I know every song from Mega Man II by heart. I also know the names of all of the robot masters, and I have memorized the weaknesses of more than a few of them.
Which is weird, since I have never picked up that game in my life.
Rather, I have absorbed it through the Culture of Popular Culture. I am a fan of Mega Man. I have played Mega Man ZX Advent, Battle Networks 3, 5, & 6, Star Force 1 & 2, and I plan on someday picking up Mega Man Zero Anniversary Collection. I am, to a certain extent, a part of the Mega Man community. and with that, I have absorbed the history of the community; from Mega Man (released in 1984) to Mega Man 10 (released in 2009), and all of game released in between. I also am a big fan of two Mega Man themed rock bands, The Megas (who do covers of the music from the games and fleshes out the characters) and The Protomen (who turn two-line back stories in to epic rock operas).
I also enjoy Doctor Who. This is especially nice, as Doctor Who’s popularity is comparable to that of Star Wars, if the series was released with the frequency of Star Trek. It currently has been going on for 31 seasons(and 11 actors playing The Doctor) and counting, and still going strong. Not a week goes by that I do not hear something that somehow relates to Doctor Who.
Religion is not the unifying force that it once was. In a globalized world, everyone has a different religion. and with different religions come different icons; the stories and characters of one religion may be unheard of among people of other religions. Furthermore, people in the first world are simply less religious than they used to be.
But if I showed you a picture of Batman, you would probably recognize him.
And that is the Culture of Pop Culture: in a world where people are less religious than they used to be, people join fandoms to fulfill their need to feel like they belong. Sure many people probably won’t admit it, but rooting for the Cincinnati Bengals is no different than saying that Naruto Uzumaki could beat Harry Potter in a fight. Old reactions still apply as well: though toned down quite a bit, the rivalry between Team Jacob and Team Edward. is similar to the animosity between Catholics and Protestants. (likewise, the need to have someone to hate has been projected onto Twihards in general).
This is why I spend what is probably an unhealthy amount of time on Kotaku.com. It is why I am a Troper (have fun on that site all day!). It’s why I can recite the original Team Rocket Motto by heart. all of these are components of the fandoms I am a part of, and in the case of TV Tropes, it is a fandom I am in. I feel like I am a part of these communities. I fact some people become part of an activity for the community (I started researching Doctor Who so I could understand the references months before I actually started watching.) Part of the reason many people watch sports is to have something to do with their friends on the weekends, and talk to other people about come Monday Morning. For many people, their fandom community has replaced their religious community in their hearts. Ultimately, this explains the prevalence of pop culture references. They remind you that you are not alone in your interests.
The Culture of Pop culture is here; and it’s power level is over 9000.
