Introduction
Television has become a central entertainment stop for many people. People watch countless movies, talk shows, news, and comedies every day. The American pop culture pushes television entertainment to great heights and shows have achieved celebrity status. The actors in these shows have impacted popular culture and society insights. Pop culture changes from time to time in response to events and changes in lifestyle. The central amount of television shows and programs propagate these changes in pop culture.
Differences in spectators’ receptiveness across states are due to ethnic and cultural dissimilarities. One of the most significant factors in cultural formation is the sex role. For each program type, there are the overall incidences for each type of show. While most television shows are designed to entertain, it is suggested that some have educative content. This may not necessarily be a school curriculum but there are many of life’s lessons to be learned. The hosts of television shows and programs have been able to read the most interesting influences in their work. This enables them to keep their shows relevant and on top of entertainment listings. However, the views on most of these shows are negative especially considering that the content in most of them is sleazy. Family fights, sex-oriented shows and other social problems discussed on these shows are a major moral concern for some people in society.
Discussion
Regardless of these views, these shows have continuously aired with great ratings. They, therefore, show that the popular culture at the time of their production favors the show. These shows, even if they do not have any intellectual content, do contain social issues that provide important lessons to society. Conflict, guilt, and sympathy are some of the emotions that reign on shows. They reflect the real situation within society and how we deal with our problems. In some sense, they are an image of American culture.
The number of people who watch and get involved in television shows has rapidly increased. During its lifetime, the Oprah Winfrey show has attracted a large number of people. The topics discussed in the show reveal a lot about the extent to which we trust talk show hosts. As Oliver puts it in “Freak Parade”, television shows feature people’s physical conditions similar to the attractions at the carnival. While the current attractions may not necessarily have immense power or disfigured bodies, women with facial hair, bad teeth, and overweight bodies are a common feature on the show.
As Charles Oliver argues (1995), “television and regional amusement parks took their toll on the carnival. Today, the few carnivals in existence are generally sad collections of rickety rides and rigged games. But man’s need for dark spectacle hasn’t gone away, and a new generation of entrepreneurs has found a way to allow people to experience the vicarious thrill of the dark, the sleazy, and the tawdry all without leaving the safety of their homes.”
In his first appearance, television had been depicted with dignity and understanding. According to Oliver in “freak parade”, the authors of TV shows do this in a seeming effort to make the audience feel sorry for the guest or superior to him and her. As, for instance, does, Oprah Winfrey in her shows; tries to tackle problems that afflict most of the people in society. Health and social issues provide most of the educative content in her shows. Oprah’s book club can be said to provide a lot of intellectual material. It enables her viewers to explore different books and apply some of the principles featured in their lives.
While this can be argued as just a habit, it shows that pop culture can have amazing contributions to other spheres of society. Where it encourages the adoption of either positive or negative habits, pop culture is an effective way of changing the norms of society.
However, it is also significant that there are people in our society who will do anything because a talk show host, actor, or actress commented that it is good. This has created a lot of conflict in homes as more and more people engage in activities highlighted on television.
Conclusion
Critics of TV have stated that the quality of TV output has been weakened as stations persistently chase populism and ratings by concentrating on the superficial, and the popular. In the film, Hollywood culture and values are more and more dominating film production in other states. Hollywood films have modified from concentrating on scriptwriting and dialogue to creating prescribed films that highlight shock-value with superficial thrills and special effects, with objections that concentrate on the basic instincts. The plots often seem unsophisticated, a pattern is taken from the shelf, and dialogue is minimal. The protagonists are shallow and unconvincing, the dialogue is also unsophisticated, unreal, and badly created.
Works cited
Charles Oliver, (1995) Freak Parade: Daytime talk shows are a contemporary carnival.
Oprah Winfrey show, produced by Oprah Winfrey, NBC.