Somewhere, likely in the depths of my parent's basement, nestled amongst the discarded Furbies, random Tamagotchis, Pokémon Cards, plastic Smurfs, naked Troll dolls, and random VHS, (and possibly Beta) tapes, should be my 90's Time Capsule Trivial Pursuit. I had asked for this game with the hopes that people would actually play with me; this only happened a couple of times. I haven't played Trivial Pursuit in years. All of that pop-culture knowledge I've acquired is collecting dust in my mindscape as I await perfect opportunities to share a quip, quote, song lyric, or movie line with an unsuspecting audience. The disappointment that comes from that audience giving me a blank look afterward is profound. This tends to happen when the audience is younger than me.
I am thrown off by those lacking pop-culture knowledge from any era that pre-dates their formative years. I, being a child of the '80s, existed on a diet of Cheerios and re-runs. I started my mornings with Gilligan and ended my day with Mr. Ed. I sang along with The Monkees, until my brothers took over the television, (Once upon a time the M in MTV was Music). My oldest brother played guitar, loved heavy metal, and rocked Slash's hair. When he would ask if there was anything I wanted him to play, the answer was always the same: The Munsters theme.
I remember being highly excited when I realized the Judge from My Cousin Vinny was Herman Munster. I was ecstatic when Grandpa Munster showed up in Gremlins 2. "Where do I know this Celebrity from" is one of my favorite games, it also causes a lot of blank looks. Murder She Wrote reruns are a treasure trove of guest appearances, by celebrities long gone and who my children have no appreciation for. When the teenager was drawing a blank as I shouted "Leslie Neilson!" I felt like a failure.
That said, I am absolutely behind on current pop culture. Some I have absorbed from having to suss out what my kids actually mean when they say suss or any other current or recent slang. My kids are kind enough to tolerate my responding to them with phrases such as "totally awesome", "CHILLAX", "wiggity wiggity wack", and the occasional "BACK OF MY GRILL SON!" I do get some dead-pan stares at times though.
Historically, popular culture has its roots in the Industrial Revolution. A new socio-economic class, i.e. the middle class, and urban population growth led to the creation of new trends and traditions. Transportation became more developed. Advancements allowing for the mass production of newspapers, and magazines, better education opportunities and standards, led to a higher rate of literacy. The ingredients: 1. Industrial means to mass-market goods 2. Mass-marketing of newspapers and magazines means advertisements. 3. A rise in literacy rates means that the gross population is now a target audience for advertisements of goods and services. Now add the technological advancements that brought about radio, film, and television, and pop-culture is born.
When it comes to the definition of pop-culture, we are looking at what is popular amongst the general population. Broadly shared ideas values and beliefs found in books, art, television, movies, music, fashion, and language, make popular culture.
Book descriptions featured are provided by the publishers.
"Powered by the advent of television and super-charged by the deregulation era of the 1980s, media companies and toy manufacturers joined forces to dominate the psyches of American children. But what are the consequences when a developing brain is saturated with the same kind of marketing bombardment found in Red Scare propaganda? Brian "Box" Brown's The He-Man Effect shows how corporate manipulation brought muscular, accessory-stuffed action figures to dizzying heights in the 1980s and beyond. Bringing beloved brands like He-Man, Transformers, My Little Pony, and even Mickey Mouse himself into the spotlight, this graphic history exposes a world with no rules and no concern for results beyond profit."--Amazon.
An entertainment journalist examines how seven revolutionary teen shows--The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, My So-Called Life, Dawson's Creek, Freaks and Geeks, The O.C., Friday Night Lights, and Glee--transformed television and our culture.
Glassman believes that revolutionary teen shows shaped the course of modern television and the pop cultural landscape forever. These hormone-soaked shows, happening inside the fictional hallways of high schools across America, redefined comedy and pushed genre boundraries. Here Glassman goes behind the scenes of seven of the most culturally significant series of the last three decades, showing how they launched the careers of superstars, took young people seriously-- and remained firmly entrenched in our culture long after they finished airing. -- adapted from jacket
"A cinematic narrative of glamour, grit, luxury, and luck, Fashion Killa draws on exclusive interviews with the leaders of the fashion world to tell the story of the hip-hop artists, designers, stylists, and unsung heroes who fought the power and reinvented style around the world over the last fifty years. Set in the sartorial scenes of New York, Paris, and Milan, journalist Sowmya Krishnamurthy's reporting on the intersecting histories of hip-hop and contemporary fashion focuses on the risk takers and rebels--the artists, designers, stylists, models, and tastemakers--who challenged a systemic power structure and historically reinvented the world of haute couture. Fashion Killa is a classic tale of a modern renaissance; of an exclusionary industry gate-crashed by innovators; of impresarios--Sean "Diddy" Combs, Dapper Dan, Virgil Abloh--hoisting hip-hop from the streets to the stratosphere; of supernovas--Lil' Kim, Cardi B, and Megan Thee Stallion--allying with kingmakers--Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace, and Ralph Lauren; of traditionalist fashion houses--Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Saint Laurent--transformed into temples of rap gods like Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, and Travis Scott. Krishnamurthy explores the connections between the DIY hip-hop scene and the exclusive upper-echelons of high fashion. She tracks the influence of music and streetwear on the most exclusive (and exclusionary) luxury brands. At the intersection of cultural commentary and oral history, Fashion Killa commemorates the contributions of hip-hop to music, fashion, and our culture at large"--. Provided by publisher.
"A companion to the #1 music podcast on Spotify, 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s takes readers through the greatest hits that define a weirdly undefinable decade. The 1990s were a chaotic and gritty and utterly magical time for music, a confounding barrage of genres and lifestyles and superstars, from grunge to hip-hop, from sumptuous RB to rambunctious ska-punk, from Axl to Kurt to Missy to Santana to Tupac to Britney. In 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s, Ringer music critic Rob Harvilla reimagines all the earwormy, iconic hits Gen Xers pine for with vivid historical storytelling, sharp critical analysis, rampant loopiness, and wryly personal ruminations on the most bizarre, joyous, and inescapable songs from a decade we both regret entirely and miss desperately"--. Provided by publisher.
In The Nineties, cult author Chuck Klosterman makes a home in every element of 90s culture: the film, the music, the sports, the TV, the politics, the changes regarding race and class and sexuality, the yin/yang of Oprah and Alan Greenspan. In perhaps no other book ever written could the sentence, 'The video for 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was not more consequential than the reunification of Germany' make complete sense. Chuck Klosterman has written a multi-dimensional masterpiece, a work of synthesis that's equal parts smart and delightful.
"Every twenty- or thirty-something woman knows these books. The pink covers, the flimsy paper, the zillion volumes in the series that kept you reading for your entire adolescence. Spurred by the commercial success of Sweet Valley High and The Babysitters Club, these were not the serious-issue YA novels of the 1970s, nor were they the blockbuster books of the Harry Potter and Twilight ilk. They were cheap, short, and utterly beloved. Paperback crush dives in deep to this golden age with affection, history, and a little bit of snark"-- Publisher's description.
For much of the twentieth century, sweating was considered unladylike and girls grew up believing physical exertion would cause their uterus to literally fall out. It was only in the sixties that women began to move en masse. Friedman reveals the hidden history of contemporary women's fitness culture and shows how exercise evolved from a beauty tool pitched almost exclusively as a way to "reduce" into a path to mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Each chapter uncovers the birth of a fitness movement that laid the foundation for working out today-- and how fitness can create a more powerful sisterhood. -- adapted from jacket
Explores the history of the family road trip, how its evolution mirrored the evolution of the United States, and why road trips have largely disappeared.
Find out about the fast and furious growth and evolution of video games (including how they are quickly taking over the world!) by looking at some of the most popular, innovative, and influential games ever, from Pong, the very first arcade game ever, to modern hits like Uncharted.
Learn about the creators and inspiration (Mario was named after Nintendo's landlord after he barged into a staff meeting demanding rent), discover historical trivia and Easter eggs (The developers of Halo 2 drank over 24,000 gallons of soda while making the game), and explore the innovations that make each game special (The ghosts in Pac-Man are the first example of AI in a video game).
Whether you consider yourself a hard-core gamer or are just curious to see what everyone is talking about, Game On! is the book for you!
"Board games have been with us longer than even the written word. But what is it about this pastime that continues to captivate us well into the age of smartphones and instant gratification? In It's All a Game, British journalist and renowned games expert Tristan Donovan opens the box on the incredible and often surprising history and psychology of board games. He traces the evolution of the game across cultures, time periods, and continents, from the paranoid Chicago toy genius behind classics like Operation and Mouse Trap, to the role of Monopoly in helping prisoners of war escape the Nazis, and even the scientific use of board games today to teach artificial intelligence how to reason and how to win. With these compelling stories and characters, Donovan ultimately reveals why board games have captured hearts and minds all over the world for generations"-- Provided by publisher.
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