Whereas Macdonald perceives Mass Culture as one where everyone becomes increasingly similar in preferences with one another, hence there is no need for prizes in a bland society, Hairspray shows us that Mass Culture prizes distinctions and could be encouraging changes in society instead.
To develop this comparison, we consider how Macdonald perceives Mass Culture to bring about a ‘homogenized culture’ and cause the growing existence of the Mass man in the ‘lonely crowd’, hence there could be no need to establish a prize as there are little or no cause for recognition of individual talents. On the other hand, using Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray as the epitome of change, and the use of prizes, in this case, Miss Teenage Baltimore to celebrate differences in American society’s preferences and norms, we can determine if Macdonald's definition of Mass Culture is indeed what he has led us to believe.
Your premise that in Macdonald's mass culture, prizes will become obsolete, because no-one stands out in a sea of same-ness, is fascinating. There certainly is a move to imitate trendsetters in Hairspray, which supports this idea. However, there are also challenges to same-ness. Some interesting ideas to explore.
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