Pop Junk...

There was a great post from someone anonymous from a couple of days back:

"Hmmm great article, but really Rob, Sadness and anger over things that are so trivial in the greater scheme.. You are talking about TV shows, sporting events, music and movies.. They are merely forms of entertainment. When you wake up the next morning, have they really changed your life? I know you love them and they do create suspense and excitement, but what about anticipation vs reality when it comes to important stuff.. love, family, dreams? Its when the reality of these don't live up to the anticipation that you truly experience sadness and anger. All these forms of media are created just to mildly amuse us as we go through out day to day lives.."

This person is quite correct that all these are "trivial in the greater scheme". I hope that this person doesn't think that I do not have dreams and passion for the more important things in life. The reason I call this site "Pop junk" is because I am wholly aware that all of this is junk.

However, after thinking about this all day, I think these media creations do add a nice dimension to my life and I am not ashamed to admit that. Is it OK for me to recognize that these things are trivial yet they can still challenge and shape my life in small ways? I can vividly remember going to my first movie with my parents (Snow White) and the entire experience of viewing that movie with my family is still fresh in my mind. Movies were a way that my family could come together. I can remember with clarity the first time I saw Star Wars in a small dark gym during a summer day camp in Comox. The movie jumped out of the TV and into my fertile mind. I credit that moment with pushing me into sciences (I became fascinated by the real night sky) and developing my imagination (I became a voracious reader of all types of books). Movies and books challenged me to think critically and to observe different environments that I could not be a part of. Pop culture is often devoid of deeper resonant meaning and I am fully aware of that. You can't beat real life. I can't think of better moments when I interact with the students I teach everyday, or the moments when my fiance smiles at me accepting me for who I am. I can't wait to become a father.

So where does that leave me at this moment? Take music for example. There are so many songs out there that I can pin to moments in my life, moments where I need to just listen to cope with what was going on, or moments of pure ecstatic joy in being in the moment of that song. If music disappeared I know my life would be altered, but it would go on.

I know the world won't end if the Canucks don't win the Cup. If television disappeared I would be able to survive. But I don't know if I necessarily agree that all pop culture exists to "mildly amuse us as we go through out day to day lives". I think at times, even pop junk, like great works of art can go beyond the mildly amusing. I recognize that pop culture is not a necessity. But I am not ashamed to admit that I like it. My statements of anticipation and disappointment I guess need to be taken into context. These sort of feelings I feel towards things within pop culture do not equate to the real things in life, but they are still feelings that I experience on a lesser scale.

I wish I was more articulate with what I want to exactly express. Instead, I leave you with two decent articles about pop culture from Stephen King:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20056512,00.html

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20050107,00.html

Take care everyone.