More than a Moment: How Pop Culture Brings People Together
We really can't explain it. Our friends have asked us about it and we've tried to explain it ourselves.
We just can't. My best friend Caylee and I can just remember random pop culture moments off the top of our heads.
We’ll be going about our day, cooking dinner or doing homework or listening to music, and one of us will make a
reference to a pop culture moment that happened ten years ago. It sparks a long conversation about the context of the
moment and the consequences of it.
According to Michael Petracca, pop culture is “shared knowledge and practices of a specific social group at a specific
time”. For me and my friend, we were in the same social groups at the same time. We were born just a few months
apart, so we grew up in very similar social settings. We’re from different places (I’m from Utah and she’s from Las
Vegas), but being the same age led to us experiencing the same things at the same time. Because we are in the same
social group, we experienced these pop culture moments at the same time. We’ve now used these random things to
build our friendship. We use them to relate to each other. When we talk about these moments, we use it to talk about
our family dynamics and the differences in the ways we grew up. We talk about why we remember them, why we
think they’re funny or how they influenced culture in general.
Our friendship is just one example of how pop culture can connect people. I can remember when Avengers: End Game
first came out in theaters. It was a huge moment that brought people together. Friends would go to the theaters together,
dress up in matching costumes and talk about the movie online. Big blockbuster movies like this aren’t the only ways
that pop culture can bring people together. The TikToks below are a few examples of smaller moments that have had
similar effects.
I find it so interesting how pop culture can connect people and bring people together, and it’s not talked about enough honestly. Like you said, you use pop culture moments to relate to one another and it can build friendships. Referencing pop culture moments brings light into conversations or even sparks conversation.
ReplyDeleteIn one of the videos you shared on “Some of the most iconic pop culture moments of 2023”, my friends would talk for days about the Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner split as it took us away from our own reality. I also love to see all of the Met Gala looks and even watch videos on TikTok of people reacting to the looks. Pop Culture brings people together and it’s interesting to see exactly what influences culture through time.
So to answer your question, pop culture has affected me in more ways than one. I have friendships built around pop culture where that is a majority of what we will talk about when we see each other. I will send TikTok videos to friends about pop culture moments as a form of communication. Pop culture has given me, and I would assume others, an outlet of escapism from their day-to-day life. I strive for new pop culture moments and can’t wait to see what 2024 will hold for pop culture.