Culture Vs Pop-Culture
I wasn't able to sleep last night so I threw some music on my MP3 player. Among the songs that I have on my classical playlist was the 1812 Overture. I know it doesn't seem like a song that would put someone to sleep, given the cannon fire, but I am a girl who fell asleep listening to Wagner's Ring Cycle.
I couldn't help but lie there and listen to the cannons and see the final scene of V for Vendetta playing out in my head. Now I will admit that the piece was well put together and the scene was beautiful and powerful. Hell Natalie Portman redeamed herself in my eyes after a bad career choice called Star Wars. The new association my brain now links to this piece of music bothers me. The piece of music that is considered to be high culture at the symphony has, over time, evolved into a pop-culture soundtrack.
V for Vendetta also turns an old poem (Remember, remember the fifth of November) into something my brother will now see as the work of a screen writer.Here's what bugs me... How many people left the theatre to download that final piece of music only to be annoyed at the amount of time that it takes to get to the climatic ending? How many people went around chanting the beginings of a poem they would never know the end of? When culture becomes pop-culture does it lose part of it's integrity?
Today at work I decided to experiment. I asked a pair of coworkers if they had ever heard of the song O Fortuna from Carmina Burana. They both looked at me with blank looks on their faces. To their confused eyes I said "okay you know that song from the Rickards beer comercial?" Within a minute my suspicions were confirmed and their faces both lit up with recognition. Sadly an entire country now has no idea what this powerful piece of music is really about. The Fates and Fortune have been put asside for hops and barley. What happens here? Will this promote awareness of the culture or will it water it down?
It's a debate really. I have to admit that the reason I ever downloaded and listened to O Fortuna was the impact it had on me when I was young and my dad bought a Dracula video game that it was featured in. Both Orff and Tchaikovsky's pieces have been featured in multiple video games, movies, television shows, and commercials. By now I have to wonder how many people know where they came from.
In the case of V foro Vendetta I guess in the end the movie becomes a powerful statement as to just how strong Guy Fawkes' actions still are. If the movie promotes even one kid to learn more about the culture that is transforming into popular trend then there may still be hope for the symphony.