Mainstream
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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- The mainstream comes to you, but you have to go to the underground. - Frank Zappa
Mainstream is, generally, the common current of thought of the majority. It is a term most often applied in the arts (i.e., music, literature, and performance). This includes:
- something that is normal;
- something that is familiar to the masses;
- something that is available to the general public.
As such, the mainstream includes all popular culture, typically disseminated by mass media. The opposite of the mainstream are subcultures, countercultures, cult followings, underground cultures and (in fiction) genre. Additionally, Mainstream is sometimes a codeword used for one's own actual ethnocentric or subculture point of view, especially when delivered in a culture war speech. It is sometimes used as a pejorative term. [1] [Apr 2007]
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In film
Mainstream films can best be defined as commercial films that know a wide release and play in first run theatres (A movie theater that runs primarily mainstream film fare from the major film companies and distributors, during the initial release period of each film). Being sold at popular stores (such as Amazon.com or its affiliates), or more typically, at general stores (such as Wal-Mart and its affiliates) can also be an indicator. Hollywood movies are usually considered mainstream and blockbusters are also mainstream films. The boundary is vague. Mainstream suggests middle-of-the-road and implies commercial viability, sometimes implying that the commercial viability is tantamount to a loss of artistic creativity. The opposite of mainstream film may be experimental film, art film or cult film.
In literature
In literature, particularly in literary criticism, "mainstream" is used to designate traditional realistic or mimetic fiction, as opposed to genre fictions such as science fiction, romance novels and mysteries, as well as to experimental fiction.
In music
Musically, mainstream music denotes music that is familiar to the masses, as for example popular music, pop music, middle of the road music, rock and roll music and most modern rap music, and some Nu metal music. Mainstream jazz is generally seen as an evolution of be-bop, which was originally regarded as radical.
In sociology
Mainstream pressure, through actions such as peer pressure, can force individuals to conform to the mores of the group (e.g., an obedience to the mandates of the peer group). Some have stated that they see mainstream as the antithesis of individuality.
