As a big fan of music, I am going to relate this weeks blog to music again. This time I’m going to discuss the pop punk scene, which came bursting onto the scene about 10 years ago, so here is the question I pose to you, what came first, the celebrity or the culture? It is really one of those chicken/egg questions again, you could spend countless hours arguing with someone about what you think came first only to have it go nowhere, so I’m not picking a side, I want you all to tell me your thoughts after reading.
To have a celebrity burst into popularity from nowhere, you would have to consider that there was already a scene in the first place for them to come bursting into? If there is no market, why would a label sign them? But was the culture always there? Or has it, do you think, simply evolved from another culture? The scene has started again? And how does the culture begin if there is no celebrity there to be influenced by?
Look
at punk pop as an example, rock to hardcore, to death metal, to goth,
to punk rock, to pop punk, to emo, to indie? This is highly debated
lineage, I spent hours googling, and only ended more confused.Another option is that the culture has always been present, as with punk culture which is said to have been present since the Ramones in the 1960’s, but then, were the Ramones the first band out? Or was the culture already there, hidden away in some other unknown band?
So what came first guys, the celebrity or the culture? The chicken or the Egg?
Oh wow, this very much is a chicken/egg question.
ReplyDeleteYou would have to assume it to be the Culture that came first, kind of. As you said for a celebrity to burst into a scene there would have to be a culture for them to burst into, but then again do celebrity's create culture? This topic is taking my head for a spin!
You could argue that the culture came first, or maybe you could even argue that the culture has grown or morphed as you have shown with your example about punk!
This is an intriguing post, very thought provoking and enjoyable to read!
Well done!
Hey Nick,
ReplyDeleteAn interesting read again! You are really creative! You really put out an interesting question there. For me, culture has to come first. Because of the culture that has created, someone who can express that culture strongly and in the best way, can become a celebrity. Celebrities like Brad Pitt, Nicolas Cage, David Beckham, all adopt a main Western culture but all three of them are different of course. Because they are different, they create sub-cultures that somehow influence others because of their popularity. For me, culture is always there, you don’t have to be famous to ‘make’ culture.
Great Blog!! I love the chicken/egg concept. I only recently started reading your blogs and they are very entertaining and creative. (only if i started reading you earlier). Your concept really got me thinking.. the culture will already have to exist in order for someone to became famous for it. Yet again, it can be argued the other way that because of famous people, a culture was developed. The graphic at the end is perfect for your blog. Very entertaining blog!
ReplyDelete