The readings and podcast for Tuesday talked about Pop Culture and leadership in many different ways. It got me thinking about the pop culture I take in everyday and how I commonly write it off as just my entertainment when I should not. I have been now looking deeper at the shows, movies, books, and music I am consuming and trying to think of their alternative meanings. For example, one of my favorite shows is New Girl and it is a really easy watch for me because it always makes me laugh and is about probably the most random things on the planet. However, it also makes subtle comments about race, gender, ethnicity, politics, that are thrown into the show in an easy way for the audience to digest. One scene I think about in particular is when one of the characters is talking about a white man breaking into a school. In response to this, one character Schmidt asked if anyone did anything about him breaking and when they respond he yelled out “typical!”. It was a really funny moment in the show that also comments about the current political and criminal systems in a way that almost everyone in the audience can understand.
This made me definitely rethink New Girl and appreciate it even more. It also made me realize that you do not have to watch something super serious and heavy to realize cultural and political stances. Things that are easier to watch can also go into the subconscious more and make potentially really serious issues easier to approach and acknowledge.
I, too, have been analyzing the pop culture I consume daily. Indeed, it is interesting how often we overlook particular messages about relevant cultural and ideological issues because we do not associate pop culture with the credibility of communicating a coherent argument about a particular thing.
I am also a fan of New Girl and know exactly what scene you are talking about but have never thought of it as the political commentary it is until you pointed it out. I’m sure if I thought about it there are plenty other examples in other shows I have watched that I merely laughed off where there was an argument or commentary being made. So I agree that I think we all need to sometimes think deeper about the pop culture we take in on a daily basis and understand the important messages the carry.