The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/pop_culture/)
I returned this May from a semester studying abroad in St. Andrews, Scotland, and immersing myself back into American culture has been unexpectedly seamless. Despite having an unbelievable time jigging to bagpipes, slinging whiskey, and pretending to like mayonnaise on everything, I’ve had no trouble adjusting to the good old U S of A.
Hundreds of students flooded Uris Auditorium Wednesday night for the sneak preview of Observe and Report anticipating some of the lovable Seth Rogen unfiltered and inappropriate humor. He did not disappoint. Any hopes of vulgarity, crudeness or indecency were fulfilled; as far as substance, meaning or refinement, not so much. Although the movie isn’t entirely overboard, as many students exiting the movie indicated, it absolutely crosses the line on so many levels.
Sex, drugs and tasers — one thing is for sure about Observe and Report (the second mall cop movie of 2009) Ronnie Barhardt would kick Paul Blart’s roly-poly ass.
I was but 11 years young that night when five wholesome hooligans first sung and danced their way into my heart, or when I first saw the Disney Channel special where ’N Sync performed at Disney World. I was immediately enchanted, and when my mom took me to Target the next day to buy some socks to send me in future care packages at camp or boarding school, I made her buy me the tape of ’N Sync’s eponymous album. She protested, mostly because people didn’t buy tapes by the year 1998, but I came out of the store victorious, anachronistic audiocassette in toe-thumbed hand.
I don’t intend to rant about our hooking up culture, the idea of “friends with benefits” (has anyone besides parents actually ever used that term?), or how nobody dates anymore. All I want to do is point out that the music we listen to endorses this culture — a culture in which when two people are attracted to each other, they are expected to hook up, not go on a date. Please don’t be like, “What! I don’t do that.” I’m not saying that everyone does it. I’m also not saying that people didn’t randomly hook up in the ’80s, or the ’60s, or the 1800s for that matter. I’m just saying that today, the music we listen to adds to this culture.
It’s been almost two weeks since the Grammy’s. In fact, it’s been exactly 12 days since I sat in front of my television in awe of three presenters. Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker –– the members of the pop-punk sensation, Blink 182 –– stood on stage together to announce their reunion.
[img_assist|nid=32699|title=A guess at the new album’s artwork.|desc=|link=node|align=right|width=|height=0]For the first time in my career as a Sun blogger, I’m going to write about government and political issues – that’s right, Chinese Democracy.
Okay, so it’s not really a world issue, but the release of the long-awaited Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy, is finally on the horizon. After wavering between
a few release dates in mid-November, Axl has finally decided on November 23rd. The upcoming release will be the band’s comeback into the major rock scene since its disappearance in 1991, and close friends of the band say that it will be the first of a trilogy of three new albums.
…and the day the entire English-speaking world said, “Yea? And?”
The tale is as old as the concept of quasi-celebrities themselves. Boy (or girl) is gay, boy or girl gets famous, boy or girl keeps his or her homosexuality a secret and boy or girl comes out of the closet. And time after time, the world is unsurprised and unmoved and yawns at the announcement
[img_assist|nid=32138|title=Aiken holds a “secret.”|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=|height=0]Aiken reports that he decided to come out to the world because he simply cannot raise his newborn son with a lie, the way he has done for so many years. The now 29-year-old father decided last year that he would conceive a child with his friend Jayme Foster.
Like snowflakes and unhappy families, every hit summer single is a unique entity. Though they each share that ineffable quality that garners radio play and drives people onto the dance floor, “Umbrella” is an entirely different animal from “Gold Digger,” which isn’t at all the same as “A Milli.” But one song this summer, Kid Rock’s latest hit single (a phrase I thought I’d never have to write again) breaks with this tradition by taking a popular song and recycling it without bothering with any emendation.
Despite the fact today is July 4th, our Independence Day, it seems impossible these days to delve into entertainment media without seeing our friends from across the pond. No, it’s not Beatle Mania, but it is certainly some kind of invasion.
First there is Amy Winehouse’s struggle with substance abuse and, well, let’s just say “overall wellness.” While Winehouse is not a summer 2008 phenomenon, she got our minds revved up for the bombs Buckingham Palace was about to drop on us.
So let’s talk music.
The Ting Tings, an English indie pop band, released their debut album this past May, and their single Shut Up and Let Me Go has graced all modes of exposure, ranging from posters glued to New York City construction fences to the rolling Real World end credits on MTV.
The band, composed of only two members, packs more heat with each bass drum kick than most Americans have done thus far this summer.
This past February 8th was a day that went unnoticed in American tabloids. But what was it, exactly? No, it wasn’t just six days after Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and declared there to be six more weeks of winter, but nice try. Instead, it was the one-year anniversary of Anna Nicole Smith’s reasonably sudden death, just months after her son’s, Daniel’s.