Keeping up with whom?

Tacky, dull, and brainless. These are the first words which spring to mind when I was forced to watch episodes of a so-called hit reality show ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’. However I am glad to note that this show is not from our soil. Oh no, of course it has been imported from moral-avoiding America.
What is apparent is that the girls featured in the show, are from a privileged barbarian background, yet show no desire to educate themselves in the ways of the world; it’s all about fast cars and false lashes – and the capability to MOAN.
Appealing to the base emotions of the viewer, the shows half hearted attempt to showcase the values and importance of family goes by the wayside and is instead taken over by materialistic self obsessed, scantily clad females with screechy voices who ‘try’ to run a clothes store by means of a career. Or pose nude for playboy – whatever floats your boat.
Suffice to say the show provides no educational purpose, no cultural diversity, and no moral virtues. If shows like this are continually granted permission to be broadcast, than I foresee little hope for the future. The masses indeed will surely find trash such as this appealing and therefore the machine will undoubtedly triumph.

A Pure Woman

‘Culture improves us – it gives us sweetness and light – it makes us better people’. What contemporary media text, then, can provide us with this thing known as culture?
A little while ago I began watching the BBC’s newest adaptation of Tess and the D’Urbervilles. Now knowing that Hardy was on the Leavis’ approved list, will a contemporary version still provide us with the same meanings as it once did?
The heroin of the story, Tess, is from a rural, working class family, who struggle to make ends meet financially. Pretty Tess finds herself in a tragic tale of love, missed opportunities, and of course, loss.
I believe this text to still offer us a sense of culture in the way that Tess still makes mistakes, she isn’t portrayed as being totally innocent, naive, yes, and that something we can all relate to, and importantly, learn from.
It is the best that is thought or said because it tells a story and keeps the audience gripped from start to end. Morals and integrity play a huge part in this story, and these are attributes that we should aspire to have as human beings.
What is also interesting about our heroin is that even though she is from a working class background, she seeks to better herself, although feeling uncomfortable and slightly awkward at being catapulted into a higher class by the love of her life, she handles herself with dignity.
Being set in Somerset, the scenery in the programme is breathtaking. With spectacular views such as these it makes us value who we are, and where we are from, and what higher pastures we can concur with hard-work and nobility.

Mass Civilisation and Minority Culture (F.R. Leavis)

Mass Civilisation and Minority Culture
(F.R. Leavis)

Here we read Leavis trying to explain what is meant by culture. It is clear there seems to be a continuing battle between the minority and the masses – to an extent which is described in the reading as a crisis. Culture has always been in minority keeping. Culture has changed and adapted over the years, and indeed, it seems will continue to change in the years to come.

Standardisation and mass-production are looked down upon, including films which are considered to have a much more potent influence, as it is believed that the adult public who can think critically are few and far between.

It is argued in Leavis’ piece that mass culture may be better than the culture we are losing, but there is hope that recovery will come – and has a warning to keep open communications with the future.

Odrinary but Individual

Thinking of a media text that shows what I believe to be my culture, I have chosen BBC1's Drama 'The Street' written by Jimmy McGovern.

Coming from a fairly dysfunctional family myself, I feel like I can relate to the problems encountered by some of the characters on a weekly basis. If culture is referred to as the masses, then I suppose I'd be a product of the average working class, single-parented assortment.

The show, although it includes characters from an entire street, each week it focuses on one particular household. Problems have included a solider returning from war and struggling to settle back into family life, to parents sparking up affairs and cheating on their significant others, to bullying at school, and some characters just feeling trapped in their mundane everyday life. Now not to confuse this with myself, I'm not at all suggesting I feel anything like what is portrayed every week, but certainly some instances, I feel I can empathize with.

The main value I would use to identify my culture, is that no matter what my, albeit rather small family, is what is most important to me. I love living in a multi-cultural society, and always want to learn more about my community, my country - the world! My brain is a sponge as they say, wanting to absorb more knowledge!

Coming from a proud Liverpudlian family too, the fact that 'The Street' is set in the North-West, this has definitely added to why it reflects my cultural from a geographical perspective. Ethnicity and religion are all blended, sometimes with struggles and arguments, but the outcome is always the need to rely on others and the importance of strong family/friend bonds.

Which I think is quite a lovely, philosophical concept!