Pop culture is incredibly manipulative, not only to the viewers/fans/consumers but also to the people who appear to benefiting from it. Take Britney Spears, she's been exploited from the time she was a young teen. I pity her, there's no way for her to get away from the life her greedy parents built for her. Instead of turning her into a pop culture icon, they should have done their job and taught her how to become a woman and a real person. The poor girl never had a chance. "... Britney drives her car into a swimming pool; emerges from the water, dripping and squirming; writhes on a bed in her undies; and poses in lingerie and garters, stroking herself while a man puffing a cigar ogles her," describes Adam Sternbergh of Britney's "My Prerogative" video in his essay "Briney Spears: The Pop Tart in Winter" (371).
Despite of the moral red flags, the gullible public pays their hard earned money for it, eats it up, takes it in and makes it a part of who they are. The youth of this nation is being taught that what's on MTV is normal and profitable, but pop culture does not tell them the down sides. It does not show the STD's or the reality of teen pregnancy or that selling your soul results in shaving your head, neglecting your kids and ending up in rehab.
Even as Britney has broken down, her staff, as well as her mother, have been trying to keep up the image and sell, sell, sell. Which brings us to the root of it all: pop culture arises from greed. Every new fad, new star, new reality show makes someone a lot of money. People don't want to pay for what's real, though, they want what's perfect. So the people behind the scenes pull and nip and tuck and edit, manipulating their package until it looks perfect so the consumers will fall for their deception and fork out the cash. It's all fleeting, it all passes away and all that is left are the ashes of lives wasted.
Some of you have inquired on why I feel such animosity in regard to this subject. My anger actually comes from being a mom. I have three boys, ages 8, 6 and 4, and it frustrates me that this is what their generation is learning as normal. My children have not been exposed to this kind of type of entertainment at home, but like everyone else we see it everywhere we go. I don't particularly shelter them, although my husband and I do make conservative choices for what they see on TV and in movies, etc. in an effort to combat the negative influences such as those I've talked about in this post. That being said, there's only so much that can be done to protect them in a culture that is as saturated with this garbage as ours.
Specific to Britney, I really have tried to think about her personal struggles. I can't imagine putting my child through the things that have been forced on her. She was not old enough to have made responsible decisions at the time that she entered the showbiz world. That was her parents' responsibility. No parent is perfect, we all make mistakes and have regrets. But come on, how much common sense does it take to know putting your teenage daughter in lingerie on TV is wrong? It's truly sad to me that her potential was commercialized and she was forced to compromise herself to the extent that she has now become something that no one should aspire to be. Please know that I do not mean to belittle her, but merely point out the evidence within her life of the destructive consequences that come from decisions motivated by greed, as is so common within pop culture trends.
Despite of the moral red flags, the gullible public pays their hard earned money for it, eats it up, takes it in and makes it a part of who they are. The youth of this nation is being taught that what's on MTV is normal and profitable, but pop culture does not tell them the down sides. It does not show the STD's or the reality of teen pregnancy or that selling your soul results in shaving your head, neglecting your kids and ending up in rehab.
Even as Britney has broken down, her staff, as well as her mother, have been trying to keep up the image and sell, sell, sell. Which brings us to the root of it all: pop culture arises from greed. Every new fad, new star, new reality show makes someone a lot of money. People don't want to pay for what's real, though, they want what's perfect. So the people behind the scenes pull and nip and tuck and edit, manipulating their package until it looks perfect so the consumers will fall for their deception and fork out the cash. It's all fleeting, it all passes away and all that is left are the ashes of lives wasted.
Some of you have inquired on why I feel such animosity in regard to this subject. My anger actually comes from being a mom. I have three boys, ages 8, 6 and 4, and it frustrates me that this is what their generation is learning as normal. My children have not been exposed to this kind of type of entertainment at home, but like everyone else we see it everywhere we go. I don't particularly shelter them, although my husband and I do make conservative choices for what they see on TV and in movies, etc. in an effort to combat the negative influences such as those I've talked about in this post. That being said, there's only so much that can be done to protect them in a culture that is as saturated with this garbage as ours.
Specific to Britney, I really have tried to think about her personal struggles. I can't imagine putting my child through the things that have been forced on her. She was not old enough to have made responsible decisions at the time that she entered the showbiz world. That was her parents' responsibility. No parent is perfect, we all make mistakes and have regrets. But come on, how much common sense does it take to know putting your teenage daughter in lingerie on TV is wrong? It's truly sad to me that her potential was commercialized and she was forced to compromise herself to the extent that she has now become something that no one should aspire to be. Please know that I do not mean to belittle her, but merely point out the evidence within her life of the destructive consequences that come from decisions motivated by greed, as is so common within pop culture trends.
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