Pop Culture Is Not An Enemy

                                                                          Pop Culture Is Not An Enemy 

    Social media has been in our favor since its tremendous advantage of providing entertainment with information to its viewers. Other than our local news, apps such as Instagram and Twitter inform us of recent occurrences with additional details. So why does the debatable argument of "Is Pop Culture Good for You?'' exist? It has been said that pop culture tends to promote negative stereotypes, unhealthy and risky behaviors for adolescents. Undoubtedly, the first few posts we see when opening a media app will be celebrities showing off their sculptural bodies and flawless faces. That alone creates pressure on younger people because they suddenly feel they don't fit into the standards of beauty or behavior. Body dissatisfaction and pressure-leading disorders are common points that go against Pop Culture advocacy, but the positives? There's so much more!

    Recently, my group of classmates and I underwent the essence that Pop Culture satisfies the modern society with its offers. When annotating Steven Johnson's article, "Watching TV Makes You Smarter", an abundance of phrases that reflect as alibi court along with its strength in justification. His main argument? Television is a great source for enhanced learning as it develops cognitive thinking and knowledge discovery. We settled with a trend of phrases such as "But the mind also likes to be challenged, there's real pleasure to be found in solving puzzles, detecting patterns or unpacking a complex narrative system" (Johnson 293) to compare the skill that is relevant between a mind-tactic skill and visual deliverance of information. A world without curiosity is like a plant without its water restoration: impossible for any sense of growth. 

    Television as a concept itself holds many variations of benefits. From its improvement of graphics to having shows and movies begin their own scratch of "new ideas", the subject of pop culture certainly brings enhancement in strength. Other sources, like Alexandre O. Philippe's Ted Talk, cites the relevance that "pop culture connects us across racial, political, and social divides." Without this modern culture, we are kept limited from information that has not yet been exposed to us. Visual learning allows access for analysis work and a surface to create ideas that are out of its ordinary norm. Relating it back to Johnson's article, he brings up well-known TV series that emphasize the true strength of cognitive thinking skills. Shows like "24" and "E.R" demonstrate a detailed scene, plot, and conflicts that interest viewers to come up with their own solutions. When watching in real-time, the brain enables many neurotransmitters when it comes to decision-making or creating an alternative ending to balance with the foreshadowing. 

    To trick the mind is to say pop culture has degraded its original roots. However, to accept growth, is to say pop culture has developed educational learning by implementing new ideas to viewers of all ages. Depending on how you view the argument, social networks fall under the category of modern culture that becomes more relevant for every new generation. Yes, it has its flaw for causing pressure to an extent, but it must be imperative to recognize that pop culture is good for us because it keeps us informed, intelligent, and shouldn't be viewed as an enemy. 

An enhancement of Interest between Black and White vs. Colored Images