Criticism of Mainstream
From Wikinfo
Mainstream is usually considered the adherence to an opinion, way of thinking, art etc. of a social majority. The problem with this is that it has become a tool to "intoxicate" another majority, that which does not agree with the current "mainstream", and another tool of a small group controlling the media and the rules to indoctrinate people.
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In sociology
Mainstream pressure, through actions such as peer pressure, can force individuals to conform to the mores of the group (e.g., an obedience to the mandates of the peer group). Some have stated that they see mainstream as the antithesis of individuality.
In media
In media, for a long time "mainstream" has become synonym with superficiality, (state) propaganda and censorship. A prominent example is the United States television enforcement in which Iraq-related war casualties videos are forbidden from showing, so not to show the war as a "bad thing". As such, the internet remains one of the few little touches and controlled areas of media, although attempts at suppression are made often even on these channels, the most obvious being in the UK.
In music
Mainstream music denotes music that is familiar and nonthreatening to the masses, as for example popular music, pop music, middle of the road music, rap or soft rock; but it should be noted that older generations often have a well-founded dislike for the mainstream taste of the youth, and may not agree as to what is or is not mainstream. Mainstream jazz is generally seen as an evolution of be-bop, which was originally regarded as radical.
Punk rock has distinguished itself from other non-mainstream genres by self-asserting an active anti-mainstream social movement that resists commercialism and corporate control. The punk subculture generally frowns upon major label bands that play punk music that disavows the DIY punk ethic, and views them as synonymous with mainstream music. Punk has lent this stringent DIY ethic to the indie rock that surfaced in the early 1990s underground. Several anti-corporate and not-for-profit forms of alternative protest have surfaced in the punk underground, such as self-made publications know as zines, where there is greater freedom to discuss controversial (usually far left) political issues such as discrimination, LGBT community issues, feminism, antitheism, and veganism. And though often viewed as a youthful expression of rebellion by the mainstream media, modern punk embodies a range of age groups who generally disagree with the perceived homogeneity of countercultural principals and it is not uncommon for middle-aged people to form punk houses and resistance movements in the face of what they view as the widespread, unfair exploitation of human and animal rights. This modern faction is dominantly voiced through the anarcho-punk and crust punk subcultures, in attempt to combat what is seen by those groups as a general devaluation of, and profitization from, life.
See also
- 1984 (movie)
- Internet as a way of countering the mainstream and censorship associated with it
References
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Mainstream. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. The text of this Wikinfo article is available under the GNU Free Documentation License and the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. |
