We always hear the word culture, but what does culture really mean? Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. However, the word "culture" is most commonly used in three basic senses:
▪ Excellence of taste in the Fine Arts and humanities, also known as High Culture.
▪ An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning.
▪ The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group.
Sitting in the last sociology class, I have realized that culture can simply be explained, just like sociology, to be a mixture of fun and interesting things. Simply put, culture is determined by many aspects including history, tradition and behaviors.
An example, the “Simpsons.”
The Simpsons has been on television for quite a while, created and broadcasted through Fox Broadcasting Company. The Animated sitcom was created to resemble the American middle class life style and brought with it all the domestic problems.
Due to its popularity, The Simpsons gained many viewers and still remains a favorite among societies consisting of all ages. From the dysfunctional family outlook, to the composed inner harmony of the characters, the Simpsons was seen to have brought with it many aspects of family and societal behaviors demonstrated in real life America.
How does the Simpsons relate to culture? Well, America was founded on the basis of a new world; there was no specific culture that was obtained by the so-called- Americans. However, American culture, or western culture as parts of the world call it, was developed through popular behaviors. From the Simpsons we reveal that even with such a simple television show, people’s ideas shift to the direction intended.
There is no way to say that culture was brought upon by mediums such as films and television shows such as the Simpsons. However, you can be sure that it has enhanced the ideas of culture to compass around it.
