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Making Sense of Suburbia through Popular Culture
We all know what suburbia is, indeed the majority of us live in it. Yet, despite this ubituity, with no formal definition of the contept, the suburbs have developed in our collective imagination through representations in popular culture, from Terry and June to Desparate Housewives .
Rupa Huq examines how suburbia has been depicted in novels, cinema, popular music and on television, charting changing trends both in the suburbs and popular media consumption and production. She looks at the differences in defining suburbia in the US and UK and how characteristics associated with it have shifted in meaning and form.
Rupa Huq examines how suburbia has been depicted in novels, cinema, popular music and on television, charting changing trends both in the suburbs and popular media consumption and production. She looks at the differences in defining suburbia in the US and UK and how characteristics associated with it have shifted in meaning and form.
- GenresSociology
240 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
February 14, 2022
An incredibly detailed account of how our understanding of the suburbia has changed over the years through popular culture - whether it's music, film, television, books. Dr. Rupa Huq has also provided substantial evidence and explanations to back up her arguments - using a variety of tables and charts, as well as conclusions at the end of each chapter to ensure a solid understanding of the topic.
However, I could not help but feel that this is not intended for the general public - it is intended for other academics and scholars who are already very well read in sociology. And particularly in my case, I am not very well educated on pop culture - and so found it often quite a complicated read, with constant references, often without proper explanation. Albeit, it is worth noting that these thorough explanations are kept to a bare minimum initially, but as you progress you will notice a gradual increase in proper explanations to back up points and references to pop culture - so it does get better.
I also found it particularly fascinating how popular series/sitcoms often find humour in bitter truths about our society, including of suburbia. After a bit of thought I realised how true this was - series like Friends; The Big Bang Theory; Parks and Recreation; The Office - they all manage to successfully discover humour in the most bitter of things, including issues plaguing our society.
Same with the constantly changing role of Asians in popular culture - Huq provides decent arguments backing up such notions, and that makes it a really valuable read.
Overall - it's a 4/5. Whilst I initially was somewhat dissuaded from reading, given the constant pop culture refs and the expectation that the reader will just simply understand the reference without substantial explanation - it quickly improved, and I found myself understanding much more about suburbia and the role of popular culture in understanding the topic - and I have also found some good recommendations for what books/films/series I should check out next.
"It can be concluded that suburbia is a concept that is constantly in a state of renewal but importantly one for which it is far from the end of the road."
However, I could not help but feel that this is not intended for the general public - it is intended for other academics and scholars who are already very well read in sociology. And particularly in my case, I am not very well educated on pop culture - and so found it often quite a complicated read, with constant references, often without proper explanation. Albeit, it is worth noting that these thorough explanations are kept to a bare minimum initially, but as you progress you will notice a gradual increase in proper explanations to back up points and references to pop culture - so it does get better.
I also found it particularly fascinating how popular series/sitcoms often find humour in bitter truths about our society, including of suburbia. After a bit of thought I realised how true this was - series like Friends; The Big Bang Theory; Parks and Recreation; The Office - they all manage to successfully discover humour in the most bitter of things, including issues plaguing our society.
Same with the constantly changing role of Asians in popular culture - Huq provides decent arguments backing up such notions, and that makes it a really valuable read.
Overall - it's a 4/5. Whilst I initially was somewhat dissuaded from reading, given the constant pop culture refs and the expectation that the reader will just simply understand the reference without substantial explanation - it quickly improved, and I found myself understanding much more about suburbia and the role of popular culture in understanding the topic - and I have also found some good recommendations for what books/films/series I should check out next.
"It can be concluded that suburbia is a concept that is constantly in a state of renewal but importantly one for which it is far from the end of the road."
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review