Boycott? Rebellion? Does it match this purse?

Oh, lookie here, the big-mouth's back!

I won't beat around the bush today (or him, for that matter), no, I'm going straight to the topic in hope you'll find me as obnoxious and outspoken as always.

I guess what I wanted to preach about today was today's pop culture and why are some of us doing their very best to spite it and trash it.

Now, to get a few things straight right away, try to differentiate the terms pop culture and the cult of celebrity. The latter is the negative side-effect of the first cause today's culture is greatly influenced by the Hollywood-manufactured fake personas and make-believe stories about quick successes and even faster downfalls all packed into the books allegedly written by burnt-out stars and starlets. This unbelievable fascination with other people's lives has become quite worrying. And I'm not just talking about Hollywood, this includes the music industry as well. Shocked, aren't we?

Don't you think we're being a bit hypocritical when we bash those who can't wait to get their daily fix on celebrity gossip when we're, in fact, doing the same? Come on, be honest with yourselves - whenever that -insert a celebrity's name here- obsessed teenie squeals over their latest scandal you wish to take a swing at her and play table tennis with her tonsils. Now, now, that's perfectly understandable, especially when you think of the simple fact that, just maybe, that same teenie is wishing precisely the same thing for you while you're worshiping your band posters or yapping away about the best guitarist ever to everyone willing to listen.

We say "they" prod into other people's lives and are plain out annoying. "They" say we're stalkers with no lives. And I say we're all a bunch of TV-adopted, lobotomized puppets. Admit it, the sooner, the better.

We're surrounded by the mass media. And today, mass media = all around the clock, non-stop, virtually free, celebrity gossip. And there is no us and them here, there never has been, the human race is curious by nature, just curious about different things.

Did you know that it was considered highly inappropriate for journalists to prod into the lives of the famous? Yes, that was the ultimate no-no back in our grandparents' era. Just imagine ... The people of those times actually had to lead proper conversations about everyday, mundane things! Abomination!

But different kinds of differences and mentalities coexisted there so I am going to bite back any future remarks with the simple goal of not getting sidetracked too much, no, not because I have nothing to say.

Enough with the joking. Back to pop culture I wanted to write about. In my previous article I mentioned the ongoing fads, why don't I elaborate them a bit more now? And a quick note before I start bashing everything and everyone, cause apparently I do that, generalization is a necessity here. There will always be exceptions, and that's the most amazing thing that has ever happened to this world, but for the sake of this article not being over 385038758753875 words long, I simply have to use it. If you're feeling called out for any reason, it's probably your conscience or the pot.

The pop culture. Or at least a tiny portion of it, called "The Low Culture". The Low Culture is a derogatory term for several aspects of the pop culture and an opposite fo another one of its subcultures called the High Culture, better yet the Ruling Social Groups. Kitsch, slapstick, camp, escapist fiction, popular music (not the same as pop music, actually), tattoo art and exploitation films are examples of low culture. So pretty much the most of us could fit into this subcultural group of people who enjoy and praise the LC and oppose anything and everything even remotely connected to the HC? You sure?

Okay.

Yes, I'm aware that the most of you are shaking your heads.

And you're correct, the lines have blurred. Whereas we can still stumble upon social groups and classes being divided in lower and upper, the cultural boundaries are slowly blurring out. Rebellion was one hell of a great thing back in the seventies, today, it's just cool, and totally in.

What I've been desperately trying to get at was the simple fact that we cannot separate ourselves into "us" and "them" and hate one thing while worshiping the other. We cannot be the opposite of something that has melted into our lives and not be hypocrites. We cannot boycott something we're obviously ignorant of and taking part in.

Tolerance is the key word for the 21st century.

Try it sometimes.

Works wonders for your skin.