Essay Example: Professional Wrestling and The Impact it Plays in The Media

Pop culture (Popular Culture) refers to the set of beliefs, practices, and objects practiced by a community, which are sometimes dominant in society at a particular time. The concept of popular culture would also refer to the accumulation of cultural products including dance, film, fashion, cyberculture, television, and radio (Cieslak and Agnieszka 103). People embrace all moments, especially those that are prominent in the society at a particular time such as the MeToo movement that was established in 2018. Such moments are known to influence the interaction between people in their daily activities. These moments, such as those detailed in the television in ways including wrestling can be perceived as either socio-cultural or political.

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At various instances, pop culture can well be related to jokes, beyond the practices and beliefs of the people. The concept of pop culture varies with the youth of the world (Brummett 3). There is a clear distinction between historical pop culture and today's pop culture. Traditionally, pop culture was associated with poor education and lower classes of people as opposed to the popular official culture of the people. The people of the past used to maintain discriminating, expensive, high-status, and a specific way of thinking. "Mass media were superseded by economic imperative" (Dell 6). Today's pop culture is exhibited by the media in ways including wrestling, which directly impacts the lives of the people in the society. Pop culture has been modified in that it is now being applied even to the less exclusive groups within different societies, and there is an evident label that materializes the culture even at its absence (Brummett 7). Therefore, pop culture is known to influence a person's attitudes towards a given topic. Furthermore, "artistic expression is a longstanding aspect of mankind and our society" (Brummett 11).

There are different ways in which pop culture is viewed by different societies. Therefore, pop culture can be differentiated in distinctive ways from other cultures including high culture, working-class culture, and folk culture. Pop culture can also be linked to casual arts as it also entertains the audience, and engages it into being part of the community. Additionally, the perspectives of pop culture are indifferent in that there are psychoanalysis, structuralism, postmodernism, and others that can be used to define pop culture. Today, the most common categories of pop culture include entertainment, such as movies, television, music, and video games. Other ways through which pop culture can be perceived is through news, sports, politics, fashion, and technology (Burgess, and John 64). These categories, as well as the "contemporary art," "glamorous lifestyle," "Instagram photography," and "YouTube videos" encourage the people to self-identify themselves and also to find their place in the world of information.

Mass media can inform pop culture in various ways. Ways including "messages in newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, film and the Internet" form a good part of mass media (Savigny et al. 92). Pop culture is determined by the interactions between people in their everyday activities; as a result, the people's way of dressing, the use of slang, type of foods, greeting rituals and other practices let people embrace the popular culture (Savigny 5). Various agreeable elements can comprise the popular culture, for instance, the most immediate and contemporary dimensions of the people's lifestyle. Such aspects are susceptible to change just like pop culture is, especially in a world filled with technology, where people are brought closet to each other through the omnipresent media regardless of their locations. Additionally, various standards and beliefs are reflected in popular culture. As a result of the commonality, popular culture creates a reflection and influence of society's way of living (Dell 111).

Mass production has been influenced by various advances in lifestyle including industrialization, and developments in transportation. These, as well as increased literacy levels and improvements in education and public health, have well assisted in the representation of mass media including penny presses, pamphlets, and magazines in popular culture (Savigny 55). It may also contain "current movies, magazines, advertisements, social networking sites, music videos, and television shows" (Brummett 1). These factors have led to the blossoming of pop culture to greater levels than realized before. For instance, the beginning of the twentieth century brought with it the print industry that led to increased production of illustrated periodicals and newspapers, which were important in defining the popular culture of the people. Through the advances in mass media, there have been a better serving of information for the public, especially in the sectors of social and economic affairs, which are part of the popular culture. The ideas that were presented in the magazines provided a base of information for the public with various topics of discussion. Additional technology brought with it an impact on the emerging mass media throughout the century. There have been films, broadcasts, televisions, all of who had a profound influence on the culture of the people (Cieslak, and Agnieszka 108). Therefore, urbanization, industrialization, growth in technology as well as the mass media has led to the formation of popular culture. For instance, there is an "ability to gather news" that can impact "the manner of presentation of the news, as well as the quantity of news, carried in the newspaper" (Burgess, and John 64). Until present, these continue to influence popular culture.

There are various sources of popular culture such as the mass media. The mass media comprises popular music, films, radio, television, video games, the internet, and books (Cieslak, and Agnieszka 102). "Mass media can create and convert opinion" (Burgess, and John 87). Additionally, advances in communication as a result of industrialization, technology, and globalization have been important in the transmission of ideas by word of mouth. The mass media acts as a novel way of increasing public interest, and also enforces the mass production of commodities. Additionally, professional entities that contain public information with them have influenced popular culture. These include the news media, the scholarly and scientific publications, and the expert opinions from people who are considered an authority in their sectors (Burgess, and John 67). For instance, a news station that majors on a topic could report on the effects of playing violent video games hence, seek a sociologist who has published in the topic of interest. Through such a strategy, the public can be influenced, and their collective opinions can as well be shaped on a given subject. At least, popular culture provides the basis of the public to disclose the offer differing opinions.

Mass media can be found everywhere in global popular culture. For instance, "the world as given to us through television seems natural, not bizarre." (Clark et al. 24). However, it is no longer constrained in the television and newspapers, which have always been its main channels in the previous times but expanded outward to the everyday lives of the people. There have been constant images, and sounds from the media channels and each had a way to expose music, information, and ways of telling stories in an attempt to inform various areas of the people"s lifestyle. The influence of mass media can be commonly perceived in the informed pop culture, and this can be specifically evident in politics, fashion and body image, as well as the use and importance of illegal and legal drugs (Savigny 44).

The most influential of pop culture hails from the mass media, specifically political influence. Marx describes the phenomenon as that of "political power and social slavery" (Dell 4). Brummett notes that "Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Politics shows how fantastic popular fiction has the potential of offering more than a momentary escape from capitalist realism in the age of media convergence and participatory culture" (2). However, the influence is not uninformed by the attitudes at that particular time. At the same time, "the influence of mass media on body image as well as beauty ideas has been a matter of concern for many people" (Leggett "Sociology of mass media and popular culture"). The focus of mass media on the thin body which is ideal for women has been a strong trend for the common people (Savigny 92). Savigny additionally notes that "women's magazines are modern and popular cultural forms and part of the average woman's media consumption" (92). However, it has all been enforced by the increasing technology, industrialization, and globalization, which have led to the use of improved software and expanded skills such as Photoshop to change the media images as compared to when a selection of actors and other mass media people were used to conform to the images (Brummett 14). Mass media can, therefore, be termed as one of the sources of body image which is ideas information for all as a result of its potential influence on the developments of negative body self-image.

Another influence of mass media on popular culture is on the attitudes of the people towards the use of legal and illegal drugs. For instance, in smoking, which has been dependent on the age of the people, the act can either be legal or illegal. The influence that mass media has had in smoking has been looked at through various channels which include the anti-smoking messages and the images of people who smoke on television. As a result, the act of smoking can either be enforced or reduced. Additionally, the act takes charge regardless of the depictions of people who smoke. Therefore, mass media's influence can be seen as much stronger in the convincing of adolescents that they ought to smoke rather than neglect the act, and that the balance of either smoking or antismoking messages is vital for as long as there are public health goals that promote the reduction of adolescent smoking.

The influence of mass media extends even to the greatest of the areas of the people's culture and life. For instance, its influence on politics can change the way through which laws are made and the other ways in which voters reach out for their cash and votes. At the same time, mass media can make or break fashion styles and trends that impose a body image which is not possible for most of the people to live up to. Mass media, therefore, reflects and underscores the attitudes of the people towards the use of drugs. Regardless of the influence being positive or negative, the action can be well debated, but it cannot be discussed on whether the actions are present in everyday life since it is evident and clear to most of the people (Savigny 44). There are other influences, however of mass media on popular culture. Therefore, it is more important to consider what has been the influence on personal ideas and norms, which relate to an idea. There are good changes that such have been informed and shaped by the influence of mass media on popular culture.

The television is a special interest when looking into popular culture. The medium acts as a reflection of the culture of social reality such as wrestling, music, and films, and is in that case, a social ritual in which many people share. The television reaches a mass audience, making it part of the popular culture (Cieslak, and Agnieszka 102). It is used to transmit various cultural norms, and values as well as dominant ideologies to the viewers. The television can as well be able to satisfy the cultural needs of a diverse group of people.