[Sever]

I too have a dislike for things which are 'popular' and can empathise with NiceWorg's POV. Well, not so much a dislike, rather a weariness of hype which the pop culture (whether music, film, games, whatever) breeds. We humans are a funny lot and can take a relatively sublime product and, with the aid of various mediums, turn it into a tidal wave of hype with the intention of reaching a broader target bracket. This tactic may be successful in lining the coffers of marketing execs but in so doing, isolates the target audience for whom the product was originally intended.

When i first heard about the LotR movies i couldn't wait to see them. I was a big fan of the books and had images in my head of what Tolkien's world was all about. Then, as the time drew nearer, the hype kept building and building to the point where i was worried that, in their attempt to bring middle earth to a new, more visually stimulated audience, the producers would destroy my own concept of what was special about it. Fortunately, this weariness was not wholly deserved, and i enjoyed the film (even with its 'pop' overtones) for what it was: food for the creative mind.

My second gripe with pop is its tendancy to strangle original, innovative products with marketing that is all too effective in swaying people who cannot make up their own minds. It pisses me off that a band with talent and a new/original style can be overshadowed by a bunch of teens who can't play or write music (hell, 90% of the time, they can't even sing) simply because the powers-that-be have decreed that it is 'popular'. In fact, it seems the only way such a band can ever be mildly successful is to employ the same methods used to elevate teen trash to stardom and by doing this, they run the risk of becoming pop themselves. It is a system that is in place solely to make a few people rich and it does so at the expense of variety in taste for everyone else.

Fortunately though, i can breathe easy knowing that the pop behemoth can never truly kill independant music/film/games. Such products are always around, one must simply look a little harder to find them.