October 31, 2008 The Catholic Exponent 25Teens havemuch to sayabout — anda lot to dowith whatbecomes —

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Featuring members of Youngstown Sacred Heart and Immaculate Conception parishes

By Nancilynn Gatta

Many teens can tell you the latestcelebrity news, but they don’t know whotheir local (or even prominent national) po-litical leaders are. Americans in generalseem to pay more attention to pop culturethan to current events.

Webster defines pop (popular) cul-ture as “the culture of the masses; the cul-tural patterns that are widespread within apopulation.” Pop culture includes lifestyles,practices and products that are well-knownand generally accepted, such as music, TVprograms and movies, commercials and ads,brand-name items, sports, fashion, etc. Popculture reflects people’s way of life and in-fluences it at the same time.

Members of the youth ministrygroups at Youngstown Sacred Heart of Jesusand Immaculate Conception parishes re-cently discussed the influence of pop cul-ture on their lives.

Joseph Hernandez, a 10th graderat East High School, and a member of Sa-cred Heart of Jesus Parish, gave his theoryon why students pay so much attention towhat is popular in entertainment.

“I think they do it so they havesomething to talk about in school.”

Grimilda Ocasio-Santiago, a 10thgrader at Lowellville High School and amember of Immaculate Conception Parish,agreed with Joseph’s view.

“American Idol” is one of the morepopular shows on TV. This singing compe-tition crosses the barriers of age,socioeconomics and language. Numerouscountries have “idol” shows.

Eddie Benson, an 11th grader atConnections Academy and a member ofImmaculate Conception Parish, is a fan ofall the idol shows. He even watches the for-eign versions online.

“I like watching the talent and I likeall types of music styles,” he said. For Eddie,“it’s all about the music. I like all differentgenres – world music, hip-hop, rock, pop,anything. In the other countries, the stylesare different. I saw an opera singer on one.”

Olivia Murphy, a 10th grader atUrsuline High School and a member of Im-maculate Conception Parish, thinks thatsuch shows as “American Idol,” and “Danc-ing with the Stars” are popular because or-dinary viewers can influence the outcome,by voting for their favorite performances.

With digital cable, hundreds ofshows, from food-related programs to homeremodeling shows, are available for view-ing.

Brandon Benson, an 8th grader atConnections Academy and a member ofImmaculate Conception Parish, watches“DIY” and other home improvement showsbecause he likes the tips he gets on how tobuild things.

Jenna Benson, a 10th grader at

Connections Academy and a member ofImmaculate Conception Parish, enjoyswatching the Olympics on TV, because sheis an ice skater.

Measuring their own lives withthose of celebrities is another reason theteens gave for paying attention to pop cul-ture news.

“It’s like big gossip. It’s somethingthat takes away from your own life, so youdon’t have to pay attention to your own prob-lems, but you can talk about other people’sproblems,” said Olivia. Learning about thedifficulties celebrities experience can maketeens feel better about their own lives, sheadded.

Pop music was created with youngpeople in mind, and it changes as the popu-lations change. Not only do the styles ofmusic change, but the forms of technologythey use to listen to it changes as well.

“I like Rap, Hip Hop. My Mom andmy Dad listen to slow-type music. I usuallylisten to my music loud and they listen totheir music kind of low,” said Jarvis Abrams,a 10th grader at Cardinal Mooney HighSchool and a member of Immaculate Con-ception Parish. “I’ll hear this hit song be-cause they play it on the radio. I’ll like theartist, and I’ll go and look up his name andfind all his underground music. I’ll make aCD and listen to it and show it to myfriends,” he said.

The media coverage that movies,TV shows and brand-name products get is abig reason behind their popularity.

“Sometimes when I see commer-cials about a movie, I want to see it moreand more,” said Delmas Hayes, an 8thgrader at Austintown Middle School and amember of Immaculate Conception Parish.Seeing numerous commercials about prod-ucts and fashions can also pique a teen’sinterest, those interviewed said.

Madison Avenue ad agencies geara large percentage of their commercials toteens, because teens often have a great dealof discretionary income (due to part-timejobs and money provided by their parents).A movie or television show, song or newartist, fashion or new technology productthat can garner the teen market will likelybe successful, and, with mass appeal, becomepart of pop culture.

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October 31, 2008 The Catholic Exponent 25

ABOVE: TV programs and commercialsnot only reflect the society in which welive; they also influence it.

ABOVE: Pop culture includes music aswell as lifestyles, practices and productsthat are well-known and accepted by thegeneral population. BELOW: Movies(like “The Incredible Hulk”) which cangarner the teen market are likely to be-come part of pop culture.