Culture, Ideology, and The Music Man

Above: A live performance of "Ya Got Trouble" with Robert Preston as Professor Harold Hill.  The Music Man won the 1958 Tony Award for Best Musical after opening on Broadway in 1957.

The following two quotes are from Barker's book that reemphasize and reinforce the idea of the "above" culture, a dominating force in society:

• "...the ruling ideas are the ideas of the ruling class" (56).
• "the production of popular music, film, felevision and fashion is in the hands of transnational capitalist corporations" (50).

We started today's class with "Ya Got Trouble" from the The Music Man, which couldn't have been any more brilliant, being that I love musical theatre and all :)  In the musical, Hill creates the illusion that pool (billiards) is a major threat to the "above" culture, circulating the fear that their very morals and ideologies are at stake.  Most importantly, their kids need to be saved from this trouble before they, too, become immoral individuals.  Just as the Wizard says in the musical Wicked, "Where I come from, everyone knows the best way to bring folks together, is to give them a really good enemy!"  Hill does exactly that, essentially brainwashing them into thinking that they need to do something about this growing, pool-playing culture and maintain their place in society.  He brings together the parents and guardians of the children (basically, those who have the power) in a sort of rally-cry, presenting them with the opportunity to follow him in this movement to rid of pool.

The ideas just mentioned fit within Rivkin and Ryan's broad definition of culture as a "...means of domination, of assuring the rule of one class or group over another, and a means of resistance to such domination, a way of articulating oppositional points of view to those in dominance."  The dominating group being the parents and political leaders of the town, and the resisting group being the pool-players.  The setting of the musical seems to be a mimetic portrayal of a small town in the early 1900s, which brought about a discussion of nostalgia and how "the powers that be" can use pathos to influence consumerism of certain products and beliefs in today's economically-driven world.  i.e. If I feel dissatisfied with certain aspects of my current life, I can buy one or several products that will give me satisfaction.

What are the implications of the following picture from an advertisement for Snuggies?

Becoming a cultural phenomenon, the creators of the infamous Snuggie attempted to get consumers to believe that this sleeved blanket would allow them to curl up to their kids or spouse and spend quality time together, especially in this 21st century society where technology has taken over and, instead of gathering around the dinner table after a hard day at work and school, both teens and parents sit in front of the television, Tweeting from their Blackberries.  If these profit-motivated corporations can get Americans to buy millions of Snuggies, what else can they get us to buy into?


Barker, Chris.  Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice.  Los Angeles: Sage, 2008.  Print.

Rivkin, Julie, and Michael Ryan, eds.  Literary Theory: An Anthology.  Malden: Blackwell, 1998.  Print.
---------------------------
Just because: Matthew Broderick as Hill and Kristen Chenoweth as Marian in the 2003 film adaptation of The Music Man, performing one of my favorite songs from the show, "Till There Was You".