Pop Culture Pros And Cons

Have you ever wondered if America is going in the right political direction? The articles “American Psychosis,” by Chris Hedges, and “Engaging Apolitical Adolescents,” by Melissa Ames , have contrasting views and opinions about how pop culture is expressed through young adults political views and interest. In Hedges article, he explains why he thinks that reality TV shows among others are destroying this country. Hedges uses very harsh and critical phrasing in his article to evoke a deep emotional response to the reader. Ames, on the other hand, reference s the rise of dystopian novels after nine eleven the “total vote has increased consistently throughout the past four presidential elections” (Ames 4). She shows how young readers are becoming

On Hedges side there are references to reality TV programs like “Survivor” while in Ames’s there are novels such as “Feed” by Matthew Tobin Anderson and “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. Each example of pop culture is very different with unique audiences. Many young adults enjoy watching reality TV and pretending that what they see is real, but most young adults don't fixate upon these shows. These pithy TV shows are for pure enjoyment and they are not trying to convey a deeper meaning. Novels such as “The Hunger Games” try to have the reader think more deeply about their government and country. Novels like this force the reader to ask if they are involved in trying to make the world a better place as much as they can. Some audiences who watch survivor may think that the world should be more like the TV show, and some readers who read The Hunger Games might think that we should have a more dictatorial government. For the most part I think that the pop culture that Ames is referencing to, is geared toward a more intellectually invested group of young adults. The pop culture that Hedges references is more focused on the lowest common