The Searchers: Audiences and the Quest for Meaning in Popular Culture

1. Ch. 8 The Searchers: Audiences and the Quest for Meaning in Popular Culture Julia Johnson, Alejandra Fernandez, Jennifer Wegman, Lindsey Joiner, Roxanne Hernandez

2. An Introduction… • This chapter assesses how people attribute significance and meaning to popular culture • It is said that, “cultural meaning is a product of human engagement and interpretation.”

3. Popular French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher Pierre Bourdieu is one of the countless historical dignitaries of art and intellectual life buried here. As well as Oscar Wilde, and the original founder of sociology, Auguste Comte. One of the most visited spots though is the tombstone of The Doors frontman, Jim Morrison. -Why do you think this is? Among Paris’s many attributes and tourists attractions, such as museums, cafes, fine cuisines, fashionable boutiques and exhilarating street life, many tourist traveling through the French capital find time to visit the famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

4. “When attributing meaning and significance to songs, movies, and other kinds of media and popular culture, audiences not only draw on their personal memories or individual psyches but their social circumstances as well.”

5. Something to Relate to… • Culture Wars: “Cultural conflicts fought among ideological adversaries in the public arena” • “Interpretive communities rely on common social experiences to frame their collective readings of popular culture…” • We search for common ground between ourselves and artists, we like who we can relate to • Ex- Morrissey and the Smiths and their Latino fan base in L.A.

6. Meaning Making &Changing Significance • Popularity changes with the times • Going to the movies used to be for the “lower class”, only women and immigrants went to see them • Movies were not seen as art • An artist (Pete Seeger) was blacklisted during Communist fearing years, then given National Medal of Arts by Clinton

7. Academy Awards and American Film Institute • The canonization of American films as worthy of intellectual and artistic cultural merit began in 1927. • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was created in 1929 to bolster the film industry’s image. • The Academy Awards helped toward the creation of American “masterpieces such as Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and Casablanca. • The American Film Institute, created in the 1960s, also recognized achievements in cinema.

8. The French auteur theory gives credit to the director for providing the artistic vision for their films. • This theory can be correct or incorrect. • Examples: Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese French Auteur Theory

9. By the 1950s and 1960s, many American cities were hosting International film festivals (Chicago, San Francisco, New York). • These festivals were meant to showcase films worthy of intellectual and critical consideration. International Film Festivals

10. Contemporary Critics • The heightened meaning and artistic significance of popular film that we know today came about because of these changes. • Film reviews became lengthier and more sophisticated due to a new analytic voice using critical terminology.

11. Contemporary Critics Continued… • Allan Bloom, University of Chicago. “The Closing of the American Mind” • MUSIC – hearing or viewing it are all distractions the younger generations. • Encourages rebellion against society, ideas of killing family or friends, and imitating improper actions/ behaviors. • Ex: Columbine High School Massacre

12. Pop Culture and an Authenticity Search • Authenticity- a variety of desirable traits like credibility, originality, naturalness, realness, genuineness, innateness, purity. (pg.168) • Authenticity found in art work, music, crafts, food, and all forms of media.

13. Attributes to Authenticity • Consumers attribute authenticity to cultural objects, symbols, or pictures often associated with hardships or disadvantages.

14. The Search for an Authentic Experience • Can prove to be RISKY. • Views based on stereotypes and proper images, instead of the reality that is the experience. • People think that they are having a authentic experience without realizing that it been alter to please everyone. • EX: Mexican restaurants served tortilla chips and hot sauce to their customer not because of the culture or traditions. This actions is done, because the Anglo customers want it.

15. Examples of Authentic People

16. Restaurant Authentic? • Restaurants change food dishes to appeal to the massive consumers. By changing the original recipes or might not display true customary dish.

17. What are the attributes of “Authenticity”? Credibility, Originality, Naturalness, Realness, Genuineness, Innateness, Purity

18. Adventures in the Quest for Meaning… • Hybridity: when different cultures are melded together to generate new possibilities for creative expression. • Example of Hybridity: Rock and Roll developed its genre by blending together Urban Blues with Country music. • Ex: Bob Dylan's 1960’s development of electric folk rock. Kid Rock incorporating rap, heavy metal, rhythm and blues, and country in his music.

19. Adventures in the Quest for Meaning… • The culture of hybridity is also incorporated in food. It is evident by the popular global fusion of cooking in elite restaurants world wide. • “By playfully combining culinary traditions common to regional cuisines, chefs and dinning patrons alike reject the social construction of authenticity in favor of global fusion.” • Three to five star restaurants in major cosmopolitan cities prepare examples of hybrid cuisine that combines French cooking with ingredients from Japan, Italy, Cuba, ect.

20. Chapter 8 Final Questions In general, why does society usually pick the songs they listen to and the movies they watch? What are the attributes of authenticity in today’s culture? What is the term when different cultures are melded together to generate new possibilities for creative expression?

21. The End. Thank you for your time!