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Considering the Power and Influence of Popular Culture — Transcript

by Jeffrey Nall · 9,046 words · 1,283 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00hi everyone I want to talk to you about
0:02the way in which we are shaped by
0:04popular culture now at this point of the
0:08semester you understand something about
0:10culture culture is our shared web of
0:15interrelated values and beliefs our
0:19assumptions our ideas our our our Norms
0:23our customs and even our institutions
0:27culture shapes how we understand and not
0:30only the world out there but also the
0:34world inside us who am I what am I what
0:38what what is important to me what do I
0:41want what do I desire uh what are my
0:44hopes and what are my dreams now popular
0:47culture is obviously a part of culture
0:51but it is that part of culture which has
0:54widespread Mass Appeal it's the part of
0:58the culture because remember there are
1:00competing ideas and competing parts of
1:04culture there are uh ideas and belief
1:07systems and practices which are utterly
1:10opposed to each other just take I don't
1:12know the subculture around plant-based
1:16vegan diets and compare that to the sort
1:21of meat loving uh you know uh you know
1:25eat vegetables only when absolutely
1:28necessary sort of me mentality those are
1:31obviously very much in conflict with one
1:34another and so when we talk about
1:36popular culture we're talking about what
1:39ideas what Customs what beliefs have
1:42broad Mass resonance and we're also
1:47talking about typically uh cultural
1:51forms that themselves are widely
1:54available uh we're talking here of
1:56course about art maybe we're talking
1:58about graffiti we're talking about books
2:00maybe we're talking about graphic novels
2:03music and movies and
2:06advertisements uh we're talking about
2:08social media you know virtually
2:11everything you can think of that has
2:13that broad appeal and the cultural
2:17theorist also a mentor of mine at Fort
2:19Atlantic University Jane kaputi explains
2:21that popular culture is a valuable index
2:25to what people commonly know value fear
2:29remember and also
2:33believe now being just a little bit more
2:35specific here we can talk about mass
2:37media mass media is clearly one of the
2:41most influential aspects of popular
2:43culture because here we're talking about
2:45everything from you know internet social
2:48media to you know maybe some of the more
2:50uh classic conventional but still uh
2:54influential parts of popular culture
2:56like television and radios and you know
2:59newspapers whether they're online or
3:02still in print you know uh if such a
3:04thing still exists I know it kind of
3:06does but you know it's it's nearly
3:08obsolete you know our our music apps the
3:11radio uh uh uh the the you know the
3:14music that we're downloading uh the
3:16movies that we're watching and so on so
3:18mass media is obviously a really
3:20important part of popular culture uh I
3:24won't say too much about social media I
3:25think it's sort of self-evidently a an
3:28significant part of popular culture but
3:31what I would encourage you to think
3:32about and what we would have some really
3:35I think interesting robust discussion
3:36about uh in a classroom setting would be
3:40how influential is social media how does
3:43it make people feel a certain way how
3:46does it influence their
3:48self-perception um you know how does it
3:50give them a sense of their own
3:52importance or their own lack of
3:54importance and it's also worth thinking
3:56about to what extent these uh social
3:59media apps give an opportunity or offer
4:03a platform for people to express views
4:06and beliefs that otherwise wouldn't have
4:08been expressed and also to what extent
4:11people end up really just replicating a
4:15dominant narrative or a dominant set of
4:18beliefs and values because certainly
4:20theoretically social media can be a
4:22really powerful force for democratizing
4:26our our social discourse giving um you
4:30know giving giving opportunities to
4:32voices and Views that we might otherwise
4:36not hear from and so I think it's worth
4:38asking though how much originality we
4:41actually see in social media compared to
4:44the repetition or the
4:46replication of what a small number of
4:49significant influencers have to say
4:51because remember it's important and
4:53worthwhile to consider the the um you
4:57know the the outliers because sometimes
4:59an outlier becomes uh presents an idea
5:02that that takes hold and can become
5:04mainstream but it's also important to to
5:06note the difference between the
5:08exception and the rule now I'll also
5:11just mention here that advertisement has
5:14an enormous impact uh in our economic
5:18world and I think if we want to
5:20understand the power of culture the
5:22power of popular culture the power of
5:24mass media we need to come to terms with
5:27a few things number one we are not as
5:30rational as we like to think that we are
5:34and so before I finish commenting on
5:36advertisement let's just take a look at
5:38Howard Gardner
5:40psychologist uh his work called changing
5:43Minds now Gardner's book I think is
5:46really important especially these really
5:48useful seven levers of Mind change now
5:52this this this sort of uh theory of of
5:55changing Minds is helpful in a number of
5:58ways uh I mean certainly if you are
6:01seeking to manipulate somebody else's
6:03beliefs this is useful information I'm
6:06not advocating for that manipulation in
6:08fact I would personally ethically object
6:10to that way of utilizing it but let's
6:13say that you have a um an idea or a
6:17policy that really is going to benefit
6:18people but you need to find a way to to
6:21to for it to gain traction um these are
6:24some ideas about how to be a more
6:26effective Communicator uh whether you're
6:28trying to sell a product nobody wants or
6:31you're trying to sell uh someone an idea
6:33that actually can improve their lives
6:36but I'm sharing it with you because I
6:38think we need to come to terms we need
6:40to be more humble about how we actually
6:44arrive at different or new uh beliefs we
6:48like to think that we are very rational
6:51and empirical and that confidence that
6:55belief and reason uh and empiricism is
6:58addressed and the first two levers of
7:01Mind change here by Howard Gardner
7:03reason which he understands to mean
7:05making logical arguments and research
7:08which he understands to mean presenting
7:11factual data now these are the two
7:13levers that are at the heart and soul of
7:16the academic you know project that we're
7:19all engaged in and it's also a part of
7:22what should be at the foundation of a
7:24democratic free Society a democratic
7:27free society that recognizes the Dignity
7:31of all persons ought to be one which
7:34takes seriously the responsibility to
7:37communicate ethically uh as well as
7:40effectively so you know using
7:43manipulative uh manipulative tactics to
7:47you know exploit someone uh or or just
7:50use someone to benefit yourself is
7:53clearly objectionable in a society that
7:55believes that you know all people are
7:58equal in their value but we need to be
8:01honest with ourselves we are not always
8:04rational and factual and we'll talk
8:06about advertisement in just a moment
8:08because it illustrates the point how
8:10could it be uh and I'll just actually
8:12jump to it how could it be that
8:15advertisement companies spend hundreds
8:17of billions of dollars each year on
8:19advertisements uh if we were so rational
8:22as to be immune to to marketing appeals
8:26and let's not kid ourselves marketing
8:28appeals are not all that rational case
8:30in point here's a Nissan ad for uh their
8:34cars where is the car it's not in the
8:37you know uh it's not on the image here
8:40um that's because they're trying to sell
8:41you a car based on the seat which itself
8:44ought to be a little bit of a of a tip
8:46off to the fact that this is maybe not
8:49something you should pay too much
8:50attention to but Nissan wants to sell
8:52you seats or rather a car based on the
8:56seats having been NASA inspired and zero
9:00gravity now what exactly this means is
9:03you know for you to determine I'm not so
9:06sure it's even wise to drive
9:09around sitting in a zero gravity seat in
9:13fact I don't think you would be sitting
9:15anywhere if you were in a zerog gravity
9:17seat and of course I understand that
9:19they don't literally mean that the seat
9:21you know produces zero gravity you
9:23should also note down here the little
9:25Aster zero gravity seats not designed or
9:27endorsed by NASA right after they just
9:30say that NASA has inspired them there's
9:33a difference in terms but they'd like
9:35for you to not read the aster and to be
9:38focused on the fact that maybe NASA had
9:40something to do with this advertisement
9:42this is not a rational advertisement um
9:46a normal person uh of financial means
9:49who's not independently wealthy is
9:51probably not buying a Nissan and no I'm
9:53not putting down your Nissan or anyone
9:55driving a Nissan I'm just highlighting
9:57the fact that people with significant
9:58financial means are probably going to
10:01buy a different kind of car this is an
10:03advertisement being marketed to people
10:05who really need to go from point A to
10:09point B in an effective manner this is
10:12an ad being directed at people who are
10:14going to spend a lot of money on a car
10:16and probably need that car to last them
10:18a long time and whether or not the seats
10:21are are NASA inspired or zero gravity
10:25probably ought to matter quite uh just
10:28the small small amount or be one of the
10:31last considerations in our
10:33decision-making process so back to the
10:36levers of Mind change what the Nissan ad
10:40is really trying to do is resonate with
10:42you it's not trying to reason with you
10:44it's not trying to you know uh impress
10:47you with some research uh it's it wants
10:50to resonate it wants maybe somebody who
10:52is uh used to driving a really
10:54uncomfortable seats who would like to
10:57think that they're just floating you
10:58know when they're driving on their long
11:00commutes or perhaps they want to appeal
11:03to somebody who doesn't have Jeff Bezos
11:05money to uh build their own rocket ship
11:08but you know might be able to get a
11:11sufficient loan to buy a brand new
11:14Nissan and have these fancy uh belong in
11:18a rocket ship seats and that's resonance
11:20connecting with an individuals or a
11:23group's existing values or their beliefs
11:26their feelings um and these are some of
11:29the ways that advertisers appeal to us
11:31it's why they have athletes that we
11:35admire or musicians that we are
11:37impressed with or songs that we like
11:40that they add or they want to associate
11:43with their product they want us to hear
11:45a song and think of their product or see
11:48a product and think of a song We love
11:50these are not rational appeals You could
11:53argue that they're manipulative appeals
11:56uh because they're not trying to
11:57communicate with our capacity to reason
11:59so before I read off the last of these
12:02why am I mentioning these in order to
12:05understand the power of popular culture
12:07to shape and influence our lives we need
12:10to come to terms with the fact that we
12:11are not nearly as rational and factual
12:15as we often posture a as if we were and
12:19if we can be honest and humble about the
12:22actual basis of many of our beliefs we
12:25are in a better position to protect
12:28against these kinds of manipulative
12:30tactics we're in a better position to
12:33think more actively to try to think more
12:36critically because after all thinking
12:38critically requires effort um thinking
12:42in uh a a a a sort of default
12:45perfunctory manner going with just easy
12:49assumptions that doesn't take an effort
12:51that's comparatively easy to
12:55do so in addition to reason research and
12:59residence we are also shaped by
13:02representational redescriptions that is
13:04a fancy way representational
13:07redescriptions is a fancy way of saying
13:09you take the same idea and you repeat it
13:13but in many different ways that means
13:17you don't just you know say it in an
13:19advertisement on a TV show you throw it
13:21up on the billboard uh maybe you create
13:25a t-shirt you uh add it to the radio you
13:29find any way to repeat that same idea
13:33that same slogan that same message uh
13:36that same advertisement pitch that same
13:38sales pitch that same political campaign
13:41promise whatever it is you repeat it but
13:43in lots of different ways that that
13:46resonate with different parts of us as a
13:50person maybe it resonates with our
13:53aesthetic appreciation some sort of
13:55sound that we like or some sort of
13:57appearance that we like but maybe may we
13:59also present it in a way that that that
14:01engages with our rational mind um maybe
14:04we relate it to something that is in
14:07fact factual but we find as many
14:09different ways to to represent that idea
14:12as we possibly can now resources and
14:15rewards this is super intuitive this is
14:18taking an idea you want people to
14:21embrace and relating it to something
14:24that would benefit them or by showing
14:27that there's some way that failing to
14:30believe it would hurt them so when we
14:33think that something is in our direct
14:36economic or health interest we're more
14:39inclined to believe it you know this is
14:41why uh there's all kinds of of
14:44pseudo uh products or dietary fats that
14:48are offered to us and uh and and we're
14:51told that we're going to benefit uh
14:52we're going to be healthier we're going
14:53to be more attractive we're going to
14:55have more energy and all we need to do
14:57is cough up you know $59 99 you know
15:00right now before you know the promotion
15:03expires that's a way of trying to um
15:06relate to our sense of cost benefit
15:10analysis now real world events this
15:13lever is leveraging the events that are
15:16out of our control but when they happen
15:19make a big splash so let's say that you
15:22are someone who is a um you know who's
15:28who's has a problem with a politician
15:30okay and you object to this politician
15:33you think their policies are terrible
15:35and you just discovered that they
15:38attended a an event um and maybe there
15:43was some inappropriate behavior I don't
15:45know in the age of covid they weren't
15:48properly masked or maybe it was a
15:51Halloween event and there was some uh
15:55culturally insensitive costumes or or
15:59you know whatever the situation is but
16:01it's like a real world event and you can
16:04use it to as a sort of as a as a
16:08entrance into addressing or criticizing
16:11this politician you don't like or the
16:13reverse uh there's a politician that you
16:15want to hold up and celebrate maybe
16:18they're a veteran and it's Veterans Day
16:21and so you use the fact that it's
16:22Veterans Day to celebrate them or remind
16:25the world that you know they're so
16:27fantastic so it's lever vering real
16:29world events to kind of you know connect
16:33with an audience in a way they might not
16:35normally be open to uh it's Martin
16:37Luther King Jr day and you want to talk
16:40about your objections to the military
16:43budget so you talk about how Martin
16:44Luther King Jr argued that we should
16:46drastically reduce military spending
16:49okay that sort of thing now you could
16:51have a rational basis for this you could
16:54have some good reason and some good
16:56research beneath it and I I would argue
16:59if we're ever going to use nonp purely
17:02rational means of communication then we
17:06have a responsibility to be able to
17:08justify rationally and empirically our
17:11claims but it's important for us to
17:13realize that sometimes these appeals
17:16will bypass our rational mind uh and
17:19that maybe there aren't rational
17:21arguments behind some of these appeals
17:23and maybe we will just end up spending
17:25money or voting for someone or believing
17:29something that is not really what we
17:31should have believed in to begin with
17:34lastly but not least overcoming
17:36resistances this is identifying and
17:39countering entrenched contrary beliefs
17:42so you know if if I want to Advocate uh
17:46a certain policy or belief or sell a
17:49product to a group of people and I know
17:52their religious beliefs and I can
17:54identify there uh the fact that they
17:57object to this product or this
17:59politician or this idea but I can
18:02somehow show them that actually this
18:05thing they do agree with uh this I don't
18:08know religious figure uh let's say I
18:11don't know I want them to to make uh
18:13some important decisions about climate
18:15change and they're very uh politically
18:20conservative and resistant to government
18:23intervention but they're also Catholic
18:26and they're more deeply committed to
18:28their Catholic ISM than they are to
18:30their uh their non interventionism in
18:34their politics and so you know uh
18:37October 2021 rolls around and the pop
18:40Pope the pope um delivers this very
18:45powerful rebuke of um greed and
18:50economic exploitation and on top of that
18:53he also uh challenges the world's
18:56governments and the the econom IC Elite
18:59to do more to uh prevent uh
19:04Global uh um environmental catastrophe
19:08well I might be able to overcome their
19:10resistances to government intervention
19:13by resonating and relating to their
19:17commitment to the pope now again you
19:20could say that this is a form of
19:21manipulation because to an extent it is
19:24but I think that the way you can
19:26ethically potentially just justify uh
19:30this way of communicating is realizing
19:32which is the point why I'm raising it to
19:34begin with we are not only convinced by
19:37reasons and research it would be
19:40wonderful if we were we would probably
19:42have a lot more functioning Society we
19:44would be more functional human beings
19:46we'd be healthier we'd be happier but
19:48you know what you and I both make a lot
19:50of decisions that aren't particularly
19:51rational and aren't always well you know
19:54researched and so forth and so if we can
19:57come to terms with our own rality if we
19:59can realize the way these other five
20:02levers end up being pulled by ourselves
20:06unconsciously or by others we are in a
20:09better position to flip that switch of
20:12critical thinking into on challenge our
20:15default thinking settings and to
20:18actually make sure we are not being
20:20taken in by misguided beliefs and you
20:23know I bring this up in the context of
20:26popular culture because popular culture
20:29is in many ways appealing to lots of
20:33different parts of who we are and it's
20:35not just appealing to our reason and to
20:39our research is it now before I jump
20:41back to uh a few things about popular
20:43culture I want to bring to your
20:44attention let me mention a really useful
20:47psychological study that was done in
20:502017 which again should humble you
20:53should humble all of us to realize how
20:56susceptible we are to irrational naal
20:59influences so this study was published
21:01in the journal Personality and Social
21:03Psychology and it found that familiar
21:06and repeated statements even from a
21:09single Source significantly shapes our
21:12judgment now remember Gardner saying if
21:15you want to convince something someone
21:16of something repeat it and repeat it in
21:19different mediums and different formats
21:22this study is pointing out that even if
21:24you just have one person saying the same
21:27thing over and over again
21:29it has the ability to wear on us it has
21:31the ability to to influence us um and
21:35and the reason for this is they explain
21:37is that the more familiar something is
21:39to us the more likely we are to accept
21:42it or think that it is true and accurate
21:46and so um repetition contributes to the
21:49likelihood an idea will become familiar
21:52and therefore will be seen as correct
21:56this is exactly what the researchers
21:57said um or rather wrote what we think
22:00others think greatly influences our own
22:03personal thoughts feelings and Behavior
22:06now that right there is an important
22:08statement we're social creatures we are
22:11influenced by others um they go
22:14underwrite our accuracy in forming
22:16impressions of group opinion and group
22:18Norms is also an essential component in
22:22guiding our social interactions our
22:24studies showed that hearing one person
22:27Express an opin opinion repeatedly also
22:30leads perceivers to estimate that the
22:32opinion is more widespread relative to
22:35hearing the same Communicator express
22:38the same opinion only once all right so
22:42again the the results suggest that uh
22:46among other things even like vocal
22:48minorities are going to have an outsized
22:52sway in our minds and in our social life
22:57and this can be used used by those who
23:00think that that they have the relevant
23:02research and the relevant knowledge and
23:04they need to educate others who are
23:06simply wrong and they they want to you
23:09know plant the intellectual earworm and
23:12they're going to do everything they can
23:14to have that uh rationally outsized
23:18perspective but there's also going to be
23:20plenty of of people articulating uh
23:23ill-informed
23:24irrational non-factual claims that are
23:27going to maybe be very passionate and
23:30very loud and are going to be inclined
23:31to repeat themselves again and again
23:34this to me is why it is so important in
23:36a free society that we emphasize uh the
23:40the problem with self-silencing when you
23:42let others do the talking always or most
23:45of the time when you Silence Yourself
23:49you are depriving the the the public
23:52discourse of some valuable counterweight
23:55to those who are more confident
23:59more comfortable and just more willing
24:02to express themselves repeatedly and you
24:06know by chance if those people are
24:08articulating ideas that are wrong when
24:11you speak up whether it's in a classroom
24:13environment or elsewhere on social media
24:15you have the ability to show that things
24:18are not so one-sided as they might
24:21appear now one of the things we run into
24:23when it comes to popular culture is that
24:26its influence isn't always flagrant it's
24:29not always on the up and up um when
24:32you're in a classroom you know someone's
24:34trying to get you to learn something or
24:37present a certain idea to you um but
24:40when you're sitting in front of a
24:41television screen or your phone you
24:44don't necessarily think when you're just
24:46entertaining yourself that you know
24:48someone is trying to sell you a product
24:50I mean you you think that when a product
24:52is boldly being advertised by the new
24:55such and such but think about product
24:58placement so what is product placement
25:00product placement is using brand name
25:04products in a cultural work like a movie
25:07for example and the aim here the aim of
25:10product placement is to Pro is to
25:14promote a certain brand without directly
25:17promoting it so product placement is
25:20often used in movies uh filmmakers
25:23sometimes uh get free merchandise uh I
25:26myself had the experience of doing this
25:28when I you know long ago went out to Los
25:30Angeles after dropping out of high
25:32school and uh worked you know a
25:34low-level job but at one point they put
25:37me in the office and gave me a phone and
25:38said we need you to get some free stuff
25:41because we're a lowbudget movie and I
25:44called around to try to get some free
25:46beer some free soda even uh pulled off
25:49getting a free uh free cement truck
25:51which was important cuz you know the
25:53movie was called cement and there was a
25:55scene uh Mafia style execution of course
25:59stereotypical and such where uh this
26:01cement machine was needed now we got
26:04these products for free which of course
26:06reduces the cost of making the movie um
26:11and what's in it for the companies why
26:13should they send us several cases of
26:16beer and soda more than we actually need
26:19it even why would they do that because
26:22they're getting a free advertisement and
26:25what's better is it's not the kind of
26:27advertisement which says this is an
26:29advertisement it's the kind of
26:31advertisement that people don't even
26:32realize is an advertisement which is the
26:35best kind of advertisement at least some
26:37of the time um and so you know
26:41filmmakers of major films May charge
26:44companies even uh you know the
26:47interesting thing
26:48is that you know you have a mutually
26:52advantageous exchange here movie gets
26:54free stuff if they're a lowbudget movie
26:57it's kind of a Mutual benefit but if
26:59you're a major filmmaker if you've got a
27:01huge movie that's going to capture
27:03millions of eyeballs you may actually be
27:06able to charge someone to put their soda
27:09product their beer their whatever
27:11instead of some other product and so
27:14that ends up becoming an even more
27:17significant um way of of doing product
27:21placement so just consider the 1982
27:24movie uh ET the
27:26Extraterrestrial this movie featured
27:29Hershey's brand Reese's Pieces now just
27:33fast forward and think about how popular
27:37at Candy this is how well known this is
27:39just think about how strong the
27:41association is between ET the movie and
27:44the candy itself that is a great example
27:48of the power of product placement the
27:51mutual benefit uh and and arguably even
27:55greater benefit to the candy company s
27:58you know the movie isn't really enhanced
28:00because you know there's a Reese's
28:03Pieces unless maybe um you know people
28:06who love the candy and never saw the
28:08movie are like hey what the heck is this
28:10movie I'm going to go watch it since
28:11it's got my favorite candy in it but
28:13here's a couple of other really
28:14interesting examples in
28:161981 um
28:19rayan uh brand sold 18,000 pairs of
28:22their Wayfair style
28:25sunglasses um and in 19 1982 one year
28:29later their sales increased to 200,000
28:33after they were featured in an article
28:35in G GQ Magazine now that right there
28:37shows you the power of popular culture
28:41the power of taking a pair of glasses
28:43and having them featured in an article
28:46in a GQ Magazine suddenly you know uh GQ
28:51you know is presenting certain image and
28:53an image that a lot of you know men
28:56desire and and feel as desire able and
28:59so then it increased the sales well the
29:02sales increased even more just one year
29:05later when uh Tom Cruz had a breakout
29:08movie uh titled Risky Business and where
29:12he wore the glasses that you see here uh
29:14pictured so again both of these just
29:17illustrate the power that popular
29:20culture has in our world to drive human
29:24behavior to to drive people to spend
29:26significant amounts of money on a pair
29:28of glasses that may not be that terribly
29:31different from a whole lot of other
29:34glasses that are cheaper uh a whole lot
29:37cheaper here's one more for you to
29:39consider in 1988 uh Norman salak the
29:42vice president of BOS and lamb which
29:45owns Rayban said sales of the company's
29:48Aviator frames ones you see pictured
29:51again here on Tom Cruz increased by
29:5440% since Tom Cruz wore a pair in
29:591986 and salak directly attributed the
30:03growth in sales to Tom Cruz's
30:05endorsement saying he must be a popular
30:08fellow because in 1988 I mean his his
30:11his claim to fame was still uh you know
30:13on the
30:14rise this guy hardly knows who he is he
30:17just knows that uh whoever he is he's
30:19selling him uh he's selling a whole lot
30:21of his uh of this other man's
30:23sunglasses um now let's jump to one more
30:28Tom Cruz movie to look at the power of
30:30popular culture but not so much in sales
30:34but in this sense in terms of Navy
30:36recruitment um in what is sometimes
30:39referred to now as the Top Gun effect um
30:43the movie Top Gun when it first came out
30:45in
30:461986 increased the interest in joining
30:49the Navy uh One navy recruiter said I've
30:52asked several of these individuals if
30:54they've seen the movie and if that's why
30:56they came down to talk to us again and
30:59they've said yes and we even saw Navy
31:03recruiters setting up Q&A booths outside
31:07of theaters that were showing this movie
31:09and for those of you who've never seen
31:10the movie I mean there's not a whole lot
31:12of depth or or richness or content to
31:16the movie is a lot of rock music and
31:19jets okay uh and sort of tense moments
31:22where is the jet going to crash or Not
31:24Crash and you know there's a a
31:26burgeoning romance and and and and that
31:29sort of thing but I mean ultimately what
31:30it is is it's this uh you know some hot
31:33shot pilots who are part of the the
31:36Navy's uh you know flight crew who are
31:39looking really cool and you know having
31:43good um luck with Tom Cruz's character
31:46in particular having good luck uh
31:48attracting you know a very uh you know
31:51conventionally beautiful woman in the
31:53movie and so there were there were
31:56people there were lots of young men in
31:58particular watching this movie thinking
32:00I want that that's my that's my image
32:03that's my idea of a good life I want to
32:04have fun you know flying you know Jets
32:07and and I want to I want to get the girl
32:09and I want to be the cool guy and yes
32:10I'm oversimplifying but again you had a
32:13lot of people driven to actually sign up
32:18to join the Navy after watching this
32:20movie if that is not indicative of the
32:23power of popular culture I really don't
32:25know what else uh I'm going to be able
32:27to say to conin you and again it's not
32:30because this is a purely rational
32:32argument there might have been some
32:33people who had listen to some good
32:36reasoned Arguments for joining the Navy
32:39some Financial benefit some educational
32:41benefit and so on and the movie might
32:44have just been the sort of like last
32:46draw right that really tipped the tipped
32:48the scale so to speak but there may have
32:51been quite a number of other people who
32:52did no research who had no rational
32:54argument on the topic but simply
32:58responded in an uncritical way uh
33:01because it resonated with them because
33:03maybe they they had seen the
33:05advertisement for you know joining the
33:07Navy and uh you know they've seen the
33:10messages about about joining and then
33:13seeing the movie was the sort of last
33:16you know weight that that tipped the
33:18scale in in favor of joining the
33:20military so one way to think about it is
33:23this in American culture mass media and
33:25the broader popular culture is to human
33:28mind what running water is to the
33:29Earth's surface the isolated infrequent
33:33splash of a single drop of water isn't
33:36going to do a whole lot and I realize
33:38that a movie is not going to you know
33:41singularly produce an effect on a person
33:44even you know a Top Gun movie is not by
33:47itself probably going to generate
33:50recruits for the Navy it's going to be
33:54more than a single influence it's going
33:56to be a collection of movies it's going
33:59to be a movie which which Echoes a
34:01message which is being told in our
34:04political Media or that's being said in
34:06the music or is going to maybe the Top
34:09Gun image resonate with people's deeply
34:12embedded Notions of gender identity and
34:14what it means to be a man so it's it's
34:17all of these sources and influence in
34:20the culture and in the media that come
34:23together and drip drip drip drip drip
34:25and form a torrential r Rush uh and then
34:29create that influence all right that
34:32leave that indelible mark on our
34:36Consciousness and in our society another
34:39way to think of it is this we are active
34:43though not always conscious participants
34:46in the creation in the construction of
34:48culture the uh anthropologists culture
34:51anthropologists Quinn and Strauss write
34:53that people teach both explicitly
34:56through their words
34:58and consciously chosen actions and
35:02implicitly by their example so you know
35:04okay I'm a college professor I'm
35:07teaching explicitly here um but on the
35:11other hand that's not the only way that
35:13we actually teach we might live A
35:15particular way we might uh present a
35:18certain kind of image to the world and
35:21we might not didactically teach anyone
35:23anything we might not say you should do
35:25what I'm doing or you should wear what
35:26I'm wearing or you should be like me but
35:29our example in the world actually has
35:34reverberations it echoes people see us
35:36people interact with us um people uh
35:40might might take an interest in in what
35:42we are doing with ourselves and so they
35:45want to highlight that people teach not
35:48only explicitly but also implicitly and
35:51they write the socially constructed
35:53World teaches as well in the sense that
35:55by living in it people people acquire
35:59certain implicit understandings look if
36:02I sneeze many of you are going to say
36:04bless you and it's always a fun
36:07conversation why do you say that you
36:09know and and I I enjoy occasionally
36:11asking people randomly in the middle of
36:13class what they mean by that and what
36:16that's all about but here's the thing
36:17most people in the United States
36:19familiar with the dominant cultural
36:21norms say bless you or know they're
36:24doing something a little strange when
36:25they don't say it and that that is an
36:28example of people being impacted and
36:31influenced by popular culture I mean I
36:33could ask you why you do it and you
36:35might come up with some really
36:36interesting urban legend or you have
36:38some knowledge about the origins of the
36:40phrase but guess what that doesn't
36:42really have much to do with why you say
36:45bless you by and large we say it because
36:47it's just something you do in our
36:50dominant society and if you don't say it
36:52people look at you like you've you know
36:54insulted them you know you where's my
36:56bless you where is it did you not hear
36:58me sneeze must I sneeze again must I
37:02sneeze again so what we could say is
37:05that popular culture shapes our thinking
37:09shapes our ideas shapes Us by shaping
37:13our beliefs our ideas some of our
37:16assumptions um it gives us a certain
37:19idea about what's praiseworthy about
37:21what's glamorous about what's glorious
37:24and it also tells us what is uh you know
37:27sh shameful and and what is disreputable
37:30what is uh you know unenviable and so
37:34forth and so you know we want to be
37:36mindful of what it is that popular
37:39culture is teaching us we want to think
37:41as we've discussed with the Arts we want
37:43to think about how
37:47Aesthetics uh you know about about the
37:50the the the things that we love to
37:51listen to and the things we like to look
37:53at we want to ask ourselves what am I
37:56being Tau thought that is not being
37:59presented to me as a teaching moment now
38:03just to kind of give you a I think
38:06useful example of the power of popular
38:10culture I'm going to ask you to do a in
38:13class in Virtual lecture session uh
38:16reflection this is actually going to be
38:18actually very brief brief um response it
38:22will need to be included in your Journal
38:24project failing to do so will count
38:26against you so please this is super easy
38:28and quick make sure that you complete it
38:31I want you to you can title this the
38:33power of popular culture something like
38:35that and what I want you to do is answer
38:38this question um ignore the second part
38:41of this okay since
38:431990 has violent crime increased
38:46decreased remain the same or fluctuated
38:50up and down over the years remember I'm
38:52not interested in you getting the right
38:53answer here like you could look it up I
38:56just want to know what your your gut
38:58reaction is I want to know what your
39:00assumptions are right at this moment
39:02because that is more likely to tell us
39:05what you have picked up uh on from the
39:08popular culture and it may be correct it
39:11might be incorrect I have no idea what
39:13you're going to write down but I'd like
39:15for you to well I mean I have some idea
39:17but I'd like for you to just jot that
39:18thought down without thinking very much
39:21about it so go ahead and just pause this
39:22video and answer the question since 1990
39:25has violent crime increased inreased
39:27remain the same or fluctuated up and
39:30down over the years okay now as part of
39:34the second part of this entry so part
39:36one is the first question I asked you
39:38just a moment ago and the second part of
39:40this entry is I want you to just give
39:42whatever estimates that come to your
39:44mind you can just kind of give us
39:46General figures you know in tens or
39:48hundreds or thousands or whatever it is
39:50that you think it is um and of course
39:52without looking it up how many children
39:55are killed each year due to school
39:57shootings how many police officers are
40:00killed on the job each year and how many
40:03people do police officers kill each year
40:07and by the way in terms of how many
40:09people police officers kill I'm here
40:12including those that might be deemed uh
40:16illegitimate killings as well as those
40:19that that are deemed uh acceptable
40:22lawful killings okay so I I'm not making
40:24any kind of moral judgment we're not
40:26going to get into the we needs of of
40:28those that very important uh topic I
40:31just simply want you to give some rough
40:33estimates about how many children are
40:35killed each year to school
40:37shootings um how many police officers
40:40are killed on the job and how many
40:43people police officers kill each year
40:45while they're on the job and then you
40:48know you it would also be interesting if
40:49you would put these in a order like you
40:52know you could put next to it you know
40:53number one as in like the largest number
40:56number two second largest and three
40:58third largest so go ahead and pause this
41:00video put your numbers down and then
41:02press play okay so here's where we're at
41:04first of all a lot of people think that
41:07violent crime is going up um and then
41:11even the people who don't think that
41:13it's really going up are usually of the
41:15view that it's kind of hovering or it's
41:18going a little bit up and down here and
41:20there but the fact is is that violent
41:23crime in the United States including
41:25everything from murder rape and sexual
41:26assault robbery and assault is actually
41:29going down and drastically and a lot of
41:33people are actually you know when I have
41:34this conversation in class will say well
41:37the numbers might look like they're
41:38going up but that's just because there's
41:40maybe better reporting mechanisms we
41:42have more awareness but that's not even
41:45necessarily obviously uh impacting it uh
41:48maybe we are better at discovering
41:50things and things are being reported
41:52more so but still yet actually um the
41:57numbers are falling substantially now it
42:00is true that the numbers tick up every
42:02now and again but it's like the
42:04difference between climate and weather
42:06and you understand like weather is you
42:08know how hot or cold is it today um it's
42:12sort of like temporary uh temperature
42:15whereas climate is the broader patterns
42:18over periods of time and when you look
42:20at the climate of violent crime in our
42:23country actually um the violent crimes
42:27have gone down substantially we live in
42:29a far safer world uh than we did you
42:33know just uh you know a couple decades
42:35ago in terms of
42:37our percentage uh you know uh you know
42:41uh likelihood of being murdered uh
42:45assaulted robbed and so forth so in 1991
42:49there were 758 violent crimes per
42:52100,000 uh in
42:542016 uh I mean that number almost was
42:57cut in half and you know as I said there
43:00are some ups and downs uh
43:03periodically you know in more recent
43:05years it went down a little bit then it
43:07went up a little bit but nothing has
43:09even come close to these figures in the
43:13uh early and even in the late
43:161990s so now how is it that that people
43:19are so often mistaken by this and we
43:22could say well their lives have been
43:23directly touched by violence and and
43:25surely that would that would uh explain
43:27it to a degree um but maybe uh I mean
43:31given that less people are experiencing
43:32violent crime then you'd think that they
43:35there would be fewer people describing
43:37those experiences maybe it has something
43:40to do with the way in which we talk
43:42about violence uh in our society I mean
43:45but my CLE my sense of things is that
43:48it's it's certainly not the facts that
43:50are giving people this impression um or
43:52or rather you know the statistical facts
43:54might be a true experience but what's
43:57more likely happening is that there are
43:59certain ideas that are being promulgated
44:02in the culture uh you know we've got a
44:05lot of movies and a lot of TV shows that
44:08play into fears uh and I'm not saying
44:10they should be removed from their
44:12platforms but I'm I'm simply
44:14highlighting that some of this
44:16programming may end up functioning or
44:18having a pedagogical function it may end
44:21up teaching us things which are
44:23erroneous and not true now let's take a
44:26very important issue and I just want to
44:27be clear on this I at a personal level
44:29and it's okay if you you and I have
44:31differences of opinion on on on what
44:34should be done about gun violence but I
44:36just want you to understand I personally
44:38uh have have very strong concerns about
44:41gun violence I think much more needs to
44:43be done uh in terms of curtailing gun
44:46violence so the statistics I'm sharing
44:48with you are not here meant to be uh
44:51diminishing of gun uh of Advocates uh
44:54for reform of our gun laws to reduce the
44:59number of people killed however I also
45:02think that we need to be able to
45:03communicate rationally and effectively
45:05and honestly with one another and that's
45:07why I find it so interesting that most
45:09people are entirely wrong about how many
45:13people how many children die as a result
45:16of school shootings a professor of
45:18criminology law and public policy James
45:20Allen Fox explains that there have been
45:2422 shootings at element and secondary
45:27schools in which two or more people were
45:29killed not counting those perpetrators
45:31who committed the suicide between 1990
45:35and
45:362018 folks were talking about almost 30
45:38years and 22 shootings five shootings
45:44killed 27 people 17 at Parkland which I
45:47know many of us were impacted by um uh
45:51you know so close to home and five of
45:54those shootings occurred between 200 13
45:57in
45:582018 seven shootings killed 33 including
46:0213 at Coline took place in the later
46:05part of the 1990s four took place in
46:091997 1998 alone so what does that mean
46:13in total over the past 25 years 10
46:17students have been killed from school
46:20shootings annually 10 students annually
46:25now I'd like to ask you to seriously
46:27ask yourself the
46:30question is your impression given let's
46:34say the uh all the drills that schools
46:36demanded students to engage in to
46:38prepare for you know um first for uh for
46:41a uh you know um a real-time shooter
46:44situation is our concern or fear over
46:48school shootings proportionate with the
46:51actual number of people who are killed
46:55annually I wonder because what I find
46:57particularly interesting as uh Professor
47:00Fox points out there are many more
47:03children who die each year from uh
47:07simply riding their bike or walking to
47:10school 100 children school age children
47:13are accidentally killed every year it
47:16might be the case that we could save
47:19even more
47:21children um each year simply by making
47:24sure that kids wear their helmets and as
47:27a father I know like little kids don't
47:29always want to wear helmets I mean
47:30adults don't always want to wear helmets
47:32right but again I would challenge you to
47:35reflect on the facts in contrast to
47:38widely spread popular beliefs and ask
47:40the question why are people
47:43so mistaken in
47:47their idea about how many children are
47:49being killed killed in schools schools
47:52are actually one of the safest places in
47:55terms of like threat of death here not
47:57saying there isn't bullying and a whole
47:58lot of other issues that occur or can
48:01occur at school but in terms of the
48:03threat of being killed schools are
48:05actually one of the very safest places
48:07that children can be right now before we
48:10enact significant gun legislation to
48:13curtail people's access to high
48:16powerered Weaponry that allows them to
48:18do things like uh you know occurred in
48:21Parkland so again I think that this um
48:25inaccurate understanding of the Threat
48:27Level to Children uh and again I'm not
48:30diminishing the significance of 10
48:32children dying annually or 17 dying at
48:35Parkland but when you average it out
48:38there are many many more things that are
48:41uh threatening people's lives that are
48:45are far more likely to take their lives
48:47than school shootings um what about law
48:49enforcement I asked you about law
48:50enforcement debts according to the
48:53national law enforcement officer
48:54memorial fund 12 28 officers died in the
48:58line of duty in
49:002017 44 were shot and killed and 47 died
49:05as a result of traffic related
49:08incidents um if you go back one year
49:11before the number was higher 143 but
49:15again what I think is interesting is
49:18that uh I think people sometimes think
49:20that law enforcement is one of the top
49:23most dangerous jobs in the country and
49:26that's actually not true fewer than
49:2822,000 officers have died from job
49:31related deaths since
49:341791 in 2013 the rate of fatalities
49:38among police officers was
49:4011.1 per 100,000 now I'm not suggesting
49:44that you know one police officer's death
49:46uh isn't too many any more than I'm
49:48suggesting that one child killed in
49:51their own their school uh isn't too many
49:54I I want all of these deaths to be
49:56reduced I don't want people to die while
49:59they're on their jobs when they're in
50:01their schools so please don't take this
50:03to be any kind of an ideological or
50:05political statement I am simply trying
50:07to highlight for you how inaccurate many
50:11of our presumptions about the death
50:14rates among these populations are and my
50:18assertion for you to consider is that it
50:20has to do with the ideas that are being
50:23promulgated in our popular culture ideas
50:25that are not often in line with the
50:28facts but that resonate with us that
50:32that are felt emotionally and deeply and
50:35connected with and built into a
50:37narrative that is so abstracted from the
50:41facts that we just have a strong feeling
50:44without the grounding of reason and
50:48research so when we look at law uh at
50:50actual um workplace deaths logging
50:55fishing uh pilot spitting and truck
50:57driving are all much more dangerous than
51:01law enforcement and I just give you one
51:03more um in 2016 there were more than
51:075,000 workers who were killed on the job
51:09you might find it interesting that the
51:11overwhelming majority of them were men
51:13uh this is one aspect of the
51:16demographics where men are
51:18disproportionately killed and then has
51:20to do with ironically with a little bit
51:22of male privilege because some of these
51:24jobs are traditionally
51:27uh uh you know gendered as masculine and
51:31don't provide as many opportunities for
51:33women to
51:34participate and um but at the same time
51:37they're also very dangerous jobs and so
51:40we see that more men die as a result uh
51:43of their involvement but again when
51:45we're looking at the the overall
51:48likelihood uh of deaths um one in five
51:52worker deaths in two 2016 were in
51:55construction and logging workers were
52:00more than 10 times more likely to die on
52:02the job than police officers just to
52:04give you some perspective but we don't
52:07have that same cultural awareness do we
52:10uh about you know about ensuring the
52:13safety of of loggers or fishermen and
52:16Fisher women there isn't that same
52:18cultural awareness we don't see the same
52:20number of movies being made about you
52:22know the The Perils of of this on the
52:25job difficulty or we don't have that
52:27same um you know journalistic interest
52:30in um writing about the struggles of of
52:33working in this really dangerous job
52:35when it comes to um loggers or fishing
52:39you know uh people who who work in the
52:41fishing industry but we do have that in
52:43law enforcement and I I'm not going to
52:46tell you exactly why that is I think
52:47we'd have to have a conversation and do
52:49some research but it's worth asking
52:51ourselves but well why is it that way
52:53why aren't we seeing more representation
52:55of these other dangerous forms of work
52:58uh in our media in our popular culture
53:00okay and last but not least I'm going to
53:02mention police killings and again I'm
53:04going to add the Proviso here that I am
53:05not diminishing the significance of a
53:10person being killed by the police uh
53:14especially in an instance where there is
53:16an unlawful or unjustifiable killing um
53:21of a of a of a of a person in our
53:23society by a police officer that is a
53:27violation of of the fundamental Duty uh
53:31that the state and that government has
53:33to its citizenry to protect and to serve
53:36and to be the guur of you know Freedom
53:40life liberty and the pursuit of
53:42happiness so I I'm not at all
53:44trivializing the reality of um the uh
53:50racial biases that end up impacting law
53:53enforcement the uh uh far too frequent
53:56qu Reliance on Force instead of
54:00nonviolent conflict resolution
54:01techniques and a variety of other
54:04matters that ought to be brought into
54:05this discussion but I do think it is
54:08worth noting that um the number of
54:13people killed by police I find in my
54:16discussions with students that people
54:18think that the number of people being
54:20killed by Stu excuse me the number of
54:22people being killed by police is far
54:25greater than the numbers that are being
54:28recorded now yes it could be that um
54:32these numbers aren't accurate I mean
54:34that could be true of all of the numbers
54:36that I'm sharing with you but according
54:38to the Washington Post in
54:412017 um there were 987 people who were
54:44killed who were shot and killed by
54:47police uh certainly that's a lot larger
54:50number than the number of officers who
54:52died that same year and I think that's
54:55worth taking into consider consideration
54:57um but I also think that it's worth
55:00recognizing the the idea that many
55:04people I just had a recent conversation
55:06with with a group of students where um
55:09where where people were saying you know
55:12they thought it was more like 5,000 or
55:1510,000 and that's a pretty big
55:17discrepancy right I mean even if this
55:19number is supressed even if this number
55:21is larger than you know than what the
55:23Washington Post found it to be um still
55:27even still it's it's not 10,000 and it's
55:31worth asking ourselves the question why
55:34do we believe these things why do we
55:37have these inaccurate Notions about our
55:40society and I think that a good
55:42candidate for a good answer is popular
55:45culture popular culture can give us some
55:47really beautiful ideas it can teach us a
55:49little bit about love it can teach us
55:51about acceptance it can teach us about
55:53beauty it can teach us about ourselves
55:56but it can also teach us some ideas that
55:59are not true it can also magnify the
56:02risk of something being a threat to us
56:05when that threat is actually smaller
56:08than it actually is and I think that
56:11that ought to concern us so before I
56:12shift gears I'll just throw out your way
56:15because it might interest you that in
56:16terms of the likelihood of of dying you
56:20know the things that kill the most
56:21people in this country um there are some
56:24really big Killers the number one killer
56:26is heart disease with you know over
56:28600,000 people and that has a lot to do
56:31with what we eat that has a lot to do
56:32with how we live um cancer is another
56:35enormous impact with almost
56:37600,000 by the way the third leading
56:40killer that isn't on here um which isn't
56:42uh listed by the CDC is medical error
56:45about 200,000 people die from medical
56:47error every year uh suicide takes 44,000
56:53lives every year that's almost uh that's
56:56like four times the number of people who
56:58die from homicides that's a much larger
57:02number than people who are dying let's
57:05say in school shootings uh being killed
57:08by police now I don't think that we have
57:10to like you know pick and choose like
57:12which one's important which one's not
57:14important I mean they're all important
57:15there if we value human life we want to
57:18protect human life everywhere that we
57:20can we want people to be healthy we want
57:22people to be you know have the right um
57:24treatment for disease we want people to
57:26be safe when they're being policed um we
57:28want people to be safe when they're
57:30going to school and so on and so forth
57:32but I think we really ought to consider
57:35um how how skewed our assessment of the
57:38facts are and ask oursel what might be
57:41the influences of those erroneous
57:44beliefs

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