Written Analysis V

Written Analysis V: Violence in Pop Culture

                Over the last six weeks, I have learned much in the way of Pop culture.  If you were to ask me before how pop culture could be studied academically, I’d probably would have told you that it really wasn’t possible, or worth it.  Looking back, I can certainly say I was foolish for thinking that, and my eyes have been opened up to how pop culture affects each and every one of us on a daily basis.  When I first decided to choose violence as my topic in pop culture, I wasn’t really sure how in depth I would be able to go with such a topic, but I quickly realized that violence is so far spread and so different in nature from one type to the next that violence quite frankly is a huge topic in pop culture.

                To say that one certain topic of pop culture that we have covered fits violence better than the others would be hard to be certain of.  If I had to pick though, I’d think that the stereotypes of violence are probably what is strongest and most closely tied ideas we have as a society.  Everyone can imagine the picture of gang members, wife beaters, and school bullies, and serial killers who are all stereotyped and who all certainly have close ties to violence.  We have all thought of these stereotypes before and how they look and how they act, but it certainly goes the other way as well.  We can think of a type of violence (as there are many types) and we can pick stereotypes out of that as well.  The stereotypical bar fight, the stereotypical domestic violence, and the list goes on.  Stereotypes are all around us; likewise, violence is all around us in this society, so it really only makes sense that these two would overlap and create quite an interesting mesh that can be studied from many angles, as we have learned in the last six weeks.

                I most definitely have learned a lot about not only violence, but also the topics of pop culture during this class.  I will be able to pick up on stereotypes of violence more easily, and will also be able to pick out the other aspects of pop culture, such as icons, celebrities, heroes, and formulas of violence, that I would have never been able to do before.  While violence is everywhere, it helps to have an understanding of how violence manifests itself in our pop culture; doing so gives insight into why violence is popular, why it is spreading, and why it is so profound in the world.  This would not be possible without the study of pop culture, and it has opened my eyes to a whole new world that I have been ignorant to up to this point.