Pop and High Culture

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Pop and high culture (8 mark question) High culture is enjoyed by the powerful a wealthy like the upper classes and example of people who purse high culture in the royal family but it is out of reach from ordinary people because it includes high expense activities like polo, the opera, critical discussion, classical music and seeing plays. Working class people either don’t have the right educational background or money to partake in high culture. High culture is seen by its supports as being superior to other types of culture like pop culture. Members of high culture society like to feel important so go to established organizations like the royal opera house. The government encourages high culture and wants everyone to aspire to high cultural values like intellectual and creative development. Pop culture is a subculture that also knows as mass culture is with in the reach of normal people so is the dominant subculture shared by the majority of societies population. Pop culture includes activities like cinema, pop music, magazines and television .pop culture forms the majority of normal peoples leisure time. Some sociologists see pop culture as beneficial as it has contributed to society becoming more diverse and because it increases choices available to normal people in lifestyles. But some sociologists argue pop culture is a ‘candy floss culture’ has lead to the decline of intelligence. It is argued pop culture is just manufactured for the masses consumption and pop culture is harmful because it discourages critical thought. Critcher and Clark (1995) argue people are not free to make choices because of their consumption of popular culture and big corporations manipulate us. In recent years pop culture and high culture have become more combined and example of this is the royal weeding, which included a mixture of guests to this high culture
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