The Illusion Of Popular Culture - 983 Words

The Illusion of Popular Culture In the early 19th century a man by the name of Phineas Taylor Barnum changed popular culture with his extraordinary talent of promoting and advertising. His first success came with a slave woman known as â€Å"Joice Heath† who he claimed to be the nurse of George Washington. If this was true it would put Joice at 161 years old, thousands of people went to see â€Å"The greatest natural and national curiosity in the world† (Perlman 4/6/16) which turned Joice from an elderly woman to a national spectacle. I believe that the portrayal of women in 19th century popular culture has prevented the detachment of gender roles and has actually created confusion in the eyes of the masses. I will start by comparing the â€Å"Turkish Dance, Ella Lola† which is a short film of a woman dancing made in 1898 with 1850s megastars Madame Clofullia and Jenny â€Å"Swedish Nightingale† Lind, then I will compare the film to the â€Å"New Women† of Barnum and Bailey as w ell as early 20th century women. In order to fully understand my argument it is necessary to analyze the film by itself. The â€Å"Turkish dance, Ella Lola† is a video of a young woman dancing, she is wearing two skirts, necklaces, a flower headband, and a loose shirt. The dancing contains a lot of swirls, and hand movements as well as pelvic thrusts in both slow and fast tempos, she shakes her upper body making the necklaces and her shirt ricochet off each other. This was filmed in 1898 which was during the progressiveShow MoreRelatedFahrenheit 4511583 Words   |  7 Pagescan be nearly as seductive as it is deadly. The beauty often lies behind commercialism, materialism and capitalism. This seductiveness creeps in and brings anguish and chaos in our society, a place where popular culture flourishes. It is far easier to live a life of seclusion and illusion, a life where television is one’s reality. This is how life is represented in Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, in which a society has changed into a pleasurable fantasy world by thinking censoring booksRead More Analysis of Francis Bacons The Four Idols Essay1030 Words   |  5 Pagesthe tribe, cave, marketplace and theater. At first I thought that these idols did not apply to humans at all, but now, after careful consideration, I understand how each idol relates to humankind.    The Idols of the Tribe represent the illusions of human nature: it refers to the idea that our everyday problems arise simply because we are humans. For example, it is human nature to think that there is more order in the world than there really is, to accept things as they are without questionRead MoreIndian Author Amitav Ghosh1119 Words   |  4 PagesAmitav Ghosh is a world renowned Indian author and novelist known for his works in English language. His writings often shows an amalgamation of cultures through the use of various languages. He has received numerous awards for his works and was also awarded the Padma Shri bythe Government of India. His writings are unique and contributed a lot to Indian Writing In English. The Shadow Lines, is one of such writings, a highly innovative novel which was published in the year 1988. It received the prestigiousRead MoreCulture in Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer’s Book Dialectic of Enlightenment609 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å" Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception† is a chapter in Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer’s book â€Å"Dialectic of Enlightenment† it goes onto discus the conflicts presented by the â€Å"culture industry.† Adorno states that the culture industry is a main phenomenon of late capitalism, encompassing all products from Hollywood films, to advertisements, and even extending to musical compositions. Adorno is very deliberate in noting the term â€Å"culture industry† over â€Å"mass culture† this was doneRead MoreFilm Review : Romeo Must Die 1269 Words   |  6 Pagesinterracial relationship and the coming together of cultures in the â€Å"melting pot† of the United States. Ultimately, the film fails because of the stereotypes embodied within the characters; this movie actually reinforces some stereotypes and typecasts some of the actors, creating an illusion of assimilation and inclusion while inadvertently doing the opposi te. It isolates these characters and defines what stereotypes are favorable and accepted in American culture as well as which stereotypes are not. In orderRead MoreThe Violence Of Abu Ghraib824 Words   |  4 Pagesdominant, we certainly do not do everything correctly. There are countless incidents where the U.S can be at fault but most people are blinded by popular culture and social media to realize the global events. There is a quote by Talib Kweli that goes, â€Å"The problem with our role is Americans live in a world of illusion†. We do in fact live in an illusion because we do not know what actually goes on in the world. All this time I had thought the U.S was better than everyone else but in reality we areRead MoreDoes Magic Really Exist? Essay881 Words   |  4 Pagesinfluence, or skill† (â€Å"Magic†). Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica states that magic is â€Å"a concept used to describe a mode of rationality or way of thinking that looks to invisible forc es to influence events, affect change in material conditions, or present the illusion of change† (â€Å"magic†, 2014). Magic covers a few different practices, including, but not limited to, divination, alchemy, sorcery, astrology, and necromancy. The term is also used in reference to conjuring acts and sleight of hand tricks used forRead MoreThe Meaning of the Truman Show1550 Words   |  7 Pagescelebrities take on the tabloid photographers who follow them around, the movie and television industry is giving us depictions of venal reporters and scheming entertainment conglomerates, which pull no punches when it comes to revealing how amoral our culture industry has become. Recently, there have been two important examples of this trend. In the flawed but interesting movie, Bulworth, Hollywood has given us a depiction of a politician who challenges the phony world of media-politics by offeringRead MoreFree Time Is Not More Than A Shadowy Continuation Of Labor732 Words   |  3 Pagescommodities. Therefore how free time is spent is incredibly important. However, Theodor Adorno asserts that free time is nothing more than a shadowy continuation of labor.(195) For Ardono free time is ultimately an illusion, an illusion propagated by the culture of industry. The culture of industry operates as an omnipresent and deeply malevolent entertainment machine. Its purposes is to simultaneously distract and subvert the masses. Furthermore, Free time is hopelessly shackled to modernRead MoreAdvertisement Is A Perfect Example Of Postmodernism Advertising880 Words   |  4 Pagespeople of today live in an ‘unreal’ and fake world. Filming and disseminating this process â€Å"allows us to live without the illusions that modernity dangled before us† (Hart pg 9) The background classical music that has been slightly distorted illustrates Hart’s (2004) belief that â€Å"Postmodernism takes what it likes from high culture (classical music) and puts it to work in popular culture (advertising)† (Pg 8, Hart, 2004), further illustrating the idea that postmodernism involves removing â€Å"things out of