So, what gives with the name of this blog?

"Consumer culture is an oxymoron." This revolutionary statement comes from an unlikely source: a graphic designer whose very career depended on that consumer culture, the incomparable Tibor Kalman. It means of course, that the word culture, which can be defined as "the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc." is completely incongruous with the idea of consumerism, or the endless pursuit of goods and products, not as necessities but as an end unto themselves. The two words are in fact at an ideological standoff: one, consumer, denoting an emphasis on accumulation of wealth at the expense of all else, and the other, culture, being a term to describe all that which enriches a society and nourishes the collective intelligence of its people. To put the two words together, as if they could exist simultaneously, is where Kalman obviously found no small amount of irony.

Similarly, Pop culture could be construed as an oxymoron. Popular anything is not concerned with culture, or with the betterment of oneself as a reward reaped by both the individual and the collective. It is by definition selfish, petty, trite, and superficial. Therefore, Pop culture is an oxymoron.

Now, basically this is going to be a blog about Pop culture, so don't expect that I reject it in its entirety just because it has no noble aspirations. On the contrary, I am just as infatuated with it as everyone else, maybe (okay, probably) even more so. I am simply titling this blog "Pop culture is an oxymoron" to cover my own ass in case someone accuses me of being shallow and myopic. Because, of course I understand the irony of the term "pop culture" and therefore I cannot be a full-fledged member of the huddled, woefully ignorant masses.