Political And Pop Culture Influence

We see an influx of celebrities recording anti-gun PSA’s in the wake of the elementary school shootings in Connecticut. We see some famous folks defending their violent movies and music lyrics as well.

You have to be a special type of idiot to not see the stunning amount of hypocrisy. Political pundits, as well as others entrenched in pop culture, are stating that they’re offended that people are pointing fingers at their craft. Pop culture is called that for a reason. Popular culture is a collection of all that is hip in the present time, and it’s all from what is influential.

What I find offensive is an actor passionately defending shooting up villages in a war movie, or a rapper stating that his lyrics have no effect of culture whatsoever. I was a kid once. I remember former friends of mine walking and talking like the gangsta rappers of the 90s; and sadly, some of them still do. A colleague of mine was so influenced by ‘Goodfellas’ and the ‘Godfather’ film series that he started up an online mafia game/clothing store/magazine. Some people are actually influenced by those movies to the point of trying to emulate Michael Corleone or Big Paul.

Celebrities know they have influence. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be recording political service announcements or fundraising for politicians and their favorite causes; and they certainly wouldn’t be bragging about things in their songs or interviews. Current TV wouldn’t be playing ‘Bowling For Columbine’ after a shooting if they didn’t think movies could influence the public.

Media outlets wouldn’t openly state their right-leaning or left-leaning views if they think it didn’t sway people’s thoughts or actions. Propaganda is a strong tool; and advertisers, politicians, and celebrities know it.

What’s worse is not everyone realizes this. What can we do to help open some eyes and teach people to think objectively? We need to have a different influence…a new pop culture. We need a culture of people who think with logic and not emotion. One of the best benefits would be fewer celebrities being hypocritical ignoramuses.

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