On Tue, 4 May 2004, Jon Johanning wrote:
> But Woj's original point has been lost sight of: he was trying to prove
> that the 60s were "apolitical" by bringing up the Beatles, as though
> that decade was about nothing but the Beatles.
>
> The Beatles were popular, sure, but they were just pop music stars.
> Maybe it's my antipathy towards popular music, but I've never
> understood why so many people equate politics with whoever is at the
> top of the pop charts. The Beatles obviously never had anything to do
> with real politics. As I said previously, most of the real politics of
> that period was done without much notice in the media -- the media just
> looked at the fluff, for the most part. After all, they are capitalist
> enterprises -- they concentrate on what they can sell. So do the big
> recording companies. Do people on a left mailing list need to be
> reminded of all this?
Even a good old school Marxist emphasizes that culture is a crucial ideological component in capitalist societies. Popular culture is political through and through in its effects, even if not in intent.
Miles