American Popular Culture

Popular culture is everywhere, making it’s way into the everyday lives of individuals across the world. It is something that can hardly be ignored. Popular culture can be fun and bring enjoyment to a lot of people, however there is a downside. Popular culture is wide and varied, it contains a lot of information and ideas, and therefore should be looked at critically. The analysis of popular culture is useful and informative. Popular culture, or pop culture, is the general taste of the masses: the commercials, mass media, and general ideas of a certain culture. It can range over many things, from books, to TV shows, to propaganda, to celebrities. The influence of pop culture is astounding, but hardly payed attention to by the masses. People will try to act like or dress like their favorite characters or celebrities, they will subject themselves to propaganda by believing whatever a product or person promises, and some will go to any length necessary to keep up with the trends set by social media.
In Pat Mora’s essay she states, “We ingest pollutants- toxic ideas and attitudes- while we watch movies and television or read steamy novels or relax with women’s magazines” (Mora 166). In these movies and magazines are messages targeting the audience; pointing out the differences between them and the actors and models they see, telling them what they should or shouldn’t be doing, or influencing their opinion on a topic. Pat Mora’s essay discusses how the media heavily push the expectations held for Latinas and other females. In paragraph fifteen Mora talks about the messages in