I love pop culture. The first few decades of my life was spent discovering to various pop culture works that shaped my life. In music I began with Buck Owens, then discovered Paul Revere and the Raiders and someone it led me all the way through Front 242 and on to Pat Metheny and Ornette Coleman. Television began simply enough with Super Friends and Star Trek, and of course comics played a major role.
I remember asking one of my high school teachers if life lost any of its flavor because the sense of discovery diminished as one grew older. She answered that there were always new things to discover. I was skeptical of that answer at the time, but now as I find my own years beginning to rack up a little more quickly than I anticipated, I realize she was right. However, I find myself more and more not gravitating toward new discoveries so much as rediscoveries. While I am still discovering lots of new pop culture, I am spending a great deal of time revisiting and reevaluating the pop culture of my past. 
There is a certain irony in our media situation today. The digital revolution has taken over and caused people to sweep aside collections of packaged media. They no longer want to keep stacks of books on their shelves or store a collection of CDs or Albums. A number of new music and book releases aren’t even finding enough interest to release a physical package and instead just offering a digital release. Oddly, the one area where packaged media is still flourishing is in lavish rereleases of classic pop culture product. We’ve seen the release of uber-deluxe editions of classic albums like Dark Side of the Moon and Rumors with expensive price tags and extravagant hardcover collections of comic runs that would have been unthinkable just a decade or two ago.
Now, I certainly have no illusions as to the reasons behind these releases. The companies are looking to milk the last few dollars out of a diminishing market. But while their intentions might not be so noble, the results are very noble indeed. Interestingly, it is a great time to be a lover of classic pop culture. For some it offers the chance to experience works they might have missed on their original release. For others it offers the chance to revisit works that helped shape their lives. Even more interesting, I am finding now that when I revisit a work that I enjoyed ten or twenty years ago, it means something almost completely different to me now.
I’ve always maintained that the most basic definition of art is communication, and communication itself is not a passive act. There can be no conversation without both a speaker and a listener, no exchange of ideas without both a disseminator and a receiver. All of which means that we bring our own baggage to any work of art. Obviously our tastes are important in forming an opinion about a piece of art, but there is usually more than just that. Our mood on a particular day, our own experiences with the topic, our prejudices and beliefs all figure into to just how we receive a work of art and pop culture. As we grow older and evolve, the perspective from which we view a television program or hear a piece of music changes. We are no longer quite the same person and so the art doesn’t quite mean the same thing. I think it offers us an insight into ourselves, even if we don’t consciously recognize it right away.
So if you haven’t revisited a favorite work in a long time, take this opportunity to dust it off and see just what it means to you now. Reflect on what those changes say about you. Because when all is said and done, it is great to rediscover a work of art, but it is even more important to discover something about ourselves.
And really, wasn’t that what the art was trying to do in the first place?