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Caleb Spilman

English 11

28 February 2018

Transcendentalism in Pop Culture

Transcendentalism was at its height during the 1830s to the 1860s and was popularized

by writers such as George Putnam, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Frederic Henry Hedge. Starting

with New England intellectuals it quickly spread across the newly formed United States and

taught the ideals of nonconformity, self reliance, free thought, confidence, and the importance of

nature.

The most consistent part of anyone’s life is the fact that they’re in it. Everything else may

come and go and often will. Self reliance is about everyone taking what they possess within

themselves and using it to provide for their every need, because there may be no other choice.

Society is about people’s ability to work together but self reliance is all about the individual as

exemplified in this quote from a popular tv show, ​The Office,​ “In the wild, there is no health

care. In the wild, health care is, “Ow, I hurt my leg. I can’t run. A lion eats me and I’m dead.”

Well, I’m not dead. I’m the lion. You’re dead." - Dwight Schrute, “Health Care”, The Office.

While lacking the normal optimism of transcendentalism this quote exemplifies the

transcendentalist principle of self-reliance as well as confidence, learning from the natural world,

and doing away with the artificial constructs created by society. While being harsh this quote

acts as a reminder that in nature there is no health care. Health care is a product of society and

does not exist in the real world. If society is unable to take care of the individual, then the
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individual must be self reliant and strong enough to take care of themself, whether that makes

them the prey, or the lion. As society gets further and further from its roots in the natural world

it’s easy to forget how different things are in nature and that its rules outweigh society’s. The

natural world and its importance is also a core part of transcendentalism.

There are few things as popular in pop culture as Disney movies. Young or old, everyone

watches them. While the movie WALL-E was produced by Pixar since Disney’s purchase of

Pixar many people no longer can tell the two apart. The start of the film takes place on future

Earth covered in trash and almost completely devoid of life and instead has become occupied

almost solely by robots, and those to eventually begin to deteriorate. Without words the film

shows the potentially devastating effects humanity can have on the world and the price we pay

when we forget the importance of nature. WALL-E acts as a cautionary tale for those who would

abuse the environment for their own personal gain and echoes the environmentalist ideals of

transcendentalism. WALL-E does more than just express the ideas of the importance of nature

however. It also highlights the danger of becoming reliant on technology as the humans on the

ship rely on machines to perform every task for them and it eventually backfires. “Ladies and

Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. We have a slight malfunction with the autopilot.” -

WALL-E (2008). WALL-E shows the dangers of what happens when self reliance is replaced

with complacency. When independence is loss the journey to reclaim it is always demanding.

Those that have control hate to lose it, and it can be oh so tempting to give in and lose just a little

control over your own life in exchange for what someone may be offering. The need for self

reliance is the need to be free, and it’s difficult to achieve when the ability to think for yourself is

lost. This is why free thought is another key aspect of the transcendentalist ideals.
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Everyone wants to be free. Everyone wants the freedom to do what they want, when they

want, how they want to do it. It’s only natural for them to want to be free to go where they

please, but just because they aren’t behind barres and stuck in one place doesn’t mean they’re

free. Without free thought they can become a prisoner inside their own mind. When outside

voices muffle their own and they no longer know what their own voice sounds like and can

distinguish between their own beliefs the beliefs imposed upon them then they’ve lost free

thought, and without free thought you can never truly be free. Free thought is what makes the

individual, and without it you lose yourself and your own identity. This is why artists and

musician Antix calls for everyone to “question everything” in his song of the same name. “You

need to look into the world you’re in/ They wanna rob of your common sense/ Take away the

power that you have to exist/ On your own and they’re out/ They out for that full control/ They

wanna suck away what’s in your soul” (Antix). The artist, who tackles other political issues as

well, discusses in his song the necessity to question everything and to never accept something on

blind faith or just because someone else has said it’s true. The mind is a beautiful thing to waste,

but it’s even worse to lose, and there’s much for others to gain from its corruption. Relying on

personal intuition and insights instead of public opinion or beliefs can be difficult and requires

mental strength, intelligence, and most importantly, confidence. Confidence that they can be self

reliant, that they can go against the grain and survive, that they can’t hold on to their beliefs even

if others disagree and they lose the people they care about because of it.

The need for confidence is a critical one, but it’s also a dangerous one. What starts as

confidence can quickly become egotistical. It’s often said that ego is confidence misconstrued,

and that’s sometimes true but it’s also often not. Transcendentalism highlights the connectivity
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between man, nature, and god. A feeling superiority disconnects the individual from that

connectivity, and while being confident doesn’t mean someone feels superior, it is a slippery

slope between confident and egotistical, and someone may not even realize they have slipped

like in the song by ​Lifesavas​ HelloHiHey. “Alright get to the point man...who are you?/ Your

ego/ Nah I play it humble (true)/ I watch my words close/ My rep precedes me/ You never heard

Irv boast/ Hold it/ Need I remind you of the clever/ Kid rhyming backstage in your ear forever?/

Yeah, so?/ And what about the call from your friend?/ Who was kinda jaded, kinda dissed you at

the end?/ Now what you getting at?/ That was us/ Us who?/ Me and you” - Lifesavas

“HelloHiHey”. Confidence is important to the transcendentalist beliefs but it can also hinder it

when there’s too much of it. While confidence is needed in order to be self reliant and be able to

think freely as they chart their own course in the world it can also lead to them forgetting their

place in the world and how they connect to the larger picture of life, or the oversoul. Despite the

dangers, confidence is still crucial to the transcendentalist beliefs, especially when it comes to

nonconformity.

Transcendentalist beliefs truly originates from nonconformity. Puritanism had a

stranglehold on society and to not conform to the societal norms of the time was to question the

faith. This questioning of faith meant people were thinking for themselves leading to free

thought. These free thoughts made them outcasts of society. Proof of the need for self reliance.

The opening of their eyes to all that’s around them instead of just what the church showed them

made them realize the importance of nature and the way society deviates from how nature works,

and the first transcendentalist was created. Despite their deviation from the church God was still

prevalent in their beliefs and as such the oversoul is composed of God, Man, and Nature, almost
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like an alternate holy trinity. The transcendentalist movement would have never of occurred if

people had lacked the confidence to take that first step and question what they had been taught to

believe. Nonconformity and awareness are what truly started transcendentalism, and

nonconformity is heavily prevalent in modern pop culture. The examples are numerous. Many

modern songs talk about not conforming to the ideal body type and idolized body figure that is

unrealistically achievable and being attractive just the way they are. The entire hipster moment is

about going against what is popular and discovering the things unknown or overlooked by pop

culture. Nonconformity is one of the most prevalent ideals of modern music. Rappers and other

musicians criticize “haters” or people that don’t like their music and refuse to conform to what

people think they should sound like, even if their criticism is valid. Also present in rap is rappers

making fun of the mainstream rap trends, “How did rap music go from really good to so dry?/

Real artists get shelved and wack ones get famous/ To leave masses brainless, a smart mind is

dangerous/ In their eyes; there probably ain't no real shit in your playlist/ You're just a product of

what the government has created” - Hopsin “Nocturnal Rainbows. The list of examples extends

beyond the music industry and reflects people’s willingness to deviate from what's normal in

order to distinguish and discover themself. Transcendentalism most important contribution to

pop culture is its call for deviating from society and practicing nonconformity.

While the height of transcendentalism’s popularity has passed, its influence can still be

felt today as evident in the examples presented in this essay. Transcendentalistic ideas are being

presented to modern generations through new mediums that didn’t even exist at the time of its

creation. People are still learning about transcendentalism ideals in things such as tv shows,

movies, books, and other mediums as well. As time has passed transcendentalism ideas have
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persisted and been adopted by different groups such as hippies and has been expressed through

reggae music proving the relevance of nonconformity, self reliance, free thought, confidence,

and the important of nature to people today.