What are some of the ways in which you’ve experienced popular culture being related to moral panics or addressing social problems? Have you seen any examples of this in social media or entertainment media (film, TV, music, literature, etc)?
For example, a few come to my mind:
(1) The X-men film franchise often subtly addresses social prejudice and discrimination, often using themes that are similar to social issues involving racial inequality.
(2) Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” (the lyrics are pretty much only comprised of social issues).
(3) ‘Cancel culture’ has become a large media push, particularly on platforms such as twitter – so extensive that there are many examples of this (we don’t necessarily need to debate the claims of many of these, but we can discuss them if they are the example you provide).
Personally, I find these two examples representative of the ways in which popular culture influences our perception, interpretation of, and action against social problems. What are your thoughts? If possible, provide a specific example in your discussion that you’ve seen that engages in this in some fashion from music, film, TV, literature, or social media.
