Pop versus High Culture

[Mr Craig Clark]

Let's stick my nose in where it isn't needed, right into the 
discussion between HAG and Davemarc

Hag wrote:
> What bothers me is that you still refuse to engage with my point beyond a 
>cursory rejection. Rude, that - and that means giving you the benefit 
>of the doubt. I said pop culture was increasingly formulaic, not 
>produced by some shmuck on dope but according to the latest market 
>research, blablabla. I take it you don't concur? Why not?

To which Davemarc replied
> But if you'd really like to know my reaction to your comment that pop
> culture is increasingly formulaic, my observation is that that statement is
> so generalized (particular in the international context of this list) that
> it doesn't make much sense.  There is so much pop culture produced all over
> the world that it's hard to know how to *begin* considering your statement.
> Only a century ago, for example, American popular songs were extremely
> formulaic, more so than they are today.  American television's a complicated
> issue in itself, but recent trends (especially the growth of cable) have led
> to a burst of formula-breaking, particularly in the comedy genre.  
 
> But again, the statement's simply too general for my tastes.  I honestly
> didn't see any point in spending much time with it, so I just tried to add
> to the discussion by noting that Pynchon revels in pop culture and pop
> culture references.  He gets a kick out of much of it, remaining aware of
> (and exploiting) its comic as well as its potentially sinister ramifications.

I'm inclined to go along with HAG here - it's possible that he and I, 
stranded on the southern tip of the African continent, just don't get 
to see enough of the formula-breaking pop culture. Our closest 
equivalent to cable TV here is a decoder-system network which seems 
to think that "Half-Vietnamese teenager comes to the US to find his 
GI father because he needs a bone marrow transfusion" is such a cool 
premise for a movie that we can have twenty variations on this theme 
screened each month.

But I digress. I think a lot of Pop Culture is shit, and I think TRP 
thinks so too. He can parody bad pop culture like no-one else in 
literature (my fave is that C&W song in _V._). I think a lot of Pop 
Culture is very good, and I think TRP thinks so too. He celebrates 
the good often by alluding to it. I think TRP would agree that a lot 
of pop culture is manufactured in accordance with the latest market
research, and I think he'd also agree that there are times when even 
this kind of stuff can surprise one with its freshness and vitality, 
not to mention the popular culture that is created "by some shmuck on 
dope". 

I think there's some truth in Davemarc's claim that "only a century ago,
for example, American popular songs were extremely formulaic, more so
than they are today." Only the merest smidgeon of truth, mind you - I think
that it would be more accurate to say that there is a wider range of 
formulae today - you can choose from formulaic rap, formulaic C & W,
formulaic blues, formulaic angst-filled teen-rock, formulaic 
save-the-whales folk, etc: and that, despite having so many formulae 
to choose from, a handful of real artists produce great popular 
songs. I'd also argue though, along with HAG, that whereas thirty 
years ago it took the genius of a Lennon and McCartney to set the 
world on fire, today it takes a lot less. To draw a parallel from a medium
that hardly anyone else takes seriously these days, mostly because there's
so much schlock: 25 years ago Broadway was set on fire by the witty,
sardonic lyrics and restlessly serialist music of Stephen Sondheim. Today
Broadway can't wait for the inane lyrics and plagiarised ditties of Andrew
Lloyd-Webber. There's a definite decline in Pop Culture standards.
  
But then again, Sondheim and the Beatles are still Pop Culture, every bit 
as much as Lloyd-Webber and Kylie Minogue. Think of the Proles in
Orwell's _1984_, or their immediate literary ancestors, the Yahoos
in Swift's _Gulliver's Travels_. Debased, yeah. Dedicated to trivia,
sure. Embodying everything that's worst in their culture, obviously. But
still, when all's said and done, there's hope and vitality in them. 
That's what Swift and Orwell recognise and celebrate. Pynchon does 
too.  
Craig Clark

"Living inside the system is like driving across
the countryside in a bus driven by a maniac bent
on suicide."
   - Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"