High and Pop Culture Brought Together in Advertising and Painting
Chrysoula Titi University of Kent
The complexity of culture does not allow us to easily define
it or draw its limitations for the simple reason that it
constantly changes and develops. Defining culture and
differentiating it from other cultures is a hotly debated issue
because of its elusive nature; we know more or less what culture
is but how and based on what criteria do we determine its
boundaries and which groups it represents is difficult to say.
Because culture is a broad term, naturally there have been
attempts to create categories in order to better analyse it. One
such distinction, although questionable, is that of high and pop
culture. Cultural studies critics debate about whether such a
distinction exists or should exist. While previously the focus had
been what we would call high culture, there is a general turn
towards pop culture by people, artists and cultural studies as a
field. This is evident in daily life and the kind of Art and
Culture promoted by media and society.
For practical reasons, it is easier to first describe the
terms high and pop culture before examining their presence in
society. We can define high culture with the words of Matthew
Arnold, that it is "the best that has been thought and known in
the world" (Johnson 7). It is an elitistic idea of culture that is
"organised around distinct moral-aesthetic principles" and is
based on "a classical education and patronage and centred on the
classical (i.e. Greek and Latin) canon" (During 194). It draws its
material and inspiration from the past and the great artists that1
have helped shape the cultural context of a society. It comes as a
result of years of education and reading that extends beyond
compulsory education; in other words, the people who move within
this field of high culture are usually privileged people from a
financially well-to-do background who have access to education
which is one of the reasons why it has been criticized. The fact
that only a few have access to high culture means that it excludes
a large number of people and therefore does not represent society
in its entirety. Another reason that derives from the previous one
is that high culture is "dry" in the sense that it does not have
much room for development precisely because it is restricted to a
handful of people who reproduce what they learn.
Popular culture comes as a response to high culture. It is
essentially "anti-authority" (194) because it addresses the
general public and not the elite class as high culture does. It is
basically "the culture of and by the people" (196) that is
directed towards the non-privileged and by extension excludes and
criticizes the elite and its high culture. The subject matter of
pop culture is usually the non-canonical, meaning issues that
would not normally interest high culture such as the problems of
the underprivileged and daily situations and objects. Unlike high
culture, pop culture is more present in society because it
addresses a larger number of people and it is "committed to
immediate pleasure" and "its first requirement is – generally
speaking – to be consumable now" (193) and not aspire to timeless
value and recognition. It may seem more democratic in a way
because it addresses the people and includes the more diverse
groups of a society and therefore is more representative of it.
However some limitations have been identified. One such limitation2
is its "obsolescence," how susceptible it is to falling into
disuse or becoming out of date because eventually "repetition and
celebrity turn into boredom and satiety, and the object is trashed
into final uncoolness and obsolescence" (201). Precisely because
it is not meant to last long, the pop culture artifact is
prominent so long as it is consumable by the people and then it is
replaced by another. Another limitation is that it is a "standard
bearer for commercial values and the ideology that supports
consumer capitalism" (202). Because it addresses a large number of
people, it is commercialized and used as a means of advertising
and promotion with the aim of profit.
This general and quite simplistic distinction is not clear-
cut nor is it definite. As mentioned above, there have been many
debates about what exactly is classified as high and pop culture
and which is "better." There are arguments for and against both
but the general tendency the last few years is towards pop culture
in the sense that the focus has been turned to pop culture, even
by cultural studies and the academia. During particularly talks
about what he calls the "academicisation of popular culture" (197)
and the relationship between "academic disciplines and popular
culture [that] remain contentious" (193) because of some main
differences in their characteristics, functions and objectives.
However it is more accurate and closer to reality to say that high
and pop culture coexist and even blend; in fact, "a large body of
culture today exists in a zone between or reaching into both high
and low (to use those loaded terms)" (196).
This merging and blending of high and popular culture is
evident in cultural artifacts that society produces, such as
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literary and other texts, films, television, music, advertisements
etc. This mix is probably a result of the postmodern age that puts
into question fixed categories, blurs the lines between genres
with its techniques of pastiche to express the fragmentation of
the era and uses humour, sarcasm and irony to make a point and
comment on the issues it addresses. In order to discuss this
merging of high and pop culture, we will examine two commercials,
the 2014 KIA Super Bowl Commercial featuring Laurence Fishburne as
Morpheus from The Matrix and the Dewar’s Live True Commercial. To
enrich the analysis of how they blend high and pop culture we will
also include the analysis of the pop artist Marco Battaglini who
mixes in his paintings high and pop culture with fascinating
results. The paintings to be discussed are "Gentlemen prefer
blondes" (Image 1) and "Unhappy ending" (Image 2) which appear in
the Appendix.
In the first commercial there is an interesting mix of
elements of high and pop culture. It is the latest 2014 KIA
commercial advertising a KIA car. The commercial’s plot is that a
man and woman, probably a couple, very well-dressed, exit a fancy
restaurant and head to the valet to get their car. Laurence
Fishburne appears as the valet and gives them an option, to leave
with their car or with the new KIA car which will change their
perception of luxury. The man chooses the latter and while
driving, Fishburne appears at the back seat to reaffirm that this
experience of luxury is real and to show them what true luxury is
like. At that point he starts singing Puccini’s famous "Nessun
Dorma" while outside the car causes chaos; everything behind the
car floats and is destroyed, light bulbs explode and everyone’s
attention turns to the car. The commercial ends with Fishburne’s4
voice and the KIA car moving forwards while behind it "normal"
cars are exploding which gives the impression of an epic, heroic
scene. The final message is that KIA redefines luxury.
We can deduce many interesting things from this short
commercial. It is clearly addressed to men because the woman does
not utter a word and is simply there as part of the background; it
is the man who chooses to take the other car and the one who
drives giving the impression that luxury and difference is
reserved for men only. But what is particularly interesting is how
pop culture is mixed with high culture. The elements of pop
culture are the central role of Fishburne in the commercial and
how it uses The Matrix to appeal to a larger audience and of course
the very object of advertising is part of pop culture. A car,
being a commodity, would not be considered high culture or culture
at all for that matter but as we saw above, pop culture can turn
anything into Art. These elements are combined with Puccini’s
famous piece as a musical background that makes the car seem
superior and more than a product because Puccini is a celebrated
opera composer, that is high culture. In any case, this commercial
is a clear example of how pop culture can commercialize art and
fuse high and pop culture.
We find similar themes in the second commercial that
advertises Dewar’s scotch naming the whole campaign Live True. It
portrays a number of different people and their special choice of
lifestyle. In other words, people who follow their dreams despite
the difficulties and who are true to themselves. The commercial
seems to address authentic people like the ones portrayed
presenting this scotch as a reward for their hard work,
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determination, passion and persistence to achieve their unusual
but admirable goals. There are quite a few people presented and we
see glimpses of their lives, their choices and the challenges they
face along the way but in the end we see their fulfillment as they
follow their heart. Throughout the commercial Tom O’Bedlam recites
Charles Bukowski’s poem "So you want to be a writer?." The
commercial ends with young people running forward in a field and
the call to Live True. Here again the commercial targets men since
men are dominant while only one woman appears briefly.
As with the KIA commercial, the Dewar’s one fuses high and
pop culture. What is advertised, scotch and drinking, is not
considered high culture but it is elevated to the status of
something more than simply consuming alcohol; it is related to
greatness, rebellion, authenticity and character. This effect is
achieved by the portrayal of real people who have rejected the
beaten path and make their own instead, following their vision no
matter how difficult it might be. This is reinforced by the choice
of the poem as a background, the voice of the person who recites
it and the kind of tune that accompanies it. The aim is for the
commercial to be inspiring and to encourage ordinary people to be
great and visionary. So in this case, the title of the poem can
change according to who is watching the commercial; "so you want
to be a writer" can be substituted for anything a viewer dreams of
doing or becoming. The choice of a poem as a background is an
element of high culture because poetry is traditionally considered
high culture that requires a certain level of education and
refinement to appreciate. Although Bukowski might not exactly be a
high culture poet tending more towards popular culture, but the
choice of genre is still poetry and in any case Bukowski was6
notorious for his drinking so he is an appropriate choice for a
scotch commercial that wants to promote its product but also
elevate it to the status of Art and way of life rather than simply
drinking.
To complement the discussion of how high and pop culture fuse
in cultural artifacts as the commercials we discussed above, now
we will turn to the analysis of two of Marco Battaglini’s
paintings, "Gentlemen prefer blondes" (Image 1) and "Unhappy
ending" (Image 2). Battaglini is a pop artist who produces "large
pastiche paintings that combine a handful of genres, styles, and
references" (Gutierrez) applying the postmodern technique of
pastiche and adhering to the idea that classifications are not
fixed. Some of his paintings "are often reminiscent of a
Renaissance composition and include classicist figures painted
alongside more modern imagery like graffitied walls, tattooed
bodies, varying artistic allusions like Warhol and Lichtenstein,
and other pop culture details" (Gutierrez); this is effectively
what we have discussing so far, that there is a tendency in Art to
merge rather than separate high and pop culture. This is the case
with the two paintings included here. Both images portray
Renaissance figures as we have seen them in famous paintings of
renowned Renaissance painters, therefore high culture, but situate
them in a modern context with graffiti walls as a background or
little details of pop culture such as tattoos or artwork by other
pop artists; image 1 has details from Andy Warhol’s paintings,
Marilyn Monroe’s portrait. Both have a graffitied background with
inscriptions that are related to modern society and both have
ironic and humoristic overtones; image 2 for instance has its
Renaissance figures dressed in modern clothes and even includes7
brand names like Calvin Klein. It is an interesting mix of high
and pop culture in terms of aesthetics and politics in the sense
of what message it wants to promote.
Having discussed the above, we can conclude that the general
distinction between high and pop culture is not very clear or
valid. The two commercials and the two paintings we have examined
prove that it is more productive and stimulating to mix the two,
without ignoring their differences, rather than attempt to
separate them and determine which is of a better quality and which
is not. In our postmodern society there is no room for fixed and
rigid categories and classifications and this applies to Culture
as well. The results of this fusion may be positive or negative,
at this point we cannot be certain, however it is definitely an
issue worth further exploration.
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Appendix
2014 KIA Super Bowl Commercial featuring Morpheus (Laurence
Fishburne) from The Matrix https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=C6Rbn2pk2h8
Dewar’s Live True Commercial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2QM5uo196Q
Marco Battaglini Artworks. Saatchi Art. Web. 12 June 2014.
http://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/28818
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Works Cited
During, Simon. Cultural Studies: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge,
2005. Print.
Gutierrez, Jené. "Marco Battaglini Mixes Renaissance Paintings
With Pop Culture Imagery"
Beautiful Decay. October 15, 2013. Web. 14 June 2014.
http://beautifuldecay.com/2013/10/15/marco-battaglinis-mixes-
renaissance-paintings-pop-
culture-imagery/
Johnson, David. "Introduction to Part I." David Johnson (ed.) The
Popular & the Canonical:
Debating Twentieth-century Literature 1940-2000. London: Routledge,
2005. 3-12. Print.
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