Pop culture used to feel ephemeral. Something you could sample and move on from. You could laugh at a dumb movie. You could debate the best rapper over a beer or two. You didn’t have to commit. It was just a distraction.
These days it’s just another job.
Pop Culture Turned Into Homework
Every album or movie or show is homework. You have to read up on the origin story and the drama and the think pieces and what you’re supposed to think. Nothing stands alone. Everything comes with a headload of chatter.
An artist releases a new song and the internet assumes they’re referencing their personal life. A new film comes out and the talk is whether or not it should have come out in the first place. A celeb posts a photo and the replies are already forming into teams.
There’s no breathing room.
New Year, New Buttons? Why is the internet talking about Buttons?
Let’s Cut to the Chase Sometimes the internet hooks on to something small. Something quieter….
The Speed Is Killing the Experience
One reason this is a problem is speed. The reaction comes before the product has even had a chance to age. Opinions calcify in an instant. Jokes become arguments. Arguments become morality tests.
By the time you get to actually watch that movie or hear that album or read that novel, the internet has already decided how you’re supposed to react to it.
Nothing Gets to Linger Anymore
The other part of it is saturation. Moments don’t get to be moments anymore. They’re picked over from every angle, remixed to oblivion, and then left to die.
Nothing has a chance to linger. Nothing gets to feel special.
What’s left is exhaustion.
Why People Are Quietly Tuning Out
People aren’t done with pop culture. They just feel like it’s too much work. They’re tired of having to take a side on everything. They’re tired of being told they have to justify their enjoyment.
Pop culture didn’t stop being fun because people grew out of it.
It stopped being fun because it stopped being allowed to be light.
