I had not necessarily considered the impact that popular culture has because we generally do tend to think of it as “low-brow,” despite the fact that is consumed and enjoyed by large numbers of people. People are invested in this culture, and because it reaches so many it has great potential to influence the way people think. Every time a movie comes out that pushes against norms or stereotypes, it raises discussions in public spaces that are extremely important. We can use pop culture to help change the way people see the world and we have neglected to do so for so long. Pop culture can spread ideas over large groups of people, thus influencing their opinions or outlooks on the world at large. For example, popular culture has shifted over time to represent more people, and to share more perspectives, and occasionally to “undo” the injustices that popular culture has presented as mainstream over the years. In today’s day and age we see more representation of people of color, more of their stories being told, but we also must remember that there was a time in which it was acceptable for films to include people with blackface, using hateful words, and people accepted that as the “norm.” Popular culture has a huge impact on shifting our ideas of the norm, so representation in film and telling the stories of those who have been silenced is important to changing the way groups of people are viewed in society. But even today we lack representation in recognizing people for their work. Each year awards shows end up under fire for the lack of nominations and recognition of the roles of minorities in media. Although I am not someone who watches award shows or actively goes to the movies, it is disheartening to see that we are still so far from where we should be. But in a way, opening the discussion to ideas about issues within popular culture is popular culture itself, allowing us to consider the implications using pop culture to shift the way we think about the world.