pop culture

On Monday, I think we were talking about the categorization of "genre fiction" and "literature". I share the general sentiment that separating genre fiction from literature on grounds of quality, professionalism and "worth" is a fallacy, a value judgement that should not permeate scholarship, since intellectualism should lead to neutrality. Unfortunately, at least in my experience, it is scholarship itself that insists on a stark separation between the good, valuable, timeless "literature" and pop, cheap, dime-a-dozen, formulaic "genre". I don't exactly buy that argument at all, but I do want to acknowledge that literary exclusion/elitism seems to be the norm.

[Actually, before I go on, I should acknowledge that exceptions to the rule do exist. "The Hobbit", for example, is becoming required reading in some schools, and even our Lit class focuses on narrative from a very nontraditional, open-minded perspective. Having said that...]  read more »

It has never really occured to me to think about the impact that video games have had on the world.
Basically, when I think of video games, I think of Guitar Hero. Every once in a while, Rock Band or Dance Dance Revolution occurs to me too. But that's about it.
But when my brother (for example) thinks of video games, it's not just one or two. It's Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto, James Bond, Madden, and most importantly, Halo's 1,2, and 3. There are probably more.
But the effect these games have aren't just to give us an escape from the real world, as much as they help with that. This year, the UF marching band did a show during one of the games that was exclusively video game music- Zelda, Super Mario, Halo, etc, showing that these games not only have an impact on what we do with our free time, but also how we think about pop culture in today's society.  read more »