Critical Reading: Stewart Hall, Notes on Deconstructing the Popular

As the title suggests in Hall's essay he dicusses what 'popular' is. He presents two different ways that he understands the word. He also talks about the class struggle between what is popular and unpopular. One class may see things in one light while another class may totally disagree
One attempt that Hall makes to deifine cultrure in away that he believes has true relevance in the attempt to define popular culture is that he believes the things that people do is popular. He believes that people constantly construct the domain of culture and place it under the term popular or unpopular. From time to time what is under each heading will change position with the changes in latest fads or interests.
Hall also says how this years radical slogan will be neutralised into next years fashion. This is showing how things become normalised and things may appear shocknig at first glance but eventually things become more acceptable. Similar to the way that subcultures become commodified, and blend with main stream culture.
I will be perfectly honest I found this critical reading extremely hard to understand, the above is what I can get from, plus a little more. The arguement is set out clearly at the beginning of the text, but after getting a little way though I became totally lost and did not really know what Hall was trying to argue. I do agree with what he says about what popular is constantly changing, most things do not stay around for too long before they beocme old boring and unpopular.