Predictions: Pop Culture

The more things change the more they stay the same. It’s a cliche phrase, one that hurts to write, but it’s perfectly applied to what’s going on in pop culture.

Today we will be focusing on Lady Gaga. The hipster forces should never have allowed her campaign of glitter and gloss to get past “Poker Face.” Instead she has become practically a pop-culture icon.

I’ve heard the performer’s act referred to as a “satire of pop music,” and that seems to be what people crave these days: media that produces inferior quality with a wink and a nudge to the viewer. No one will say that “Jersey Shore” has a good story, but that show is the talk of the campus, while “Better Off Ted” and “Dollhouse” are unknowns.

Talking about Gaga’s outfit that obscures her face is in essence identical to the water cooler conversations that occurred after Britney Spears wore an infamous see-through outfit at the MTV Video Music Awards.

But 2010 will give us more pseudo-reality in our pop culture, a cat-and-mouse game where viewers can be empowered that they’re “better” than the trash they love while producers wring their hands, happy to take profits either way.

With the economy still suffering, and California’s tax crisis causing a lot of work to be canceled or moved to Canada, expect more low-budget productions and viral videos for economic success.

I hope to see more attention given to on-demand content. Perhaps the movie and television executives will find ways to work more effectively with Netflix and Hulu respectively.

And though a decision could be hours away as I write this, let’s pray that Conan is given a respectful place in the line-up (he’s our generation’s entertainer after all) and Leno is banished to the cold regions of late night.