Pop Culture

Theodore Dalrymple attacks  popular culture in his essay ‘What’s wrong with Twinkling Buttocks’ in which he argues against  what  he describes as ‘ the vulgarization’(46) of culture, by blaming  the intellectual elite for allowing  it to happen. By using selected historical events, he attempts to support his argument. However, this fails; Dalrymple’s argument appeals to readers’ emotions by using inflammatory language as a means of distraction from the clear lack of sound reasoning. On the Other hand, Simon Frith, in his ‘the good, the bad the indifferent: defending popular culture from the populists’ takes a balanced view and supports his points with relevant evidence to prove his point, making for a stronger argument.

Dalrymple’s first point of argument is by pointing to the “mass drunkenness seen on weekends in the centre of every British town and city”(46) and “shallow relations between the sexes.” (46) as perfect examples of social decline. Here, Dalrymple merely points out a fact but does not provide any evidence that shows that mass drunkenness and sexual promiscuity is any more common than, for example, a hundred years ago.

He continues with this faulty reasoning by picking out a point in history ;  the trial of penguin Books for publishing the unedited version of the D.H Lawrence novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. In pointing out a single event in history as the cause of the events of the present, Dalrymple falls into the trap of generalizing from the particular, assuming that the publication of the unedited version of Lady Chatterley’s Lover would mean that all kinds’ forms of obscenity would be treated the same way.

Then he goes on to weaken his argument by stating that the twinkling Buttocks quote from the book he uses in support of his argument , by admitting that “[He] found the following passage by opening the book at random and pointing with his] eyes shut to a place in the page.” (49)By doing this, it is clear how easy it is to read the passage and interpret it out  of context.

Another element that weakens Dalrymple’s argument is the editorial tone he employs in his writing. Rather than writing in a neutral tone and producing a balanced essay, his opinions and personal beliefs dominate;   When

On the other hand, Simon Frith takes a more balanced position .He presents his argument from an historical perspective, much like Dalrymple but in different manner. Instead in narrowing down a single event as the reason for what constitutes popular culture. Frith uses the opinion of people regarded as experts during certain periods in history to convey his point to the reader.

By contrast, Frith’s essay is more analytical, and goes into more detail than Dalrymple goes. Frith frames his argument around evidence that lends credibility to his argument due to his use of citations. The sources that he chooses also help in making his argument more effective. This adds to the persuasiveness of his essay because the sources come from experts in the field. By concentrating on his point of view, he manages to maintain focus on his topic and not distract the reader by putting blame on the people he disagrees with him.

When setting up his thesis statement, Frith begins his essay with supporting evidence from a source that is an accepted expert in the field. He uses the Peter Van Der Mewre Quotation not to so as to point out that his argument is right, but as means to develop it. After introducing his thesis statement, Frith follows it up by giving examples of three sources from Experts in their fields, with different opinions on popular music, integrated into his argument.

Reasonable in his argument, Frith lays out facts, arrives at conclusions based on these and is thus able to establish an argument that is hard to dispute. By taking an historical overview of the development of  the differing notions of the way popular music is viewed by academics and the way it is viewed by the people who consume it, Frith takes the reader step by step, covering a greater period of time than Dalrymple, but with a reasonable look at general ,rather than one specific event. From the critiques derived from the 1930s and 1940s (51) through the 1950s to present day

Throughout his essay, Frith looks at both sides of the debate whilst still maintaining a clear focus on his argument. He acknowledges that, “there is still a split between what Frank Kogan describes as the discourse of the classroom… and the discourse of the hallway…”(51).  This sets up the opportunity for Frith to evaluate the differences in opinion among academics. This allows the reader to follow the authors rationale in arriving at the conclusion .The order of the essay is such that it begins with background information on the topic, in which the author talks about the different discourses present in academia, before increasing the intensity of his argument. After laying out the ideas of others, Frith then proceeds to express his views on the subject, based on his views.

Dalrymple States his position on popular culture from the beginning for range of reasons. He focuses on highlighting examples that represent extremes, talking Marylyn Manson for example, while not citing any notable sources on the subject. Frith first looks at the views of authoritative sources before leaping to a conclusion. The lack of  cited evidence and non academic tone versus Frith’s more structured essay makes ‘What’s wrong with twinkling buttocks less persuasive than , though passionate less persuasive than Frith’s article.

Bibliography

Dalrymple,Theodore, “What’s Wrong with Twinkling Buttocks?”, English 117 Course Reader ,Semester 2 2008, University of Canterbury Press,NZ , 46-50

Frith, Simon, “The good, the bad and the indifferent”, English 117 Course Reader, Semester 2 2008, University of Canterbury Press,NZ , 51-57