What Pop-Culture Reveals about American Society

Recently, I have seen things on TV that make me sick. Television, the media, and the public press seem to have collaborated in an attempt to distract us from the real problems that we face in the modern age. I am especially disgusted with people's heavy involvement in the lives of celebrities. The fact that these shallow persons are able to draw so much attention from their unimportant lives and their inane actions makes me want to feed them to sharks. The very idea that people can care so much about the media "icons" that they will stay up to date on every little move speaks large amounts the current state of American culture.

But even now I have an example. If I ask you to name one conflict, you will probably say health care reform or the war on terrorism. However, while these are issues, they are not the issues I am talking about. I am talking about the problems we have involving the environment and human survival. My Biology teacher says that "fossil fuels take millions of years to make. In the past 50 years, we have burned more than 1/2 of the currently known oil reserves." Think about that. You never hear that kind of fact on the radio, TV, or in the magazines (except MAYBE Time). Nobody ever really mentions these things that are so important for the Earth. MSNBC, or whatever the major news station is.

The real issues we are facing are the destruction of habitats and the environments that contain them. We kill off species all the time and all we hear is "extinct". Let me put this word in perspective for you: all felines in the world died. All the old cats, kittens, and cats in between. Yeah: they are NEVER coming back. People do not seem to understand that forever MEANS FOREVER. There is no" oh, they will come back next week." They are gone.

But even when faced with this, America as a culture has become so used to celebrities affairs and new updates that they refuse to recognize the problems we are facing. They would rather read about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, or whatever the latest fad is among the masses. These have led to the stereotypes held about Americans: Americans feel compelled to comment about EVERYTHING, and in the absence of anything useful or interesting to say, Americans simply spout sheer non-sense. Recognizing one's own faults is one of the hardest things to do, but must be done in order for changes to happen. Rather than sit on the TV and watch Jeopardy, go learn about something that can be used, like biology or chemistry. Our fascination with all things shiny and pretty overshadows our inability to recognize the growing problems that surround us. Unless we change ourselves, the stereo type of American's being interested only in things unimportant will be proven true.