Discussion: Audience: Affects and Effects
Does popular culture change how society views an idea? Or does popular culture reinforce dominant ideas, thereby slowing the pace of change?
This week’s Discussion is broken into various threads, each of which focuses on a specific social issue. Your main post should be in the thread that corresponds to the artifact you have chosen for your Final Project.
- Violence/Indecency/Free Speech
Popular culture frequently has been accused of being too explicit, showing too much violence, pushing the boundaries of acceptable language, and displaying excessive nudity.
A watershed moment in American television history is the infamous half-time performance at the Super Bowl in 2004 in which Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were performing. During the performance, a brief wardrobe malfunction occurred when Timberlake accidentally moved the fabric covering Jackson’s breast. While Jackson’s nipple was not exposed, most viewers believed it had been. This led to a crackdown by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the governmental body in charge of indecency on the public airwaves. The incident has been described as both an important moment for maintaining decency on the airwaves and so trivial as not to deserve comment.
Consider how audiences have perceived indecent or violent behavior within popular culture. Have popular culture representations of violence or indecency pushed boundaries? Or have they reinforced societal ideas of what is appropriate?
By Day 3
Post a 250-word response in which you describe the influence of the intended audience on how the popular culture artifact in your discussion thread portrays messages about the issue.
Testimonials
