The Politics of Culture

In the Politics of Culture we learn how culture as well as our capitalist society is hierarchical. What is being distributed in television, advertising, and magazines is being controlled by those of the elite social class, the “Above". The media, television and film have all become our sources of economic, ethnic and gender hegemony. "Audiences can "decode" cultural messages in ways that allow them to think resistantly about their lives."



Take for example MTV's new hit reality series The Jersey Shore. In December 2009 Time Magazine published an article on the controversy that arrived from MTVs publication of the derogatory/ cultural offensive Italian word, "Guido" on the show. This word is generally recognized as an insult against Italian- American men of a certain class. As Anti-insult groups began to complain and stand against the usage of the word, the network decided to pull out the word from voiceovers and descriptions of the show. However, the housemates continued to defend the usage of the word proudly, claiming their definition is one of a “good looking Italian guy”, with no offence intended.

Excerpt from the article:
Many clamor to differ. Andre DiMino, president of UNICO, the national Italian-American service organization, objects to the term, whether it's self-described or not. He told the New Jersey Star-Ledger: "It's a derogatory comment. It's a pejorative word to depict an uncool Italian who tries to act cool." But is it a generational pejorative? Do younger Americans of Italian descent have a different relationship to the G word? According to Donald Tricarico, a sociology professor at City University of New York/Queensborough, "Guido is a slur, but Italian kids have embraced it just as black kids have embraced the N word. In the same way that radical gays call themselves queer." Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1947338,00.html#ixzz0yPFeHQHx

Of course we can agree that while culture is concerned with tradition and social reproduction, it is also a matter of change. But who is creating the power to control and change what was once found to be “derogatory” into what can now be seen as a norm for todays younger generation? While we question, our political economy is mainly being concerned with the power and distribution of its economic and social resources. “He who controls the media, controls the message.” MTV productions continue to make money off a show that I feel ridicules in every sense Italian- American culture. But Millions of young Americans still don’t fail to tune in to MTV television Thursday Nights.