  I am Pop Culture I am an American. I know what it is like to be free and expect these freedoms to be protected by the government chosen by me. These said freedoms allow me to be who I want to be, say what I want to say, live how I want to live, and play how I want to play. No one has the power to take my freedoms away from me, unless I do something against these protected freedoms.
If I kill another man, I am still allowed to be represented by an attorney. I am read the Miranda and shoved to the floor (harshly) because I have gone against the code of society established by Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Homer Simpson. Homer Simpson?! What?! This fictional character, created by one of the most influential cartoonists ever, next to Schultz, Davis, Watterson, Parker & Stone, Judd, and Disney, has the power of the founding fathers? Most definitely… The majority of today’s culture does not follow the examples led by our elected leaders, the people who keep our country strong and worth fighting for. But then again, what do we fight for? I’ll tell you. We fight for Pop culture. Pop culture allows our feeble minds to understand the complexities the children of our past would have been taught at the age of five, if not sooner.
Pop culture gives the regular Joe Shmo the power to quote Shakespeare at the drop of a hat. Pop culture provides a person with the “intelligence” to give a lecture on a complex mathematical formula, or write an eighty-page dissertation on the art of war and growing technology. Pop culture teaches a four-year-old child to question the existence of God and Santa Clause because of their favorite movie. These aren’t necessarily bad results, but are the means a credible way to learn? Does it really matter where one gets their information, as long as they have the information?
Since the general populous learns these complexities from Pop culture, and most of the time, incompletely, will our society be affected by it? Has perception already been altered? A Collage: All I need to know about life I learned from questionable resources. I learned Hamlet, III.i, from a notorious “Bad Boy” of SNL. I learned the general concept of entropy and “chaos theory” from a man whose claim to fame was dressing up as a giant bug in a movie that made me think twice about looking through my medicine cabinet. I learned there is a disease research facility in New Hampshire with the capability to destroy mankind from a story about the apocalypse, a man who plays with fire, and Abigail Freeman. I learned there are five classes or tornados from a man who made me laugh in “Aliens” and a woman who made me cry in “As Good as it Gets.” I learned hundreds of philosophical theories from a man with a hat overlooking a fence as he explained them to a man with the intelligence of a Binford 5000 power drill. I learned there is a Santa Clause from a letter written in a newspaper to a small girl.
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I learned there is no Santa Clause from a Kay Bee toy advertisement in a newspaper. I learned an African-American boxer was once framed for murder in a song by a man playing the harmonica and smokin’ a bowl. I learned Ebenezer Scrooge wanted the biggest turkey in the window from a film starring Austin Powers’ father and a collection of foam puppets.
I learned the puffer fish could be poisonous, when eaten, from Homer’s Jay’s near death experience. I learned about the consequences of whaling from two futuristic astronauts on a wild trek through the heavens. I learned the supposed hierarchal organization of angels in the afterlife from a man who owns a New Jersey comic book store. I learned Edward the Longshanks of England was a bastard for a king from Mad Max. I learned pornography is an art form from an unexpected visit to a particular website when trying to research “rooster fights.” I learned…I learned…the tip of the iceberg.
Perhaps it is OK to be filled with valid information from questionable resources. Perhaps it is good enough to be able to formulate an opinion on a certain subject by basing it on what we have heard in a song, seen in a movie, or read somewhere. Perhaps this is all fine and dandy. But look at the result. Power lies with fiction and embellishment. “Braveheart” is not an exact account of Edward the Longshank’s actions, but many will assume what they see as 100% true. “The Simpson’s” have entertained us for years with clever anecdotes and witty referential one-liners that make us laugh because we think we know what they are talking about. No one is as smart as the media, and no one can avoid being exposed to misnomers and bent truths. The world no longer listens to the President or his cabinet anymore. They would much rather get their news at 10:00 p.m. on Comedy Central. --Don “Ghostwriter” Amodio 
