Pop Culture Influence On American Identity

This past year Americans spent $17 billion on video games, $3 billion on tabloid magazines, and $117 billion on fast food with a total of $10.7 trillion on shopping in general. The shopping ranging from romance novels ($10 billion), pets Halloween costumes ($310 billion), to tattoos ($2.3 billion) and tattoo removal ($66 billion). These numbers are significantly higher than any other country in the world (Reilly). One could argue that these numbers are random and unrelated. Others may note that this consumption says more about us than we are willing to admit. Perhaps what we purchase and consume is all part of an effort to define us. Do pet costumes send a message to the world about part of who we are? Does it mean something that we relax by

What does it say about us when we spend more removing tattoos than getting them? And when we wait on line at the fast food restaurant we convince ourselves “I deserve it” as we grab those large fries and a burger. As Americans we feel we have a right to the things that make us who we are, even as those ideas change. We are entitled to have what we want and as much of it as we please and dream of more. Pop culture is the most unique defining part of American Identity because it is the only element that consistently changes and develops with Americans through things like the idea of money, entertainment, and beauty.
The American dream used to mean creating an honorable life by hard work and modesty. The new American dream or the Pop Culture dream has little to do with quietly finding success in a new world. Instead the pop culture dream is defined by excess. Five car garages, infinity pools, exquisite clothes, fame, fortune, reality TV stardom are just the beginning of America’s media based fame and wealth obsession. For many Americans they aspire to live a life that they have seen on TV. David Fitzsimmons in his

Any American has shared the experience of being in a hair salon and witnessing other clients showing a picture of a celebrity to the hairdressers as reference for their own style. The appeal of this hairstyle usually is not just the cut but what the celebrity represents. The celebrity represents beauty and often in pop culture there is one idealized form of beauty. Charles Dantzig also noted this upon reflecting from a visit to America when he said, “It’s a country of blonds” (70). At one point in American History blond hair was consider the most beautiful. While we might not all be blond today we certainly pick up and take from the fashion and beauty standards in pop culture and fit those molds. It is not often that we break from the traditional mold we see on TV. Our American idea of beauty is from the people we admire and get most of our information. If you asked the question in the past of who was the most beautiful woman in the world the response would often be Marilyn Monroe or perhaps Audrey Hepburn. When asked this question today, most people would say Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé or someone else in the Acting or Music Industry. Very few people would say “my mother” as a natural response. American beauty that is idealized often contains an element of being unattainable, which is why we want to be like celebrities. Beauty is always changing in Pop