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Selections
from the PopCult mail room,
as chosen by Zippy McDuff, The Invisible Intern™.
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A
TRUE POPCULTIST SPEAKS OUT
THANK
YOU, THANK YOU for including the unfathomably popular "work" of Anne Geddes'
in your "Bottom 5" list of coffee-table art books. These photos have truly
repulsed me since the first time I saw one, and I continue to marvel at
what the general populace finds (sickeningly) "cute", "sweet" and "precious."
Some adjectives that come to MY mind are "precious"–and I mean that
in a BAD way!–stupid-looking, and "DISTURBING" in the way only a
mutant species can be. I can find none of the "whimsy" Ms. Geddes is trying
to portray. I wonder if this concept appeared to her in a dream, after
her alien abduction? And these are FAT babies. Not just rounded and healthy
looking, not just pudgy...FAT, JOWLY, shaped like beach balls, their facial
features disappearing in rolls of blubber as they grin their toothless
grins! You can just imagine what prompted that grin— a huge helping
of tapioca pudding with cinnamon-sugar-buttered bread. MMM, MMM! (Lest
you think I'm a baby-hater, I assure you I am NOT. I have a beautiful
22-year-old daughter that I adore…she had the pudgy little chipmunk
cheeks at six months or so, but was ambulatory and curious…not prone
to lying in one spot like a BLOB!)
This
is my first issue, so I don't know if you've ever had a topic that would
encompass the appalling "art" of America's darling, Thomas Kincaid? If
not, I would love to see it. I always feel that I'm finding out a "dirty"
secret about my acquaintances that rave over his stuff. Kind of like being
a closet fan of Barry Manilow? I CRINGE for them, inside, if anyone else
is around to hear....while fervently hoping I am not being tarred with
the same brush!
Can
we outlaw the word, "cute," please?
Cathy
Loper
(e-mail address withheld)
SUGGESTIONS
My
nominee for the "Bottom 5" is Thomas Kinkaid, the so-called "Painter of
Light." He paints smarmy, overly-sentimental kitsch marketed to the masses
as spiritually uplifting art. He has prints, coffee table books, coffee
mugs, miniature Christmas villages, T-shirts, ad nauseaum.
Alekscat
in Richmond, VA, USA
flashkittyfever@yahoo.com
Somehow,
I missed out on this whole Thomas Kinkaid phenomenon. Had I but known…
—Ed.
I
have enjoyed exploring your Popular Culture Magazine/Site. A character
that is a true popular culture icon is The Banana Man. Children of the
'50s on who watched the Captain Kangaroo show remember him with special
fondness. Anyone who had once seen his act remembers it forever. The problem
is—there is NO information on him. Until NOW. I have prepared a website
devoted to celebrating A. Robins and The Banana Man. Should you like to
make a link to it—make it your site of the week or simply enjoy it
for yourself.... the URL is: http://www.furman.edu/~bryson/BananaMan/
Rhett
Bryson
rhett.bryson@furman.edu
AH,
ACADEMIA!
hi
my name is Emily and ive just visited your website.
I
have to write an essay for my university sociology class arguing that
"Pop Culture is a drug to pacify the masses"
Do
you have any suggestions that may help me to make a start on this?
Any
website links perhaps?
Emily
Constantine
(e-mail address withheld)
Well,
I'm afraid that's an argument I've never really bought into. Academic
theories about the role of pop culture tend to contradict themselves:
Half the time they declare that pop culture pacifies the public into a
slovenly stupor; the other half of the time they charge pop culture with
inciting the masses to rape and murder. Which is it?
Certainly,
there will always be people who allow their minds to be guided by crappy
entertainment, but I don't think we can generalize that to include all
of "the masses." In my opinion, the best pop culture is another form of
personal expression. Can personal expression be accused to "drugging"
people? No more than any other art form. Why should rock 'n' roll be considered
an opiate, but not classical symphonic music? Is it simply because rock
is more popular today? So, using that reasoning, can we conclude that
when classical music was the pop music of its day, it too was considered
a drug to appease people? I doubt it.
So
I'm afraid I can't help you make that particular argument. But as for
websites, the only academic sites I know of for pop culture are:
http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/popc/
http://www.mmu.ac.uk/h-ss/mipc/
Perhaps
someone there can give you some leads. But if you find any actual studies
or research proving that pop culture drugs anybody, I'd love to hear about
it.
—Ed.
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