I believe pop culture has created a new way of speaking. When I say this, I am thinking of the language which has been introduced by musicians (rappers), movies and tv shows (Ali G) and catch phrases we adopt from the media and tv shows. Rap has introduced words such as "boo" "shorty" and many more. These are words that are not exclusive to black rappers. General public has adopted them. Not only have words been adopted, a speech style has been adopted. People talk like rappers. It is not un-common to hear a white guy say "what it is shorty." This language is catchy like the music it is being channeled through. I think all age groups can enjoy it as well. I have an uncle who listens to Ludacris and have had my mom call me to ask, "Whats that song about the apple bottom jeans?" So all this modern pop culture is adopted by all age groups.
Shows like Ali G and his Sasha Cohen other characters have created a new identity that people identify with and poke fun at. Now you have people saying "booyakashaa" and other phrases from his characters.
One might say that pop cultures music and media changing our language is a bad thing. I think it is a good thing. It is fun. People can choose to use this language and just be playful with it. They dont have to adopt it as the only way they speak.
I agree that this new form of language can be fun and amusing, but what worries me is that the younger, newer generations of young people in our society are taking on this type of speech as the only way to speak. It's fine for people who know how to speak correctly and efficiently to play around and use popular language. But when young people are actually endangering themselves in the form of illiteracy by only using this type of language, then it becomes a major problem. I'd like to use my analogy about Picasso here... if you have mastered the art, then you are at full liberty to do it "wrong" for the sake of creativity. However, if you do it "wrong" in the first place without having taken the time to fully understand and master the art, then what you have created is not art, and you are no artist.
ReplyDelete^The above comment was quite deep. Kudos.^
ReplyDeleteI think it is very true how much of our language comes from pop culture. I'm guilty of dropping a "W-T-F?" in real life; I've heard my cousin exclaim, "Boom goes the dynamite!" years after it was ever cool; I know someone, to their sincere shame, who accidentally says something is "delish" on occasion. It's crazy how often it penetrates our daily language. I'm quite certain it's unavoidable. What I think is forgotten, however, is that we are not the first generation that has had our language skewed by popular culture. How often have you heard your parents say something severely dated? I think we had better get comfortable with our decaying society, because we'll never change.