Macdonald: "It is sometimes called "Popular Culture", but I think "Mass Culture", a more accurate term, since its distinctive mark is that it is solely and directly an article for mass consumption, like chewing gum."
The Corny Collins show is a very good example of pop culture as seen in the way it presents itself as a show that every teenager must watch. Songs like 'The nicest kids in town' creates a culture where all teenagers want to be a part of the show ie 'you gotta watch the show if u wanna be cool'. Furthermore, as seen in the way the sponsor (Hairspray) of The Corny Collions show changed his opinion drastically of Tracy the moment she 'brought in the cash', shows me that the show was really directed towards earning money and mass CONSUMPTION.
Macdonald: "The Lords of kitsch, in short, exploit the cultural needs of the masses in order to make a profit and/or to maintain their class rule"
In the case of Hairspray, it was evident that the show was used to maintain the superiority of whites. Velma Von Tussel exploited the pop culture(as explained above) to cause viewers to be narrow minded and think that the whites have and will always be 'ruling'.
Eg. Lyrics of 'the nicest kids in town' -
Nice white kids
Who like to lead the way
Lyrics of 'hairspray'-
So if you're a redhead, a blonde or a brunette,
Take my advice and you might just get.....
(blacks not included)
Subtly the idea of white supremacy crept into the minds of clueless teenagers. This is evident in the way Tracy was clueless about how disadvantaged the blacks were, even though they were living in the same country all their lives. She was even shocked when she went to detention and saw so many blacks dancing.
In this case, it can be said that mass culture was effective in exploiting popular tastes for self benefit. Until Tracy Turnball decided to do something about it...........
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