The idea of "elitism" is big in today's society; it can be associated with clothes, where you live, what you look like, what technology you use, even where you go to school, and above all, money. The people who have all the "best" of these things tend to be in, what we culturally believe to be, the elite.
I think a perfect example of this in media is the newer film "The Duff". The woman above is considered to be the elite. She has the looks, the money, the technology, the right friends, the right boyfriend and she is the hottest shit in her school. And going with the school analogy, the elite in your high school are kind of like the elite in life (although we know that it doesn't really stay that way).
When related to Jameson, we can start to understand why mass culture is "elite". It tends to be backed by the most money, it has the most friends (followers), you have access on all your technology, and it is generally recognized as hot shit. These ideals turn dangerous when people forget about non-mass culture. When beautiful art is being overlooked because it doesn't have the right means to get to people or isn't like by the majority. We run the risk of all falling into the same mindset (which isn't to say we haven't already).
Mackenzie, your blog on elitism brought to mind a couple of sociological concepts: “conspicuous consumption” and “invidious consumption.” The former relates to acquiring luxury goods and services to display power; the latter, the deliberate acquiring goods and services intended to provoke envy. Both concepts are examples of blatant consumerism, which is fueled by the intimate relationship of capitalism and popular media. Our capitalistic society provides the goods and services and media (most television, magazines, newspapers, cinema, and the Internet) entice individuals to purchase those goods and services in order to achieve an elite status. Maybe a spiritual Marx would say, “I told you so.”
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up some good points here, especially with social media which influences a lot of our culture today. Even if people aren't celebrities, if they are able to garner a lot of followers they become approached by various brands to endorse or even have their own lines of clothing (just examples here) in which case they then become the elite. I think as a society we really covet what rich people appear to have on social media: expensive clothing, cool gadgets, busy social lives, etc. and this influences "lower" culture as these become "life goals."
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