The Death of Popular Culture
Posted on: May 28, 2005 7:31 PM
Pop Culture is what we think of when we think of America. Blue jeans, Coca Cola, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Andy Warhol… America is condemned for irrevocably wiping out the corner shop and individuality, and replacing it with sameness, with mass-marketed produce, with stereotypes. And then it’s simultaneously hailed for contributing to the world economy, for giving us a fizzy drink in a can we all recognize and feel safe with. America confuses me. The inter-relationship between event and the consequent spawning of low-brow culture as an offshoot confuses me. It confuses me that everything in America becomes a commodity, something we all recognize, we can all buy in a store, we can all slag off publicly but go home and enjoy privately. Giddy consumerism, laissez faire attitudes, hard partying, excess… this defined New York up until September 11th 2001. New York itself was a product of popular culture. And then it all changed when the twin towers came crumbling. And the twin towers were chosen because they were the defining emblems of that braggart assuredness of the 80’s and 90’s, that untouchability the United States exuded to the poorer countries in the world, that hated and exhorted machine of globalization consuming us all.
So there, I mentioned it, my first ‘pop culture’ event, an event which has been written about to death, photographed, studied, argued over, which started a war, which gave birth to a sickening new 21st century. Although 9/11 wasn’t pop culture, what happened afterwards was - the newspaper articles, the books, the films, the TV articles, even the War. It started a chain of events which has led to the irrevocable sadness of this once exuberant city that I love, that I desperately want to call my home.
I sat with a gay friend in an Italian restaurant several days ago and the more Martinis he consumed, the more the words flowed, words you never say until the alcohol unleashes them.
“The city changed immediately. You hugged people in the street, people were holding hands and singing in Union Square. I came out of the subway three days afterwards, and suddenly I’m praising Jesus and praying to God with a fat black lady from Harlem who I’d never met before. The streets were always crowded in New York, people were spending, and then they weren’t. And it’s still recovering. It’s still going on. I don’t know if it’ll ever recover.”
I went for a sedate journalist’s lunch with some photographers and writers for Harpers and Outside magazine at the weekend. The travel writer who was hosting the lunch suddenly whipped out a picture he took of the planes going overhead his apartment. We were all of us non-native New Yorkers, and sat quiet and sickly fascinated as he described waking up, looking out of his window, seeing a plane go careering past, getting that first phone call, heading up to the roof of his building, watching, watching in silence with the rest of the city. There are some things you never forget, some stories you will repeat over and over again, and some stories which become engrained into the consciousness of the people, into the popular culture, transforming it irreparably, affecting the government, the economy, the social make-up of the people.
What 9/11 means to myself and my friends is immigration. After that fateful day, the United States government issued a call for ‘Special Registration’ – the demand that men over a certain age from predominantly Muslim countries come forward for interview. Kamal Essaheb, a talented young law student from Morocco who I interviewed for an article several weeks ago, took his family along. He recalls how undignified the procedure was. The waiting. The questions. “Do you know Osama Bin Laden?” “Do you hate the United States government?”. Special Registration resulted in a deportation order going ahead against Kamal and his family – they had slipped out of status through his father’s employer screwing up his visa application. He’s an amazing young man. He volunteers for victims of domestic violence, and has the potential to be one of the country’s top lawyers. His story was finally picked up by the New York Times this week. I wonder if it’s too late for him though.
After 9/11 popular culture changed. It became ferocious. It was OK to hate – to hate the French because they opposed the war, to hate Muslims because ‘they’ had instigated the attack, to hate immigrants because they were responsible for the loss of lives in the tragedy, to hate Mexicans, to hate anything or anybody who disagreed with certain accepted doctrines, beliefs, behaviors. And it spread across the world. It’s OK to hate Americans now, it’s OK to blame every American for an unfair war, for the fact a McDonalds replaces your favorite local coffee shop, for the decisions one man makes regarding the lives of millions of others. It seems like the heady consumerist days of the 20th century have just led to unmitigated anger, indiscriminate fury, a Greek tragedy of national proportions, the desire to strike out as if that could assuage all the fear and the anger and the confusion of 2001. The Patriot Act was passed. Immigration laws tightened. The number of work visas was reduced, if you got married the wait time for a green card was extended from 3 to 6 months, it became a more convoluted, bureaucratic procedure to gain even a tourist visa, immigration backlog increased dramatically. Even in 2005 the REAL ID act is a direct consequence of the fear gripping the US after 9/11 regarding immigrants and ‘difference’. It’s a racial fear. And it’s ironic that one white girl from the UK can recognize that, at the same time as suffering because of it despite my ‘preferential’ color.
The fear is irrational. The killers of 9/11 were all in the United States legally. One even got issued a visa posthumously after the attack by the INS. Special Registration didn’t reveal a single thing about Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts. Iraq had no relation to 9/11. Immigrants rarely take American jobs – we take the jobs American’s don’t want. We all know this. We’ve all argued, attended demonstrations, read The New York Times and the BBC. But it needs repeating. It has led to a terrifying concentration of power in a government who are telling their people it’s OK to hate, and who are holding them continually in fear. The popular culture I see around me now thinly veils a predominant feeling of hatred and suspicion. I see this more than the average person because I’m an illegal, and like my friends Kamal and Amy, we’re the ones who don’t have a voice. We can observe though, and observe we do. We’re the butt of society, because now there’s no Iraq to hate, or Afghanistan to hate, they need somebody else – the people who make this country so different from the blonde-haired, blue eyed, apple-pie ideal. ‘They’ isn’t all ‘you’. I would never be so presumptious as to lump in all the Liberals and brave people who deplore war and sympathise with those who’ve suffered needlessly because of extremist Al-Qaeda supporters. But the facts have to be faced. The driving force in the United States are those who started a war, who sent messages to the people directly after the 9/11 attack that ‘muslims’ were ‘to blame’, and have increasingly concentrated power into one solo, clown like figure, to the detriment of many honest, hardworking people – the man who read ‘My Pet Goat’ on that fateful day.
2001, 9/11, Special Registration, the War and fear of difference – this saw popular culture turn into exclusive culture, a culture just for ‘real’ Americans, ‘non-muslim’ Americans, Americans who were born here. Indirectly, it’s led to me being stuck in this country while my visa gets mulled over by INS officials, and probably rejected. It's led to Kamal facing deportation proceedings. It's led to my friend Amy having to work in a retail store despite her 23 years in the United States, her college degree, her intelligence and her ambition. They can’t be too careful you see. After 9/11 and all.
It makes me so sad.
one day i thought to myself...i am an american? its weird. weird. geeeeeez. weird. i live in oregon and i fucking love it so much. it's beautiful and i adore it. my HOME. its my home and its weird that it is also america. i dont know. the whole "individuality" thing and capitalism and all of that...i dont know exactly what i believe in, and i dont know exactly what got put into me by the society, and i dont know exactly what the society IS. as opposed to what is projected. i dont know. fuck fuck i dont know what i am saying or trying to say. humm. just weird. i seriously didnt know that i was american. i mean...i knew that i lived in the usa. its just weird that i as a person was born on this land at this time when there are so many places and times to be born, and now i am an american. its like i dont know how to see what in me is american, and what isnt, but its surely too mixed and mashed up inside that i'll never know. who knows what i am saying. basically though, it makes me sad too, Mimi. cause...sad, sad that more people can't see my home and know how beautiful it is...everywhere must be beautiful i know. ive never left this country. countries are WEIRD. maybe my home isnt actually beautiful and ive just been brainwashed to think it is. but when i took a walk today it seemed great for sure. its so sad. what the hell. i felt compelled to answer this entry, so that is that.
Posted by: kels at May 28, 2005 9:01 PM
kels brings up an interesting point, because living in portland, it's easy to ignore most of what is bad about america, to not be so touched by it. I've lived tons of places in the usa, as well as overseas, and portland is truly a magic little bubble, a beautiful utopian what-a-city-should-be in many respects. except for its appalling whiteness. it's not a big city, but an eminently liveable one. and very different from most in the us.
kind of like switzerland
Posted by: hason at May 28, 2005 10:18 PM
living in taiwan has taught me allot about what it means to 'be american'. and surprisingly, not all of it is that bad. for instance, i think americans make good dog owners, i think we have a pretty good grasp on how to keep a house clean without being obsessive, we are capitalists and consumers, but for the most part are aware of it and encourage media literacy and moderation. i know its not enough, and im still far from saying i am proud to be american... but... well... im starting to see that we have some things going for us.
god, that was hard for me to admit.
anyhow... im worried about coming home. something about being abroad has lifted a bit of the wieght off my shoulders, the pressure to encourage positive change... reform... ect. i don't know how well i can do under that sort of pressure again. this isn't a time in my life that i want to make sacrifices... and it makes me feel like a coward to say that... but i don't need to go to jail again, i don't have energy to be angry about things everyday... i can't afford to protest every weekend...
i don't know...
Posted by: james at May 28, 2005 11:50 PM
its really good to hear people talk in this way about their feelings towards their home country. I feel very divided about the UK...in many ways I dont feel English (English born and raised in Wales- is that English Diaspora? ) anyway it certainly contributed to a confused identity and inability to feel thoroughly at home. And now I feel alienated from the country BY the country- politics, living, economics, society, culture. Every new person I meet in the UK asks me where I'm from- everyone thinks I'm eastern european, because, they say, I'm 'distant'- i have a lack of connection with this country (and a weird accent and bad english but thats just laziness) a critical outlook that analyses this country in a very non-english way. i want to leave, but to where?
its difficult being in a country and not belonging
Posted by: piu piu at May 29, 2005 3:30 AM
it's true, living abroad as an american drastically changes your relationship with your home country. i became more ashamed and horrified by my government and the ignorance of the american public. but at the same time i often found myself standing up for america more than i ever had before. you see how other countries see us, and it is so sad. partly because you know it's true- the arrogance, the consumerism, the mis-education... it's all true. how sad.
but then, there are also such huge misconceptions about this country in the rest of the world. for some reason it's ok to make grand generalizations about americans and hate our country. many people think they understand the u.s. because they watch hollywood movies and hear about us in the news- but they've never been here, and know nothing about what it's really like to live here, about how diverse the people are. it's was too simplistic- 'americans are conservative and uneducated; there government is corrupt' - end of story. i found myself explaining all the time about the good things- about places like portland, san francisco, etc.
many people have no idea that there are americans like us (thoughtful, compassionate, educated, at odds with the president). I hate so much about this country, but i love so much about it too. and i wanted others to understand this complexity.
Posted by: sarah at May 29, 2005 11:53 AM
There are good things and good people outside of the narrow little band of west coast cities. There are good people in rural parts, in red states, yes, even in the South. Believe it or not, there are even good people who support the President. I know, shocker.
What a surprise to find that people outside of our country so narrowly define and stereotype the people here based on portrayals in the mass media. Sort of like people here have a tendency to do towards people who live elsewhere. I guess we're not so different after all.
Posted by: Craig at May 29, 2005 1:47 PM
Mimi,
This was absolutely an incredible piece of writing. I was travelling in India during 9.11.01 and though travelling led me to appreciate so much the freedoms I enjoy here in the U.S. it also led me to realize that with power comes a great, great responsibility which is being misused to the detriment of all--especially those countries that even yet, admire the U.S. and wish to emulate it.
I hope the INS lets you stay here.
Posted by: J at May 29, 2005 2:18 PM
Thanks guys... I wanted to point out in the post the ignorance surrounding American bashing as a consequence of 9/11 too - people do lump everyone into stereotypes. I'm guilty on my blog of picking on Republicans and satiricizing them - it's wrong, but they're an easy target.
J, I was in India when 9/11 hit - in a yoga school in the Himalayas, Uttarkashi, with some New Yorkers, shocked beyond belief. Where were you?
Posted by: mimi at May 29, 2005 8:26 PM
Mimi, you seem to have been everywhere, that's nice.
Anyway, the discussion here is as interesting as he post itself. Me too, I don't feel like I belong to my countries, but for americans out here it's more complicated. Because US culture became an important part of the world's culture in general. Or only the strongest, often most aggressive, parts of it. Anyway, I say US culture became "natural".
So apparently in order to question your roots you need to question more of yourselves than we do in the "rest of the world". Trouble is, you're also less used to such questionning than we are. At least that's what I'm feeling when I read you guys, Kels and Craig and all : you look a slightly lost, no?
One needs it sometimes, but I'm sorry you have to go throught that.
Posted by: boggart at May 30, 2005 10:30 AM
i grew up with some people that i always see and some places that i love to go, and i knew that it was called america. but also there was a different idea that i had in my head of a different america which people talked about. that america, how i envisioned that america, didnt seem like my home. and now i start thinking about it and maybe some of "that" america IS in me...umm.
everything is just so big. too big. first, the usa is so BIG in SPACE...theres so much space to take up and so how could it all be the same or even close to the same. i don't want to "think big" anymore i just don't want to. i feel like just being where i am...suburb of portland...people can say that it doesnt have anything going for it, but i love it dearly. johnson creek, wetlands, nice walking, i just like it. that is big enough for me right now. James. you said something about how you don't have the energy to be angry about things all the time. i think i understand. i have some idea about people just living SMALLER...but its really big enough if they just look at what they have! or something. i don't want to change the world. im not apathetic. i feel like people don't see what is around them...but see, there are bad things around me too...in the usa and in the world...shouldnt i care about that! so what am i saying anyway? im actually ignoring a lot of BAD things maybe. i am also very much ignorant and privileged. i dont know what to do. my dad is a salesman and my mom is a housecleaner. i dont fucking want to go to college next year. i dont want to be a higher learner for some reason. lots of them seem icky to me. i stereotype see.
well so its very weird because i can have these ideas...like i just think people should have some farms/make music and be content. but then there is still the sick people, the hungry people, the children, do i want to sponsor a child from india who is starving and if i do not pay he will die? i mean i imply that to myself, that if i do not sponsor him he will die. whooops. okay this is what i mean. part of the thing about being american, to me, is that i am supposed to want to help the people who don't have food like i do. and i feel this thing in me where i fucking dont want to help anybody. maybe THAT is american, too! just help myself. so, you are very right about me being confused. very much so.
i mean i cannot ignore these things. i cannot ignore that there is a past to my home...its not a new place and the world is not a new place. i cant pretend like everyone is fine. but i dont know what to DO. am i supposed to feel guilty or what..because i am american and i have it OK so am i allowed to be happy. there's so much more also.
Posted by: kels at May 30, 2005 11:17 AM
That's so crazy, Mimi...I was in Delhi the day it happened, and then the next day I went to Mussoorie, and later went to Uttarkashi and made the trek to Gomukh. My memories of that time are so surreal--I just kept thinking it must have been an accident, there was no way this was at all in the realm of possibility.
It's strange to look back on that time and realize that I had NO idea of what it meant for the world and for me, too.
I stayed in India for four months following the attacks; to be in a foreign country during that time made me feel of two different selves--I both ached to come back and receive comfort, yet I knew that the U.S. had turned into a scary place and wasn't what I thought it was at all.
Posted by: J at May 30, 2005 11:31 AM
Aren't we a little too far gone for Kumbaya and shiny happy people at this point? You can retreat to your small little area and hope that all the evil in the world will remain just a rumor. But know this - there are people in this world who hate you just because you're an American. They don't care if you support President Bush or the war in Iraq, those things are irrelevant to them in much the same way that whether an Arab is a fundamentalist or just another person trying to get by in this world is irrelevant to the warmongers living in this country. To those who truly and deeply hate this country, you are just as much the enemy as Donald Rumsfeld is.
So what are you going to do? Are you going to withdraw further from this society in which you live, dividing everyone into "us" and "them" in your mind and feeling more and more hatred for those who take this country in a different direction from what you invision. Just 10 years ago, 168 people lost their lives in a senseless act of violence because of a small group of Americans who had done just that.
I question this country's policies all the time. There are many things I'd change if I could. But I'm never going to feel guilty for being an American, and I'm not going to feel hatred towards other Americans who disagree with my views. Hatred is just as pernicious and destructive an influnce when it is felt between countrymen as it is when it is felt between American and Arab, or Arab and Israeli, or American and Frenchman.
Posted by: Craig at May 30, 2005 12:26 PM
im not really thinking about shiny happy people or kumbaya. i am kind of having a hard time deciding what my positions are. i think about it a lot, but i still have no idea what "my society" is and i don't know where i want to be or what i want to say. i don't know if i want to try and fix things, i don't know what i would fix, how much can i do and what should i not do. there is a lot of stuff everywhere and i think that the reason i want to be away from it is because every time i try to think of it i feel that ive gotten nowhere. i think that it's a mistake for me to be writing all of that which i wrote earlier, because i don't even quite know what i think. i also know that things aren't just rumors, that they are real. i try not to hate people, but i hate some THINGS for sure. things that people do. anyway i like reading what everyone has to say. i am very lost. i love america, but i kind of have a hard time when i think about countries. i can say "i love america" because america is the title given to this large area and i know a small part of that area...but i mean...ugh i dont know. I DONT KNOW! but i would like to acknowledge my appreciation for everybody in the world and everything that people have written here.
Posted by: kels at May 30, 2005 1:21 PM
This is one reason why I've decided to return to Canada - it's just not worth it to me to face this much hostility when there is a perfectly welcoming country, a country where people's ideals don't scare me, and I can plan more than one year into the future without fear of being kicked out.
I'm just sorry that everyone in the US has gotten lumped under the banner of a few very powerful, VERY misguided fools who do not speak for them.
Posted by: karina at May 28, 2005 8:30 PM