Progress and Regress 1
In this weekly feature, I’ll give a brief review of the week’s stories that represent a step forward in social consciousness in pop culture, and the ones that represent a step back.
In this weekly feature, I’ll give a brief review of the week’s stories that represent a step forward in social consciousness in pop culture, and the ones that represent a step back.
At some point in the very recent past, a group of men gathered in the glossy cartoon factory where pop music is made, its smokestacks churning cotton candy, and discussed just how to promote their latest carefully-calibrated hit: the Rihanna/Shakira collabo “Can’t Remember to Forget You.” About five minutes into the meeting, someone grunted “lesbians,” everyone snickered and high-fived for about five minutes, and a YouTube sensation was born.
I’ll admit it: five years of Ryan Murphy tyranny has given me major trust issues about gay representations in the mainstream media, so I was prepared to hate Looking.
In 1942, Billboard magazine, best known for its Hot 100 ranking of popular songs, introduced a new supplementary chart.