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Post by stephenomenal on Jul 17, 2011 10:17:16 GMT -5
AQUA! Aquarium was my very first CD.  I'm a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie world... |
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Post by jeffemming on Jul 24, 2011 22:37:21 GMT -5
Wow, I'm surprised that so many of you listened to mainstream pop as kids.
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Post by tosney on Jul 25, 2011 9:03:26 GMT -5
I grew up listening to music from my parents' generation. Styx, Queen, Squeeze, Supertramp, etc. I still listen to it, but I listen to a lot of other stuff too now.
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on Jul 25, 2011 14:57:58 GMT -5
Wow, I'm surprised that so many of you listened to mainstream pop as kids. It's what was played at school, for me -- rather hard to avoid. |
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Post by jeffemming on Jul 25, 2011 15:11:18 GMT -5
Wow, I'm surprised that so many of you listened to mainstream pop as kids. It's what was played at school, for me -- rather hard to avoid. Yeah, I suppose. I've just always had this odd perception that intelligence and subcultures went hand in hand. |
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on Jul 25, 2011 15:27:28 GMT -5
It's what was played at school, for me -- rather hard to avoid. Yeah, I suppose. I've just always had this odd perception that intelligence and subcultures went hand in hand. a) I disagree wholeheartedly. Liking the mainstream does not indicate a greater or lesser intelligence; it just indicates taste. Same goes for liking subcultures. b) If this were the case (which it isn't), I'd think it would only apply once the person were old enough to judge music for themselves (aka Not Childhood, which this board is aimed at). |
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Post by Dodger Thirteen on Jul 25, 2011 16:38:25 GMT -5
Yeah, I suppose. I've just always had this odd perception that intelligence and subcultures went hand in hand. Odd perception, that. |
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rayyychul
Armadillo
On ne voit bien qu'avec le c?ur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.
Posts: 159
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Post by rayyychul on Jul 25, 2011 16:49:14 GMT -5
You would know - perception is so mainstream.
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Post by jeffemming on Jul 25, 2011 17:24:32 GMT -5
Yeah, I suppose. I've just always had this odd perception that intelligence and subcultures went hand in hand. a) I disagree wholeheartedly. Liking the mainstream does not indicate a greater or lesser intelligence; it just indicates taste. Same goes for liking subcultures. b) If this were the case (which it isn't), I'd think it would only apply once the person were old enough to judge music for themselves (aka Not Childhood, which this board is aimed at). I've already said it's odd, but it's not entirely dismissible. Popular culture is generally geared towards the lowest common denominator. It's hard for things that to resonate with me or any other intelligent person I've come in contact with. Taste can obviously play a role, but I think it would be the exception rather than the norm. It's uncommon for a highly intelligent person to enjoy poop jokes, but it's a possibility. It's just hard for me to see a highly intelligent person enjoying music or television that's highly engineered for commercial success. As far as not being able to judge music as a child, don't you think that's a little preposterous? Maybe I was just introduced to a larger range of music at a younger age than most. |
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Post by jeffemming on Jul 25, 2011 17:25:19 GMT -5
Wow, I'm surprised that so many of you listened to mainstream pop as kids. I...just...what? Is this a bad thing? That's the tone I got from you, but maybe I am overreacting. And, well, it's not like kids have experience with ~taste~ at that age. We listen to what is popular. Are all English majors supposed to be born out of the womb as Hipsters? I think more than a few people might have missed that message. It didn't have any value judgment attached to it. I was simply surprised. |
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Post by jeffemming on Jul 25, 2011 17:47:21 GMT -5
I've already said it's odd, but it's not entirely dismissible. Popular culture is generally geared towards the lowest common denominator. It's hard for things that to resonate with me or any other intelligent person I've come in contact with. Taste can obviously play a role, but I think it would be the exception rather than the norm. It's uncommon for a highly intelligent person to enjoy poop jokes, but it's a possibility. It's just hard for me to see a highly intelligent person enjoying music or television that's highly engineered for commercial success. While I can KIND OF see where you are coming from (I tend to listen to music that isn't mainstream and am always lost when I turn on the radio) I think that the opinion is rather stuck up. And I will say it, Hipstery. Not that being a Hipster is A Bad Thing (depends upon who you ask). But you won't make friends easily with that attitude. I understand the idea that music geared towards "commercial success" can be distasteful to certain people because it devalues the personal worth of the song. It may not seem to have any purpose other than to make money. Doesn't mean that a song by Rihanna or Britney Spears can't be enjoyed, regardless of the listener's intelligence. Also, pop culture is still culture, whether you refuse to accept it as your own or not. I wouldn't compare popular music to "poop jokes" either. They might be on the level of something like the sound of Rebecca Black, instead. That level sounds a lot worse than poop jokes. Anyway, I'm not really the kind of person to be friends with a lot of people. I like some Rhianna songs, I like some Britney Spears songs, but that doesn't mean that I associate myself with popular culture. I don't seek the songs out, but I can enjoy them in small doses. It's the same way that someone who likes 1 or 2 Deadmau5 tracks wouldn't associate themselves with electronica culture. I never said that pop music was devoid of culture (it's a pretty hard argument to say that anything is devoid of culture), I just said that I would be surprised if a really intelligent person primarily listened to pop music. |
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Post by tosney on Jul 25, 2011 22:21:24 GMT -5
Personal anecdote #2: I used to have similar viewpoints, though not quite so demeaning, that people who listened to popular music, followed fashion, etc. were obviously not as deep as I and other people not so mainstream were. (I'm no hipster, but I'm not Ms. Popular either). Thankfully, that line of thinking was proven wrong to me time and time again.
It has become clear to me that people's tastes have nothing to do with their intelligence, maturity, and kindness. People don't reflect the media, so much as the media reflects the people.
Delving into personality theory, which is generalizing but explains an important concept, one can be categorized as either intuitive (looking for deeper meaning) or a sensor (appreciating things for their appeal to the senses). Intuits take only a quarter of the population. Because of this, intuits can often feel like the 'popular culture' is shallow or vapid, because they don't find pleasure in looking for a deeper meaning. Intuits will innately reject statements like "I just like it because it sounds nice." as a Bad Thing, but if you think about it, there is honestly nothing wrong with that. Sensors just experience and enjoy the world in a different way that intuits do. They are happy living vicariously through their senses and like things that trigger positive sensory experiences, whether it has layers of meaning or not. How can anyone dismiss that as unintelligent or bad?
As the majority's values and movements change, so does what appeals to those senses. Thus, we have popular culture: that which appeals to the 75% of the population that consists of sensors, but doesn't necessarily have a deeper meaning. No need for intuits to begrudge it: just find music and such you can enjoy.
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Post by andreaisabbbw on Jul 26, 2011 2:12:42 GMT -5
Here are my probably unnecessary two cents:
Quoting my mass media/society class, the whole reason pop music is "pop" is because it is easily relatable and, yes, a little brainless. But is it a bad thing? Absolutely not. Popular music reaches out to everyone, and I do mean everyone. I think it's great that a kid in Bengal can listen to a Katy Perry song and love it. My mom grew up in Mexico during the 80s and all her favorite songs were American pop songs. She doesn't know a word of English but she can sing the lyrics to all her favorite songs from when she was a teenager. Liking pop music doesn't define taste or intelligence because it's made for everyone.
Besides, the 90s had awesome pop music. I am proud of my Britney and Spice Girls obsession.
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Post by Dodger Thirteen on Jul 26, 2011 11:50:29 GMT -5
Personal anecdote #2: I used to have similar viewpoints, though not quite so demeaning, that people who listened to popular music, followed fashion, etc. were obviously not as deep as I and other people not so mainstream were. (I'm no hipster, but I'm not Ms. Popular either). Thankfully, that line of thinking was proven wrong to me time and time again. Your statement here reminded me of a quote from The Devil Wears Prada, one of my favourite movies. As for the original topic, I consider myself a highly intelligent person. You can argue, you can protest, you can do whatever you like to try and change my opinion, but this is my opinion. I'm entitled to it. I've yet to see anything, do anything, experience anything that truly undermines my intelligence. That being said, I can enjoy "crude humour" if I'm in the mood. I think most intelligent people do enjoy low-class humour and the like, as it doesn't force them to think about it. It's a base, gut reaction to laugh at something silly. Sometimes, we just need to turn our brain off for a half-hour or so to relax. If you're high-strung all the time, eventually you're going to snap. |
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Gina
Armadillo
Every second is a highlight.
Posts: 203
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Post by Gina on Jul 26, 2011 12:35:01 GMT -5
If I'm not too late to the party, I would like to put my two cents in.
I don't consider myself a super genius, but I'm certainly not stupid. I also have extremely diverse tastes in music, TV, and just about anything, really.
I will listen to everything from Rihanna to Tupac to Iron and Wine. I love reading Shakespeare and Hawthorne, but you know what? Sometimes it's AWESOME to relax a little and read Gossip Girl. I'll watch Castle, Rizzoli & Isles, Cold Case, and Doctor Who, but guess what? I also like Jersey Shore. It's one of my guilty pleasures.
I get judged from everyone about my tastes. To the hipsters, I'm "fake" because I like "mainstream" stuff. To the "Miss Popularity" types, I'm a "freak" because I like "subculture-y" stuff. I'm done worrying about how people view me because of my tastes. I can't really help if I like a certain thing.
And now I'll get off my soapbox. Thank you and good day.
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