wtscils598x08

I won't say that popular culture is just a more sophisticated way of delivering stupidity. There is some merit to Johnson's arguments in some of the examples he gave. I watched Memento recently and it does require the viewer to do some serious information processing to follow the plot. People who would rather sit down and laugh themselves silly would probably watch Kungfu Panda instead.

Of course, there are shows that are just pure brainless entertainment and nothing else. Johnson claims that even shows that cater to the lowest common denominator are getting more sophisticated compared to the early days of TV, and that these shows have trained us to be smarter over the years.

Arguably, this may be true, but people are also getting smarter whether they're watching TV or not. Some have attributed this to better nutrition and an ever-demanding society that pushes our kids to become higher achievers in order to survive in the real world.

Just compare the school curriculum 30 years ago to what we have today. In Singapore, content that used to be taught at higher grade levels are now being taught at lower grades. The examination scores of top students in elementary schools continue to increase every year. I worked as a home tutor during my college years, and I was shocked at how demanding math questions have become since I left high school.

So, instead of being a more sophisticated way of delivering stupidity, I would take the liberal-pluralist approach and argue that popular culture mirrors changes in society. Coupled with more sophisticated media production techniques and technology advancement, games, television programs and movies are merely evolving to meet the needs of an increasingly sophisticated audience.