I invite you to go one complete day without the aid of pop culture. No discussion of the Karidashian wedding, no debate over the dismissal of Penn State figurehead Joe Paterno, no quoting Mean Girls line for line with your galpals (we can really just do that everyday, if you'd like). Pop culture seems like about the only culture we have today*, literally meaning...well...popular culture!
It's funny, because culture has such a completely different connotation once separated from "popular". The word culture inspires mental images of Paris or Rome, candle lit dinners, a glass of expensive wine as you watch a foreign film you can't understand. Now don't tell anyone as you slide popular right before it, no big deal, it's an innocent enough word on its own. All of a sudden Hulk Hogan is stomping on your romantic evening and Snooki is getting wasted off of your imported wine. Images of Rome and Paris are quickly replaced by pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (not that those are bad mental images to have, by any means).
A lot of names you might recognize in that last paragraph, right? Maybe they made that paragraph a little funnier; that was what they were supposed to do. But why!? Why do we get kicks by interjecting the lives of people who will never know us, will never even ponder for a second our existence, into our own, and acting as if the intimate details of their liveliness somehow concern us in any way? I'm not pleading innocence, because I'm in the exact same boat as you guys. I'll laugh when Seth MacFarlane does ANOTHER cut-away gag making fun of Sarah Jessica Parker, or whoever the hell it is this time. I'll enjoy it when we all discuss how horrible of an actor Nicholas Cage is, and continue to ponder how he persists to book starring roles in high budget films. But all the while, is it not a bit pathetic?
My best guess is that we enjoy pop culture references because they give us an outlet. We all love talking poop about other people. Friends, teachers, coworkers, family; sometimes you just need to rip on someone. But as gratifying as this can sometimes be, it's also not usually the wisest of action, as it can lead to treacherous consequences like the tearing of friendship bracelets, the failing of classes, the lack of employment, or the loss of a wedding ring. So instead of jeopardizing personal relationships we've built over years with people we see all the time, we channel our negative energy towards someone who could not possible care less. While they are all living "the life" up in the clouds, we are living the life without quotation marks, down on the surface miles below them. So it feels good to yell hurtful things at them from down low, even though they can't hear us. Even as thousands of us prod at them, they don't even notice us, as they're far too busy doing super cool famous people things. We can't bother them, because we don't exist. On the other hand, we get to find a largely harmless outlet for our natural urge to gossip. Reevaluating, now: stupid as they may be, pop culture references may be keeping the American institutions of marriage, business, camaraderie and education afloat. Keep up the good work, Family Guy.
*best read with nose upturned, disapproving sneer and fingers daintily wrapped around a glass of chardonnay. moncocle is optional
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