Everything is comodified. I remember watching this when I was about ten years old. Now that I look back and think of the word globalization, we're exposed to it from such a young age. Here in this clip you see a group of girls who are freshly beginning to sell their new record album. The part that is not shown in the clip is the way in which their agent gets them to the top of the box office by putting subliminal messages into the music. That is what originally gets the teenagers in the movie obsessed with these three girls.
The funny thing is, the subliminal element added to the story is to create a villain and a climax to the movie. In real life there is no need for subliminal messages. People still go crazy for the new pop artist, like they did back in the day when "A Hard Day's Night" was produced.
Women still act all crazy when a singer they connect with comes on stage. You see teenagers line up to see concerts and movie theaters just to see their fantasies come alive in a pop artist or actor. People still buy t-shirts, cd's, sweaters, and posters.
The younger kids get, the easier it is to sell and globalize a popular comodity.
Who wouldn't want Hannah Montana as a true friend! I'd BUY it.
"The cultural homegenization theseis proposes that the globalization of consumer capitalism involves a loss of cultural diversity. It stresses the growth of 'sameness' and a presumed loss of cultural autonomy" (Barker 159). How are kids supposed to form their own identities if they are busy mimicking their pop idols? With capitalism playing a huge role in governing our lives, pretty soon we will all resemble robots, creating franchises of HUMANS!
Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies Theory and Practice. 3rd ed. London: Sage Publications, 2008.Print.
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