High Brow and Low Brow Culture The Fall of American Popular Culture in the Contemporary Society essays

High Brow and Low Brow Culture The Fall of American Popular Culture in the Contemporary Society essays The emergence of the 20th century gave way to the development of high mass consumption of media goods and services, which occurred due to the proliferation of advertising and increased manufacturing of commercial goods in the market. The advent of high mass consumption furthered with the development of information technology, where computers and the Internet paved the way for the "globalization" and easier and faster transmission of information suitable for mass consumption. Throughout history, American popular culture is determined mainly through its entertainment industry. The need to advertise for surplus goods by manufacturing companies allowed for the growth of the country's entertainment industry, which in turn, dominated American culture and society. Thus, Americans have inevitably been linked to entertainment icons and personalities shown on mass mediathe phenomenon called as the McDonaldization' of Americathat is, the reign of consumer culture. The worldwide spread and influence of American popular culture all over the world, however, led to the development of critiques that consider American pop culture as decadent, what with the seemingly limitless and liberal way in which pop culture goods, products, and services are produced and consumed by the masses. This is reflected in Feigenbaum's (2003) analysis on the effects of American pop culture on the globalization process ongoing in our society today. In his study, he illustrated how the advent of digital technology made it inevitable to produce pop culture goods and services (artifacts). The ease in producing these artifacts have, according to the author, has developed the perception that American pop culture is morally degenerating' and/or illustration of "rotten Moral degeneracy was the result of the prevalence of liberalism in the expression of ideas in...