{"product_id":"1999-ross-benes-9780700638574","title":"1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted Our Bizarre Times","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrom pro wrestling and Pok?mon to Vince McMahon and Jerry Springer, this look at the low culture of the late '90s reveals its profound impact and how it continues to affect our culture and society today.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe year 1999 was a high-water mark for popular culture. According to one measure, it was the \"best movie year ever.\" But as journalist Ross Benes shows, the end of the '90s was also a banner year for low culture. This was the heyday of Jerry Springer, Jenna Jameson, and Vince McMahon, among many others. Low culture had come into its own and was poised for world domination. The reverberations of this takeover continue to shape American society.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring its New Year's Eve countdown, MTV entered 1999 with Limp Bizkit covering Prince's famous anthem to the new year. The highlights of the lowlights continued when WCW and WWE drew 35 million American viewers each week with sex appeal and stories about insurrections. Insane Clown Posse emerged from the underground with a Woodstock set and platinum records about magic and murder. Later that year, \u003ci\u003eDance Dance Revolution\u003c\/i\u003e debuted in North America and \u003ci\u003eGrand Theft Auto\u003c\/i\u003e emerged as a major video game franchise. Beanie Babies and Pokeacute;mon so thoroughly seized the wallets and imagination of collectors that they created speculative investment bubbles that anticipated the faddish obsession over nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The trashy talk show \u003ci\u003eJerry Springer\u003c\/i\u003e became daytime TV's most-watched program and grew so mainstream that \u003ci\u003eAustin Powers\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSabrina the Teenage Witch\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Wayans Bros.\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Simpsons\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe X-Files\u003c\/i\u003e incorporated Springer into their own plots during the late '90s. Donald Trump even explored a potential presidential nomination with the Reform Party in 1999 and wanted his running mate to be Oprah Winfrey, whose own talk show would make Dr. Oz a household name. Among Springer's many guests were porn stars who, at the end of the millennium, were pursuing sex records in a bid for stardom as the pornography industry exploded, aided by sex scandals, new technology, and the drug Viagra, which marked its first full year on the US market in 1999.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAccording to Benes, there are many lessons to learn from the year that low culture conquered the world. Talk shows and reality TV foreshadowed the way political movements grab power by capturing our attention. Pro wrestling mastered the art of \"kayfabe\"--the agreement to treat something as real and genuine when it is not--before it spread throughout American society, as political contests, corporate public relations campaigns, and nonprofit fundraising schemes have become their own wrestling matches that require a suspension of disbelief. Beanie Babies and Pok?mon demonstrate capitalism's resiliency as well as its vulnerabilities. Legal and technological victories obtained by early internet pornographers show how the things people are ashamed of have the ability to influence the world. Insane Clown Posse's creation of loyal Juggalos illustrates the way religious and political leaders are able to generate faithful followers by selling themselves as persecuted outsiders. And the controversy over video game violence reveals how every generation finds new scapegoats.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e1999\u003c\/i\u003e is not just a nostalgic look at the past. It is also a window into our contentious present.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ross Benes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0700638571\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780700638574\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Kansas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/22\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 280\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ross Benes","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46420495204607,"sku":"9780700638574","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_4a8b0fe1-072e-4e96-86b2-f4e4d9b6ced8.jpg?v=1734634799","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/1999-ross-benes-9780700638574","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}