The Pop Culture And Existential Psychology Essay

Pop culture, what does this term even mean? It seems to be a word that contains subjects of media, social structure, and society as a whole. According to the dictionary, pop culture is defined as “cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people”. In the society we live in today, we are constantly surrounded by pop culture, either that is with television, magazines, different sources of social media and/or exposure to others. Due to pop culture being such a dominant contribution into our world today, it has effected many parts of society. The domination of social media has created idealistic views that are stressed upon female adolescents in particular. Upon media’s influence, traditional tactics and work have been modified in order to keep up with our technology oriented society. This alters the schools and education systems. Through the use of television, social media and other means of pop culture, serious study is necessary due to the negative effects it has on the younger generation and the effects it has for their futures.

The movie Love Actually (2003) by Richard Curtis demonstrates how the connections between people are limitless and that love is a concept that has the ability to lift people up and tear people down. The movie follows the lives of nine different relationships and the audience is able to see every aspect of love, romantic, platonic, familial and more. In an article by Ben Dreyfuss, he points out that most critics of the film point like to say that Love Actually “is a saccharine soulless picture that relies on an emotionally manipulative soundtrack and has nothing to say but somehow takes 136 minutes to say it” (Dreyfuss). However, that is not the case. This movie has had a lot of controversy since the release in 2003. In this paper I

     Many forms of popular culture today are inspired by themes, characters, and other references in various types of classical literature. John Denver’s song “Calypso” parallels with a number of the themes in Homer’s the Odyssey. The Odyssey’s themes involving Odysseus’ journey back home and the aid of gods and goddesses directly influence “Calypso.”

The media influences how people experience social life. Media such as newspaper, television and film, are important sources of information, education and entertainment. It can be used to learn more about the world and the people in it. In this regard it can be said that the media represent, interpret and endorse aspects of social experience (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2005). The media are also implicated in social regulation, or in other terms, the government of society. The media are implicated in government and politics in an obvious way because modern systems of democracy are conducted through the media. But the media have a bigger role to play in government by structuring how society is controlled and maintained.

Children across the world enjoy the television show Spongebob for its loveable characters and humor. The most prominent of these characters is Spongebob Squarepants, a personified sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea, in a town called Bikini Bottom. He spends the majority of his time working as a chef at the Krusty Krab, a fast food restaurant run by a greedy crab named Mr. Krabs. Spongebob’s neighbor and co-worker, Squidward Tentacles, has a very cynical view of life, constantly complaining about Spongebob and praising the clarinet and other arts. Across from Spongebob lives his best friend, Patrick Star, a starfish known for little intelligence and extensive sleeping. Most episodes, he and Spongebob act on a new idea which leads

Lou Anne Johnson is a pop culture teacher played by Michelle Pfeiffer in the movie Dangerous Minds. Dangerous Minds was definitely a Hollywood movie, but still had some important character ideas serving relevance to what 21st century educators should still resemble today. The premise of the movie depicts that inner city schools often have students who are behind, (not exclusively, but primarily minorities), but with true passion, understanding, compassionate effort, these students can rise to astonishing levels of success. “Passion and motivation is the fuel that propels the human spirit and this is at the core of student achievement” (Balls, Eury, & King, 2011).

purpose or just coincidentally. The genre of K-pop is just one of the many that deal with this

Existentialism is defined as a philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice. It is the view that humans define their own meaning in life, and try to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe. This school of philosophy has time and time again been explored in literature and film, as it is the answer to the defining question of the human experience: why am I here? The doctrine of existentialism is the core theme of the films Synecdoche, New York, written and directed by Charlie Kauffman, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kauffman (who’s writing directed the direction and main theme of the film), the poem, Dover Beach, written by Matthew Arnold, and Franz Kafka’s literary classic and masterpiece, The Trial.

Existential crisis is a moment at which an individual questions the very foundations of their life: whether their life has any meaning, purpose, or value. Sometimes there are men who will accept their fate graciously. Two works that depict these ideas are “The Death of Ivan Ilych” by Leo Tolstoy and “The Metamorphosis” by Kafka. In both works by Tolstoy and Kafka, the main characters at some point question their lives’ and what life means to them. In order to question one’s life, it would be necessary that one evaluate the decisions they make. A person’s life can change in any event that has happened to them. Moreover, the

In his 1946 essay Existentialism, Jean-Paul Sartre undertakes the task of defending existentialism against what he defines as “charges” (341) brought against it. Sartre begins to outline the “charges” brought against existentialism and further, existentialists. Following the medieval quaestio-form, Sartre begins with the statement of the objection, a short discussion, and then his reply to each.

Imagine living through the two World Wars as they played out in your front yard; the battle for global power & influence destroying the landscape you walk day-to-day as Capitalism battles Socialism over ideology, over freedom of the individual, over the freedom of the collective and over freedom of thought and expression. This was the world that Simone Ernestine Lucie Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir was born into on the morning of January 9th in Paris, France the year of 1908. She would come to develop her unique existentialist perspective through one of the most decisive periods in our world’s history and through close personal contact with some tremendously insightful intellectuals formed in the same crucible.

“Popular culture moves through our world at warp speed” (Aufses, Scanlon, Shea 707). For example, current events that take place by day are the main topics by night. Even videos posted on the internet can become the biggest trend overnight, but disappear just as quick. Without realizing it, everyday these trends of thought affect the way we dress, live and think. Whether we like it or not, these thoughts are manipulated by popular culture. It is undeniable that “we are creatures of outside influences; as a rule we do not think, we only imitate” (Source A). Pop culture influences us through many forms: movies, television, music, art, and peers are some examples. This affirmation is supported through essays from

“Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It 's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen” (Brown). In the book Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction, Thomas Flynn writes about one of the leading philosophical movements in the twentieth century: existentialism. This theory emphasizes that each individual is entirely free, making them responsible and accountable for their actions or choices. With this idea, your choices are solely based on your own judgment, not anyone else’s. The book focuses on seven leading figures, Jean-Paul Sartre, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Soren Kierkegaard, Simone de Beauvoir, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Camus who contributed to and greatly influenced the movement (Flynn). The seven individuals were popular philosophers who studied many topics, as well as contributed to and founded different theories with a great focus on existentialism. The book discusses key themes of free will and personal responsibility as well. Free will is the ability to choose from among various alternatives and options. Throughout life, each individual has the ability to choose how they live their life because of their position as a self-determining agent, although making them responsible for the authenticity of their decisions.

In the movie you meet best friends Dexter and Emma. Emma, is shown throughout the movie to have feelings for Dexter while he is oblivious. Eventually, they both realize that they are in love with one another. Although shortly after Emma get killed in an accident, which puts Dexter in a bad place. But he eventually gets through it in the end and moves on.

I believe that the phenomenon of greeting banners by communities and families is a kind of pop culture. Popular culture or pop culture is a kind of phenomena that becomes mainstreams in a certain culture, in this case the culture of Balinese people. Balinese people take a new form of the way they deliver their Hari raya greeting, that is through banner and it somehow become popular and mainstreams. So what the importance of studying or doing research about pop culture is to find out the underplaying assumption, the power behind the pop culture and the moral, attitude and philosophical construct of the society that implement the pop culture. From it, we can get a better understanding about how that certain society works and how their perception and behavior are shaped by the pop culture. One of the theories of pop culture study is the theory of mass society.