"Cult Pop Culture" Explores the Changing Meaning of Cult in Everyday Popular Culture

March 18, 2012 - PRLog -- (KENT, OHIO)  Many people love popular culture to the point of obsession, whether it is a hardcore affinity for the Star Wars franchise or countless hours spent watching reality TV programming. Historically, such fanatics might have been scattered around the globe, obsessing in small cliques or groups. With the advent of the Web and countless cable television channels, however, “cult” has gone mainstream. Fans now possess the ability to collect, organize, and obsess over a given cult topic easily with the brush of a few keystrokes. The fringe has now become mainstream.

America’s obsession with the odd, offbeat, and simply strange comes alive in
Cult Pop Culture: How the Fringe Became Mainstream (Praeger), a three-volume edited anthology edited by Bob Batchelor, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University.

Cult Pop Culture is the first scholarly collection, yet written for a general audience,  dedicated to the quirky, offbeat aspects of American popular culture that people have loved, enjoyed, (and in some cases) worshiped over the last 50 years. By examining the (often seedy) people and subjects we hold most dear, the collection offers deep insights into what Americans think, feel, and cherish.

“Cult pop culture is not held at arms length anymore,” said Batchelor. “Instead, fanatics everywhere are embracing their odd obsessions, moving them from outcast to the center of our daily lives. A glimpse of the latest films, TV shows, and books demonstrates that we are in the midst of ‘weird America,’ which celebrates the quirky, offbeat aspects of contemporary American life.”

Cult Pop Culture consist of 51 essays written by noted popular culture scholars, including Brian Cogan (Molloy College), Leigh H. Edwards (Florida State University), Lincoln Geraghty (University of Portsmouth – UK), Philip L. Simpson (Brevard Community College), and Shawn David Young (Clayton State University). Chapters include investigations of cult phenomenon such as “Whose Brand Is It Anyway?: How Brands Become Cults by Becoming Inclusive,” “Wes Anderson and the Cult of Hipster Aesthetics,” “The Cult of Cute: Disney Princesses and American Girlhood,” and “Reality TV and the New American Family.” Many other cult topics get broad treatment in the book, from the Star Wars franchise to traditional classics, like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Elvis Presley, and Oprah Winfrey.

About Bob Batchelor
Bob Batchelor is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University and academic coordinator of its online M.A. program in public relations. He received his undergraduate degree in history, philosophy, and political science at the University of Pittsburgh; master’s degree in history at Kent State University; and doctorate in English at the University of South Florida.

Bob is the author or editor of 17 books, including: The 1900s; The 1980s; The 2000s; and American Pop: Popular Culture Decade by Decade (4 vols.) and American History through American Sports (3 vols.). He has published in Radical History Review, The Journal of American Culture, The Mailer Review, The American Prospect Online, and Public Relations Review. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of The Journal of Popular Culture and the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning.

Bob’s current research includes books on John Updike, Bob Dylan, and the rubber industry in World War II. He is also editing the anthology We Are What We Sell: How Advertising Shapes American Life…And Always Has (3 vols.).