American popular culture is about numbing the mind and senses, and deferring responsibility for problems like depression, anxiety, and ill health. For these core reasons, I have become media conscious and aware of the effect that American popular culture has on sheep-like consumers. Because I can no longer tolerate American popular music, I have been increasingly drawn towards truly good and creative artists from all genres. I have a great appreciation for rap and hip-hop but not the drivel being played on MTV. Instead, I have become aware of underground labels and artists such as Cannibal Ox. I have been listening to good classic rock and not the types that Clear Channel-owned radio stations play over and over to the masses. American popular music is, like American fast food, commercialized drivel that has no soul. People with taste have to work harder to find what is good and worth listening to, and the effort expended is well worth it. With movies, I find that much of what Hollywood produces is bad but easy to avoid. Moreover, many small production companies are producing well-made films or documentaries. Similarly, there is some quality television shows even as mindless entertainment also fills the airwaves.

American popular culture is carried on the shoulders of American media. From CNN to MSNBC and Fox, the 24-hour news cycle drives into the minds of viewers political perspectives and points-of-view that solidify American culture. While the news is important to watch for informational purposes, I have made a decision to also get my news from alternative sources on the Internet. This way, I have a more well-rounded perspective of the world.

Being increasingly distanced from American popular culture has allowed me the opportunity to see what impact globalization is having on homogenization. The world, exposed to American popular culture through the media and also through television and film, has embraced fast food, chain retailers, and even the American way of life. I have seen how Europeans...

Choosing to live outside of this formula can be challenging. The values of endless pursuit of wealth are distasteful for many people like me, but it can be hard to find like-minded friends in a world filled with consumer followers.
My decision-making regarding consumer choices is based on an understanding of how consumer culture has overtaken critical and creative thinking in the United States. As a sort of backlash to American popular culture, I no longer listen to popular music unless the music also happens to be good. I do not listen to what I hear in an advertisement blindly. American popular culture is seductive. It promises wealth, power, and sex. American popular culture does a great job of propagating itself via the American corporate media. The American corporate media is in fact intimately connected with the engines of consumerism such as major retailers. An American lifestyle is the product, and one I want no part of. American popular culture has had the ironic effect of helping me take the lead against blind consumerism.

Pop Culture Inventory

Fast Food and Food Chains: KFC, McDonalds, Wendy's Burger King, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Starbucks

Music: Try to avoid pop music! When I hear it (pop R&B I have no idea who or what it is); in general, R&B and rap are omnipresent and also play in stores.

Retail: Gap, Banana Republic, Nordstrom, Macys, DSW, Bed Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, Comp USA, Tiger Direct, Wal*Mart, Target, Costco

Movies: Hollywood

Media: CNN, MSNBC, Fox