It is that one thing that is all around us, yet we don’t really understand what it is exactly or how it started. We are talking about ‘pop’, as in pop art or pop music. It is a movement which includes the arts, entertainment or style and has its roots in the mid-20th century. Let’s use a broader term and refer to it as pop culture. It started as a challenge to the classic, fine, or high art of the era, and included anything anti-elitist, like mass produced, cheap and easily accessible items or ideas. It could come in the form of comic books, advertising, and later artworks, films, or music. Pop was everywhere in the UK and America after the 1950s. What made it so famous and loved is the fact that pop is accessible to everyone. In a few words, it is for everyone. It manages to cover most of the topics that we deal with on a daily basis and has completely altered the contemporary world. We thought about covering the most representative parts of pop culture, which are the fine arts, cinema, and music.
When we talk about pop art, we immediately think of Andy Warhol, a leading figure in the visual art movement. Andy Warhol started his career as a commercial artist, and ended up being one of the most famous in his field by the 50’s. He is most known for the 1967’s Banana, the 1962’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans” and the “Shots Marilyns” of 1964. Roy Lichtenstein was active the same period as Warhol. He became famous for his bright and bold paintings of comic strip cartoons and for his paintings of common, everyday objects. He is the creator of works such as the “Crying Girl” (1963), the “Brushstrokes” (1965) and the “Drowning Girl” (1963). Another pop artist, the art of whom we’re sure you know, is Keith Haring, who emerged from the New York graffiti subculture of the 80’s. “Ignorance= Fear” (1989), “Radiant Baby” (1990), “Lucky Strike” are known till today. His signature style is bold black linings. His works soon turned into social activism, mostly for AIDS awareness. Finally, we cannot talk of pop art without mentioning Richard Hamilton, one of the creators of the earliest works of pop art. “Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?” (1956), “Fashion Plate” (1970) and “Interior II” (1964) are some of his most famous works. Hamilton was heavily influenced by works of James Joyce and Marcel Duchamp.
When it comes to the cinematic industry, pop seems to have impacted it the most as it is almost an inseparable part of it. Close to the term ‘cult’, pop movies are widely famous and have a huge fanbase which promotes each production, supports the actors, and usually waits for sequels. Such productions are so successful, that their legacy lives on for many decades, much like our first production in the list:
- The Star Wars original trilogy.
Created in the late 70s and finished almost a decade later, Star Wars deals with the quest of Luke Skywalker to become a Jedi, as well as with the Galactic Civil War between two opposing forces. On his journey he encounters many characters like Princess Leia, Han Solo and Darth Vader, who transform this story into a pop culture phenomenon which managed to surpass the 1975 ‘Jaws’ production. As time passed, Star Wars became a legendary trilogy and a fan favourite, transforming into a multi-million dollar merchandising empire. Its great success led to the creation of many spin-off series and another official prequel trilogy, which has a very controversial reputation among fans. Finally, in 2015 the final trilogy was created as a sequel and brought the Star Wars story to an end.
- Indiana Jones
Moving from Sci-fi to more earthly themes, in this sequence of four (soon to be five) adventure movies we encounter the archaeologist Dr. Henry Walton Jones who goes on various quests in the wild and encounters the Nazis, the Soviets, looks for the Holy Grail and other valuable items and is generally cool with his characteristic whip. This production’s worth is multiple million dollars and kept growing with each movie, in money and fame. Harrison Ford, being part of one of the most representative pop culture productions, along with playing Han Solo in Star Wars, must be one of the most beloved characters and actors in our category!
- Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shinning’
We wouldn’t be able to write about pop/cult classics without Kubrick. His controversial and unique presence in the cinematic industry has definitely left a special mark. In this 1980 production, a family spends the winter in a luxurious hotel after the father accepted the winter janitor position. Their otherwise pleasant stay is interrupted by a sinister presence which pushes the father (Jack Nicholson) to madness and the son to a series of intriguing visions about past and future. Blood. Wild chase. Creepy twins. This horror movie is one of the best and still baffles with its enigmatic ending…
- The Godfather trilogy
‘I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.’ Have you ever heard of that phrase? Well, if you haven’t, it’s Don Vito Corleone, the head of an Italian mob whose empire of crime and illegal activities will soon pass to the hands of his reluctant son, Michael Corleone. Guns, violence, corruption and great acting are the basic elements of this trilogy, which gained a great number of fans (like me) and is still one of the top-rated movies of all time (according to IMDB). In a few words, a crime-drama masterpiece.
Some extra honourable mentions:
- Scarface (1983)
- Back To The Future trilogy (1985-1990)
- Forrest Gump (1994)
- Fight Club (1999)
- The Exorcist (1973)
Pop culture exists in every form of entertainment and, of course, the music sector. Music is a part of pop culture for the obvious reason that its impact is visible everywhere and in every one of us. We rarely hear about people who do not listen to music at all and to be honest, we may be a little scared of them (just joking). Pop music changes frequently because of its distinct characteristic of following the ways of fashion. Personally, when pop culture becomes a conversation topic, what almost automatically comes to mind is Madonna. OK, I understand that today’s youth may not know the lady, but Madonna was once named the Queen of Pop and is the singer of songs like “Like a Virgin”, “La Isla Bonita” and “Like a Prayer”. Her influence in pop culture is truly worthy of mentioning, and along with her, the King of Pop was no one other that Michael Jackson with songs such as “Thriller”, “They Don’t Care About Us”, “Beat it” and “Billie Jean”. This ancient history was once big news, so big that everyone was talking about it. And the band that was considered as masters of Pop was “Queen”. It’s really hard to place Queen in one category, as such free spirits cannot be pinned down by anyone. They went back and forth to pop, rock, and even created their own unique style. Their influence in pop culture with songs like “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “You’re my Best Friend” is so great, that Queen still remain popular among millennials and Gen Z kids for various reasons (which can be discussed another time). Among today’s icons are Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Adele and bands like One Direction (not in action).
Φοιτήτρια του τμήματος της Αγγλικής Γλώσσας και Φιλολογίας στο ΕΚΠΑ, με μια έντονη αγάπη για την λογοτεχνία και την μουσική. Όταν δεν ψάχνω παλιά βινύλια και εξαντλημένες εκδόσεις βιβλίων στο κέντρο της Αθήνας, τραβάω φωτογραφίες οτιδήποτε μου κινεί το ενδιαφέρον. Καίγομαι σε σειρές και ταινίες, ειδικά αν πρόκειται για φαντασία και περιπέτεια. Κοινωνικά ευαισθητοποιημένη, τρέφω ιδιαίτερη αγάπη στις γλώσσες, κυρίως στα αγγλικά, και προσπαθώ να εκμεταλλευτώ στο έπακρο την ελευθερία της φοιτητικής μου ζωής, να δοκιμάσω το διαφορετικό και να αποκτήσω νέες εμπειρίες.
Γέννημα θρέμμα Στερεάς Ελλάδας και φοιτήτρια της Αγγλικής φιλολογίας. Pop culture expert (στο περίπου) και cinematic nerd με κρυφό όνειρο να ασχοληθώ με την κριτική κινηματογράφου. Θα με βρείτε συνήθως με ακουστικά στα αυτιά να ακούω μουσική ή να χαζεύω σκονισμενες βιβλιοθήκες, εκτός αν ειμαι σε road trip κοντα στη φύση (θα κοιτάω τα δέντρα σαν τον Tolkien). Πολύ ήρεμη βέβαια καυστική, old soul και γεμάτη περιέργεια για τη ζωή ολίγον τι έντονη και ξεροκέφαλη, με την ελπίδα ότι τα άρθρα μου θα σας κρατήσουν καλή συντροφιά!
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