts. Pop ...
Impacts Of Popular Culture On The Society: [Essay Example], 1737 words
This essay defines popular culture as the longer form of pop culture that is described as the entirety of beliefs, attitudes, ideas, perspectives, images, and other aspects that are within a given culture. Genres such as movies, songs, literature, celebrities, fashion, cartoons among others make up pop culture. ...
How to Use Pop Culture References in Your Writing
How to Use Pop Culture References in Your Writing. For a story to stand the test of time, it must feel relevant beyond the era in which it was created—but that doesn't mean it can't incorporate pop culture references. Timeless works of literature are products of their eras, and they include appropriate references while still achieving a ...
Pop Culture Essay
The book definition says pop culture is a collection of thoughts, ideas, attitudes, perspectives, images, and more preferred by the mainstream population. Popular culture, regardless of the generation or era, consistently focuses on music, fashion, expressions, and values. In the 1960s, The Beatles are heard everywhere: pocket-sized transistor ...
No Jerry Seinfeld, the 'extreme left' hasn't killed comedy
J erry Seinfeld is currently at saturation point, promoting his new Pop Tarts movie Unfrosted.Still a canny operator, however, Seinfeld understands that the last thing anyone in the world wants to ...
Pop Music in 2024 Is the Most Exciting It's Been This Decade
This Is the Best Start to a Year We've Had in Pop This Decade (Essay) By, like, a lot. ... And both sets have been enormous, world-building, culture-conquering affairs, with huge Hot 100-topping ...
Sophia Bush comes out as queer, confirms relationship with Ashlyn Harris
Actor Sophia Bush came out as queer in an emotional essay in Glamour and confirmed she's in a relationship with retired U.S. Women's National Team soccer player Ashlyn Harris.
Alternative upload: Patriarchy According to Barbie video essay
Get more from Pop Culture Detective on Patreon. As some of you may have noticed Warner Bros has decided to block our new video essay on YouTube for the 19 second clip of Ken trying to surf.
Drafting Socrates into the Culture Wars?
Historians like to complicate things, and here I would like to complicate the picture of Classical education a bit. While some public faces of the Classical education movement, including conservative politicians, do see it through the lens of culture wars, the reality looks different for the majority of ordinary families—like my own.