Discussion Class One: Pop Culture vs. High Culture

This issue has been long debated in recent years, as pop culture continues its takeover in our modern world. But are modern arts and pop culture destroying the high culture and old arts of the past?

In this discussion lesson, I'd like you to consider this idea, and look at the arguments for and against pop culture vs. high culture.

It might be helpful to look up the meaning of both terms and include a short description in your first post.

A total of 45 points are available for the discussion, and a further 5 points for SPAG/QWC. Remember, the more detail you go into, the more points you may earn.

Enjoy!

I'd say that as the world is changing, pop culture and modern art, like film, web design, graphics, photography and so-on are becoming high art. That is not to say that high art, like painting, music compostion, drawing and so-on are becoming less important. Everyone draws their influences from high art and old art whether they know it or not. Jackson Pollack is a very well-known modern artist who combines the old art with new, just to give an example. Without high art there would be no such thing as pop culture or modern art.

WEll Pop culture is not really destroying High culture as Ingrid said, Pop culture was actually built off of High culture without High culture there would never have been pop culture. So to put it in a cooler perspective, without bach there would never have been 50 cent or eminme. Just think most art today is angst but most art then was angst too, I mean that one dude(whose name ran out of my head) cut off his ear, I think that could be classified as angst. (didn't one ear man paint that picture of the guy screaming??)

The point Samatha made about pop music inspired by classical melodies is absolutly true, on Dance Dance Revolution 2 they have a song called Beethoven that combines For Elise and his 9th smyphony but is sped up and has a back ground of singing behind it.

I actully think like alot of you that yes pop culture is takeing away some of the esence of over high culture like as u say painting and drawing manlly things by hand, people do these thing but now not as much as say when they wanted to make a movie like a cartoon you do every single like detail bye hand. the lives of people are now more surronded by pop culture. I think that both should be used equally.

I think that Pop Culture is exactly that, what's popular now. It definity draws fomr high culture as others have said, but that doesn't mean its destroying it. Like in music, Blues is the starting point for pop and rap and r&b but there not taking away from it. I think that pop culture actually enhances high culture becasue it makes you look back and appreciate what other people have done so that we could get to this point.

I am going to base my discussion on the way music has changed since the beginning of time.

In primitive times music was humans baning on things , singing, or playing a wooden flute or lute. These people didn't have written history of culture for them to learn off of so they just developed it there selves.

In ancient Greece and Rome people mostly played the lyre or some other related instrument. Only men where to play them. This music they played had two ways to play it. In church or for pleasure. In church people would play the lyre and sing to the music to glorify God. For pleasure people mainly associate it in kings palaces. I guess you could say in those kings palaces people your wild to the music kinda like people loose there morals at dances today sometimes.

In medieval times music didn't develop very fast just because of how bad times where. Not much changed until you get into the monks in the 12th century. They did there chants and polyphonic age music. They developed the six line notation and music started to flow. This is what launched the music revolution in the Renaissance period.

In the late 1600's a composer named Bach was born. He started to develop a style of his own now called baroque music ( sorry for spelling). He combined French styles with some of his root styles ( German). Such as some of you have said Vango ,Bach tried new things. Went he went to church on the Sabbath ( he was the composer at the different churches , and played organ/ arranged music ext.) he would have a violin playing along with the organ or some other instrument. This was considered wild for the day. I am thinking that human kind as always thirsted to move on with cultures thus tis true the pop culture of today will be the high culture of tomorrow.

I have shown you just a short little bit on musical history. If you see technology has rapidly increased in the last century's thus culture will change too. There is one question to ask.. When will it stop? In Bach days the women had to wear skirts and dresses as you said ,but now women in dance halls / bars sometimes wear bikinis and less. When will pop culture stop I said... well I believe that pop culture will halt when the morals get so bad that the world comes to a end and people are so out of there minds that they have no reculection to keep moving forward. That truly will be the end of Pop Culture. We are almost to that point now. For America we are turning into sodum and gamora ( spellng sorry... historical pagan towns). If you can remember what happen to them. Their world came to an end. So people wake up and spell the coffee or if you are in England tea! We must go and fix what we have undone! In order to do this we must learn from our mistakes and in order for pop culture to move forward we must read out history books! You might think history is boring and some of it is ,but that is that way we learn... through reading our history. We are not primitive people there for we have no excuse! So who is willing to go and revive our pop culture to make it alive!

I think pop culture is a good thing, and it isnt destroying anything. It is developing from old syles, and is keeping some of the same elements. Also, some artists are now studying older arts, and imitating their forms. So, pop culture is not doing any harm.

I don't really think that pop culture is destroying high culture, I just think that it's pushing it aside. Maybe in a few hundred years, people will lose the energy that is in our music and return to classical and softer music, but for now, music is fast paced and usually loud. Many elements of our music today are actually accented and over used pieces of the old high culture music, such as long instrumental solos. For now, the electric guitar will be more popular than the violin, but more and more people are becoming musically inclined and are playing more classical instruments. Pop culture is pushing aside high culture, but in the next few years, its possible that the same will be said in reverse.

i dont think pop culture is ruining the world. the high culture is just moving on. anyways there still is some people who belive in high culture.some people get headachs from loud pop culture muisc and the high culture music makes there head achs go byebye. many people like popcluture art and other like high culture art.

I am personally a fan of any form of art. Even if I don't particularly enjoy a piece, I do enjoy the opportunity to learn about it or see or hear it. I also don't think pop culture is ruining the world. I do, however, feel that some areas of pop culture are getting a little too much attention. High culture is a wonderful thing, and it's a shame that it's being put on the back burner a little.

I'm a fan, to a point, of pop culture. It is afterall, popular culture. It's meant to be widespread and well liked. High culture, in my opinion, is often an excuse for elitists to feel superior in their tastes for the finer things. That said, don't we all feel a bit superior when we have discovered a band before their break out? Or when we have a favorite artist that none of our friends have heard of because high art to them is The Simpson's Movie?

This class is now over, well done to everyone who participated. Your points are below.

Gryffindor
Samantha Granger: 15
Im_Hermione: 15
KatieBellaTrix: 15
hppamela: 15

Hufflepuff
amergin: 15
dragonweaver: 15
Dancingsunset: 25
kjmut: 35
Vulcan/Blackjack: 15
Just_Ginny: 35

Ravenclaw
stephy: 15
PrincessPotter: 25
cle spire: 15
Herbaceoustraitorous: 15
Rigby Dumbledore: 25

Slytherin
Wytchkitty: 15
kathrineee_anne: 15