"Relating to the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a society of a society: the cultural diversity of British society.
Relating to the arts and to intellectual achievements: a cultural festival."
Quote:
"Culture is the intersection of people and life itself. It's how we deal with life, love, death,birth, disappointment... all of that is expressed in culture." - Wendell Pierce
Photography: Glastonbury 2013 crowds at the Pyramid Stage, representative of youth culture and musical culture that personally have had a significant impact on my development and understanding of myself and others.
Image: One of the covers for Alan Moore's Watchmen, a cultural commentary of the various different aspects of American government and American people in the closing decades of the 20th century. The characters in this novel are the primary form of commentary on American culture through their differing personalities. The loud brute, The Comedian represents America's military strength and arrogance concerning both WW2 and the Vietnam War, through his gung-ho attitude and love of physical violence. The stoic and unwavering Rorschach represents the attitude of black and white morality (showcased by his ever changing in pattern but constantly black and white coloured mask) fading in an age defined by grey areas in morality and American culture. Rorschach is unwilling to compromise with modern ideals and is out solely to punish the guilty and defend what he perceives as justice. Ozymandias is the parallel to rapidly expanding 20th century capitalism, becoming strong enough to control everything from what brand of soap people buy, to the literal nuclear apocalypse. Dr Manhattan represents a part of American culture that survives still today and is the main reason America's culture revolves around it being the strongest nation on the planet; nuclear firepower. Dr Manhattan's physics defying powers are a metaphor for America's A-Bomb, which the world lived in constant fear of since seeing its destructive capabilities in the closing months of World War 2. All of these characters present a different representation of different aspects of American culture, and the dangers of how these elements of culture intersect and clash. (I think I wrote too much but I could write about Watchmen for days.)
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