What's Going On?

So, a little about myself. My name is Meagan and I am a senior at CSUN (California State University Northridge), majoring in liberal studies and minoring in theatre (tech/design). I love extravagance, cats, music, costumes, arts and crafts, high heel shoes, Aaron Sorkin shows, Disney movies, literature (Steven King novels too), art, and things that sparkle, to name a few. I am 23 years old and as most my age, lost as far as what I want to do with my life, other than wear lots of glitter and make people smile. Maybe I could have a career as a drag queen?

This is my very first blog, which is pretty exciting. I have somehow completely missed this blogging trend, which doesn't say much for my pop culture savvy. Despite being a total noob, I will do my best to explore the phenomenon that is POPULAR CULTURE while I work my way through English 313 and this blog. 

So, what is this "pop culture" that we always hear people praising, damning, questioning or referencing? Like many other extremely important terms, there is not really a set definition. After a quick google search, popular culture seems to mean:
-"the entirety of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are within the mainstream of a given culture" (wikipedia)
-"cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people" (dictionary.com)
-"the lifestyle and tastes of the majority of mostly younger people" (urbandictionary.com)

And pretty much all of these guys:

(Can you name them all?)

Now, these all are pretty similar in what they are saying. Popular culture, as the name suggests, is what is popular within a society at a given time. It is all of the things that are trendy, current and generally accepted by the youth of a society. But what are these "things." This is where it gets difficult to define. Music, theatre, movies, art, memes, websites, images, television, fashion, comics, beauty, mass media, attitudes, language, movements, dance...the list goes on and on. It seems impossible to list all the "things" that create pop culture, but people can always tell when something is pop culture. Like this blog title suggests, pop culture is also ever changing. Something that is popular one minute, will be "so five minutes ago" pretty soon. Pop culture is fickle, and for many it truly is 15 minutes of fame. 

It is my goal to discuss many of the things that constitute pop culture and how they influence myself, and society as a whole. Like most American youth I spend A LOT of time slogging through pop culture images in my day to day life. I hope, through this academic exploration, to better understand how these things play out in my life. In what ways do they control, or liberate, or confine? Am I a product of these things, or are they a refection of me? How are other cultures influenced by OUR pop culture, or vice versa? Are we dealing with a global pop culture phenomenon more so with the explosion of the internet?

If these things sound interesting, stick around while I work my way through this crazy culture of ours. If not....I'll probably post some pretty fun cat pictures too....

Bye.