The ideas surrounding popular culture that were discussed in the podcast as well as both readings have really interesting connections to leadership. The story of Robinhood demonstrates how impactful popular culture is. Robinhood was a single story with a popular trope of “steal from the rich to help the poor”. Yet this one story was able to contribute to the creation of the House of Commons in England and further the elected representation government that we have in the United States. That trope and story has continued to be present in our current popular culture through movies and TV shows and continues to represent different ideas all surrounding the same trope. This makes me question what stories and tropes of today’s popular culture will be carried through to the future. How will our generation decide what of the current popular culture will be important to carry through as we grow up and become adults in society. The Harvey article tells us that as groups and as leaders we have to ask seven questions in order to get to where we as a generation are going. The first question “who are we” is where I see our generation in now. We are still trying to figure out who we as a generation are. As we spoke of in class, our generation is likely more elastic than older generations. However, creating an identity as more than elastic is challenging when we are able to change so quickly. I also think that our generation and our society is constantly asking “why should I care?”. Especially living in a current time where a global pandemic and social justice movement are extremely present, questioning why one should care is ever-present. What we care about defines what tropes and movements will be carried forward into the future. If no one cared about Robinhood’s story or the trope that went with it then our society could look vastly different. Regardless, figuring out wha from popular culture is more than just a mindless pastime is immensely important, but very nuanced as it is challenging to recognize that at the time.
Critical Thinking
I think that answering the question “who are we” is going to be essential to recreating our social structure once the pandemic is over. I feel like we as a society have given up on a lot of old habits and replaced them with a new form of existing. In some ways I feel as though we are headed in a positive direction, but I also feel as though we need to be careful with the way we are forming conversations around things. Even the BLM movement may seem as though its just something else that popped into the news, but we are currently living through one of the most historical periods of time known to our society.
I agree that it is very challenging to realize one that we can analyze popular culture and two that we must sort through what is relevant and making an argument and what really is just ‘entertainment’. However I agree that the reading and the podcast do a great job of showing how vital popular culture is through the example of the Robin Hood story.
I think you raise a really cool point about what media in our generation will solidify itself in the future and it really got me thinking. It makes our existence and the things we accomplish so much more important because they do have lasting impacts on the generations after us.