Today I bumped into Andy Cohen's Instagram post showing a 15 years old picture from the Real Housewives franchise launching. He writes that the show changed Pop Culture and his life forever.
Indeed it changed his life, but thinking that changed Pop Culture forever is a stretch. It makes me wonder what does it mean to change Pop Culture?
The first thing popped into my head was the famous picture of Britney Spears crashing a photographer's car window with a baseball bat. It's sort of random memory, I know. But I could argue that that moment did have an impact on pop culture.
Did it change the pop culture, though? I don't think so. Britney definitely would prefer it never happened. So did us, especially with today's revisionist spirit that makes us embarrassed for shaming her in the past. We all could have passed without it.
So, I guess impacting is different from changing. Andy Cohen's self-congratulatory post makes me think he believes that changing Pop Culture is a good thing. You see, he didn't say that it had an impact. He states it changed it. Forever. I think he mistook having an impact with changing it. I think Michael Jackson's Billie Jean music video and MTV have transformed pop culture. Elvis did it too. And the Beatles. For sure, Madonna did it as well. The list goes on.
Were those changes good? In my opinion, they were because they reflected where society was at that time and propelled it to move forward. New ideas, new voices amplifying more libertarian and diverse thinking. But changing Pop Culture can go either way. When you looked back in time 14/15 years ago, we can spot the beginning of consolidated trends in the following years. One can't deny that we wouldn't have had Trump's presidency without the celebrity cult, for example. I find it curious that the end of Trump's presidency - and how it ended- coincides with Keeping with Kardashian's reality show final season. It is almost like we have exhausted that theme, and that type of narrative doesn't fit with the pandemic world we live in now. Can't help thinking that it might be the same with the Real Housewives franchise. I'm wondering if it isn't out of time already too?
Was it fun? Hell yeah! Was it good? Hard to say, but I don't think it matters. It was is brainless entertainment mixed with a little - or a lot - of a guilty pleasure. They indeed had an impact on Pop Culture. But more importantly than that, they reflected it's time. A world that today looks increasingly like something from the past. Time to change.