Customer Reviews

Hop on Pop: The Politics and Pleasures of Popular Culture

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Why more people don't know his name is beyond me. Maybe its because of his haircut?

In all seriousness, reading the man's work is like waking up and realizing that you've been dreaming. He lifts the veil off the world we live in, the media stream that we swim in, and he illuminates its basic nature better than anyone I have ever read. He also has the great advantage of not being a "fogey", in other words he's not mystified by popular culture, he UNDERSTANDS it. He KNOWS why we like certain videogames and movies and doesn't berate the world for it, rather he simply looks at the underpinnings of those desires. Great stuff. Read all his works - and then visit VIDEOTOPIA because Professor Jenkins references it and it's cool.

Admittedly, I got this book because of Stephen Duncombe's essay on zine culture in which I am mentioned, but I did in fact read it from cover to cover and was fully absorbed throughout. The authors have taken on the difficult task of offering perspectives on what it all means to have a popular culture and to be a part of it. The danger, of course, lies in writing from such an academic perspective that the essays could become completely meaningless to anyone not an academic scholar. But, I am happy to say that the essays consistently maintain a level-headed, practical attitude and do not insist on meanings that could be seen as peculiar or irrelevant.

Instead, you get a comprehensive look at everything from pro-wrestling to talk shows, television sit-coms to zines, and much more. The writing is sensible and leaves it up to the reader to draw final conclusions. A general theme is to not take popular culture too seriously and to understand that as consumers, we have the power to shape it. Further, popular culture is not always what it seems and high-flying rhetoric is used by big business and politicians to manipulate consumers for profit. Of course, we know that, but the essays offer us clues as to the process and how we can be more aware of how we are being manipulated.

The book is a long read if you do so cover-to-cover. But the essays themselves read fast. Although some people may wish to read only some of them, I highly recommend the whole book as there are a lot of insights offered into the topics covered as well as bits and pieces of information that allow you to walk away feeling knowlegeable about the topics covered.

An outrageously eclectic collection of essays about the world we live in, finally turning a legible as well as legitimate critical eye towards our cultural organism - and some of the weird and wonderful sprouts. A book to take your mind off of the nasty habits of humanity (like war) and set you thinking about the wonderful weird stuff we do every day.