Acculturated
23 Savvy Writers Find Hidden Virtue in Reality TV, Chic Lit, Video Games, and Other Pillars of Pop Culture
Contemporary popular culture, from books to film to television to music to the deepest corners of the internet, has provoked much criticism, some of it well deserved. Yet, popular culture is culture for many Americans—particularly younger Americans. It is the only kind of cultural experience they seek and the currency in which they trade.
In Acculturated, twenty-three thinkers examine the rituals, the myths, the tropes, the peculiar habits, the practices, and the neuroses of our modern era. Every culture finds a way for people to tell stories about themselves. We rely on these stories to teach us why we do the things we do, to test the limits of our experience, to reaffirm deeply felt truths about human nature, and to teach younger generations about vice and virtue, honor and shame, and a great deal more. A phenomenon like the current crop of reality television shows, for example, with their bevy of “real” housewives, super-size families, and toddler beauty-pageant candidates, seems an unlikely place to find truths about human nature or examples of virtue. And yet, on these shows, and in much else of what passes for popular culture these days, a surprising theme emerges: Move beyond the visual excess and hyperbole, and you will find the makings of classic morality tales.
As the title suggests, readers will find in these pages “A-Culture Rated.” This lively roundtable of “raters” includes renowned cultural critics like Caitlin Flannigan and Chuck Colson and celebrated culture creators like the producers of the hit ABC comedy Modern Family and the host of TLC’s What Not to Wear. Editors Christine Rosen and Naomi Schaefer Riley have tasked these contributors—both the critics and the insiders—with taking a step or two back from the unceasing din of popular culture so that they might better judge its value and its values and help readers think more deeply about the meaning of the narratives with which they are bombarded every waking minute. In doing so, the editors hope to foster a wide-reaching public conversation to help us think more clearly about our culture.
CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE Judy Bachrach, Megan Basham, Mark Bauerlein, Pia Catton, Chuck Colson, Paul Corrigan, Caitlin Flanagan, Meghan Cox Gurdon, Margo Howard, Kay S. Hymowitz, Jonathan V. Last, Herb London, Stacy London, Rob Long, Megan McArdle, Wilfred M. McClay, Caitrin Nicol, Joe Queenan, Emily Esfahani Smith, Brad Walsh, and Tony Woodlief.
‘Acculturated consists of essays in the best sense of the term—always readable and concise, often witty and entertaining, providing unconventional takes on their subjects and illuminating them with flashes of genuine insight. Covering a remarkable range of topics in contemporary pop culture, the essays offer a composite portrait of America today—with all its sublimities and absurdities. The authors may be critical of pop culture, but unlike many academics, they show that they are familiar with and have a feel for the phenomena in which they write.’ —Paul A. Cantor, author of Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization‘Sizing up and taking down the things we read, watch, and play, this all-star team of analysts provides a series of delights and surprises that will make you ponder the deep structures that inform our lives, even when we think we’re off-duty. As one essay puts it, ‘Style matters.’ Yes, and so does fun. —Kyle Smith, movie critic, New York Post
‘Acculturated is a collection of brief, sharp-eyed, complex—and in the best sense of that sadly overused and abused term, entertaining—accounts of present-day American sensibilities and daily lives. It could have been titled The Way We Live Now, and no one in the country will not experience the comfort of finding his habits and attitudes reflected in at least some, if not every last, of its pages.’ —Midge Decter, author of An Old Wife’s Tale
'Any college-level collection strong in the cultural analysis will consider this a lively, insightful survey.' —California Bookwatch'Editors and authors Rosen and Riley compile 23 US writers and journalists' essays examining what popular culture teaches people about themselves and how society can reclaim popular culture to discuss concepts like virtue and character. They consider how reality TV, children’s and teen culture, Facebook, YouTube, video games, Lady Gaga, professional sports, blogs, cooking shows, celebrity chefs, and other pop culture forms teach people about how to behave and treat each other in relationships, including online dating and adultery, and how well those lessons are learned; how it reflects children’s experiences; how it has changed the way people spend their leisure time; and effects on self-improvement, such as in forgiveness and death and dying.' —Book News, Inc
'Editors and authors Rosen and Riley compile essays by 23 US writers and journalists who examine what popular culture has to teach people about themselves and how society can reclaim popular culture to discuss concepts like virtue and character.' —SciTech Book News
CHRISTINE ROSEN is senior editor of The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology & Society, where she writes about the social impact of technology, bioethics, and the history of genetics. She is the author of Preaching Eugenics: Religious Leaders and the American Eugenics Movement and My Fundamentalist Education. Since 1999, Mrs. Rosen has also been an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Her essays and reviews have appeared in publications such as the New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the New Republic, the Washington Post, the American Historical Review, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Wilson Quarterly, and Policy Review.
Naomi Schaefer Riley is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focusing on issues regarding child welfare and a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. Her writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, and the Atlantic.
Contributors include Judy Bachrach, Megan Basham, Mark Bauerlein, Pia Catton, Chuck Colson, Paul Corrigan, Caitlin Flanagan, Meghan Cox Gurdon, Margo Howard, Kay S. Hymowitz, Jonathan V. Last, Herb London, Stacy London, Rob Long, Megan McArdle, Wilfred M. McClay, Caitrin Nicol, Joe Queenan, Emily Esfahani Smith, Brad Walsh, and Tony Woodlief.
Introduction
Naomi Schaefer Riley and Christine Rosen / ix
Part 1: Love in a Time of Reality TV
1. Sex, Lies, and YouTube
Kay S. Hymowitz / 3
2. Monster Mashup: How Our Culture’s Heroes and Villains Have Traded Places
Tony Woodlief / 15
3. Chick Lit and the Master/Slave Dialectic
Meghan Cox Gurdon / 23
4. Lonely Hearts Online: Why I’m Glad I Didn’t Meet My Husband on Match.com
Megan Basham / 35
5. In My Humble Opinion: Why Americans Still Need Advice Columnists
Margo Howard / 45
6. All the President’s Friends: The Challenge of Loyalty in Politics
Pia Catton / 51
Part 2: Smells Like Teen Spirit
7. An Unnatural Habitat: The Separate Lives of Adolescents
Mark Bauerlein / 61
8. The Achievement Trap: How Overparenting Undermines Character
Caitlin Flanagan / 69
Part 3: At Your Leisure
9. Games People Play—Together
Jonathan V. Last / 79
10. Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Why Pro Athletes Aren’t Heroes
Joe Queenan / 89
11. Performance Art: The Faux Creativity of Lady Gaga
Emily Esfahani Smith / 99
12. Project Runway: The Surprising Virtues of Style
Herb London and Stacy London / 107
13. Back to Betty Crocker: Why Everyday Cooking Matters
Megan McArdle / 113
14. In Search of the Next Great American Songbook
Wilfred M. McClay / 121
Part 4: Building a Better You
15. Controlling Our Bodies, Controlling Ourselves
Daniel Akst / 133
16. Public Broadcasting: The Allure of Overexposure
Rob Long / 141
17. Lessons for Life: The Virtues of Continuing Education
Patrick Allitt / 149
18. Death Be Not Chic
Judy Bachrach / 159
19. The American Dream, Twenty-Two Minutes at a Time
Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh / 165
20. Utopian Virtues
Caitrin Nicol / 171
21. Never Having to Say You’re Sorry: The Challenges of Forgiveness in an Age of Relativism
Chuck Colson / 179
Contributors / 189
