A kitty cat will hunt the red dot of a laser pointer almost anywhere it’s pointed.Again and again, the poor kitty will paw at a smooth surface, expecting to grab that little bobbing light. Again and again, the confused cat will watch as nothing happens, just to try pawing it again. No matter what, no epiphany will ever explode in the cat’s mind: It will never know the light is not solid, just that it looks pretty and is elusive.We are that cat, and pop culture is that laser. At least for the next few hundred words.To enjoy most of pop culture, we need to keep ourselves one step removed from its reality, even when dreaming of a life mirrored by pop culture. More specifically, think of the classic dream of having a “soundtrack for your life.”If synthesizers were played from the heavens throughout our days with differing tempos — quickly when we’re driving for that winning layup and slowly when we see the partner of our dreams across a crowded room — we’d probably end up plugging our ears with bits of cotton to hold onto some semblance of sanity.But, man, it sounds awesome to have Europe’s “The Final Countdown” playing from thin air during the last mile of a long run or T.I.’s “Swagga Like Us” playing while walking in slow motion with sunglassed friends.I really couldn’t think of anything cooler.The idea is amazing, but the reality is terrible. Trying to sleep while the annoying life-soundtrack is playing Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” or trying to buy a girl a drink with Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” blasting blush into your face would be awful.The idea is amazing, but the reality is terrible, which is why we keep ourselves one step removed from pop culture. Otherwise, we would hate it.One of rap’s biggest stars is, unquestionably, T.I. With “Swagga Like Us” and the sappy “Whatever You Like” and the Rihanna, “Numa, Numa”-sampling hit, “Live Your Life,” T.I. seems to be having a good year.But he isn’t. He’s going to jail for buying three machine guns and two silencers as a formerly convicted felon. A fact mentioned vaguely throughout his new album.But when MIA’s sample begins and “Swagga Like Us” plays in a bar, no one thinks about the fact that the people singing it have slung rock and secretly buy automatic weapons (even while they rap about it). There is no reason to, because if we did think of these things, we’d probably end up hating what we previously liked.If we think about the fact that Snoop Dogg was once arrested for murder and acquitted, but then continued to boast in his songs about killing people, “Gin and Juice” might not make us want to dance and mouth the words.Rap constantly pushes violence and misogyny as normal ways of life, but most of us don’t actually think much about what’s being said.We can’t.It sounds good, and it looks good. So we don’t care.And this is seen in all parts of pop culture.Television sitcoms embody this by often discussing sex with a removal from the act. They probably do this so the viewer won’t actually imagine characters having sex when it’s said. We (well, most of us) don’t actually think of Ross and Rachel getting sweaty and going at it, and the show never really wanted us to.It wouldn’t seem like the nice, innocent comedy it presented itself as if everyone was thinking vividly of the near-constant sex all the characters were having.In theory it works, but in reality it wouldn’t.Lately, the media has blurred the line between the idea and the reality. Instead of being one step removed, Britney Spears’ every move (and body part) is suddenly being thrown across gossip rags. It’s not like this is new — celebrity gossip will probably always be popular to some.But as that fourth wall comes down for devices like televisions and speakers removing us from the reality of the art, we come dangerously close to seeing the actuality of pop culture.The idea is amazing, but the reality is terrible.And there is no reason for any of us to hate pop culture. If we did, there wouldn’t be pop culture.Just remember what T.I. tries to point out on his new album, “No way should reflection be mistaken for glorification.”We remove ourselves so we don’t glorify what’s actually being said. We like things because they sound good, look good and make us feel good.There’s nothing wrong with that.Don’t let anyone tell you there is.—Contact Travis Andrews at [email protected]