Pop Culture | Teen Ink

Pop Culture

February 8, 2016
By Otomlinson BRONZE, New Richmond, Ohio
Otomlinson BRONZE, New Richmond, Ohio
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Did you hear what Kim and Kanye named their baby?! Did you see what Miley Cyrus was wearing last week?! Did you know that Angelina and Brad Pitt are probably going to get a divorce?! Thousands of rumors and gossip spread through our culture everyday about celebrities. We take part in the gossip and rumors because it amuses us, and provides us something talk about with others. We look up to these celebrities because they represent the glamour we don’t have in our own lives.


Our culture is obsessed with being fit, physically attractive, and rich. We have become so obsessed with these things that some of us have resorted to eating disorders and putting an unhealthy amount of pressure on ourselves. All the celebrities we idolize constantly post pictures of them in their new waist trainers, or of them flaunting their thigh gaps, and we as viewers set those unrealistic standards in our heads. We create this image in our minds of what our bodies and lives are suppose to look like, and we feel ashamed and mad at ourselves when we can’t measure up to our extremely high standards.


Technology usage is rapidly rising, and this is creating a society with terrible communication and social skills. Why meet someone in person to discuss an issue when you can stay at home and text them? We base our self worth on how many followers we have on instagram, and how many people like our pictures. Bullying has increased because people can hide behind a screen to insult someone, this has created a generation of cowards. Couples very rarely go on dates anymore, and hookups are more common than finding someone you actually connect with.


Most music has lost most of its depth, but some musicians still produce meaningful music. 21 Pilots is a band who is very popular, but their songs deal with problems that teenagers face everyday. They talk about depression and other kinds of mental illnesses, along with the pressures and stress we deal with in society. The band members suffer from those mental illnesses, so they can relate to how we feel.


There are a lot of problems in society, and there are a lot of problems teenagers deal with everyday. We put so much pressure on ourselves to measure up to the unrealistic standards that we become depressed and stress ridden. We divide ourselves into exclusive cliques, and talk behind each other's backs. We are so obsessively addicted and concerned with material items that we have turned into material people. When’s the last time someone complimented your personality rather than your physical features? When’s the last time you actually had a face to face deep conversation with someone rather than texting it? When’s the last time someone tried to undress your mind rather than undress your body? Our culture has lost soul and depth. In order for that to change, we need to be the change we wish to see. We need to stop placing value on material items, and start valuing the items and people who should be important.


The author's comments:

I had to write this for my English class but the problems I adressed are very relevant and people should stop beign obsessed with material items. 


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