It is quite exciting that we are now talking about the music, the television, and the culture of the \u201850s. As much as the country was struggling with being in and out of wars, and having worries about foreign policy, we had an iconic pop culture forming. I believe this is what people are referencing when they reminisce about how wonderful the \u201850s were.<\/p>\n
Elvis: the king of rock, Chuck Berry, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett, are few of the amazing talents that came out of the \u201850s. America\u2019s music scene was alive and appreciated; it was a changing atmosphere. The development of rock was a new look on music, much different from the big band\/swing music that used to dominate the scene. People were taking their mind off of the country\u2019s troubles with their love of music. They enjoyed shows such as American Bandstand, which showcased live music from people\u2019s favorite acts of the time. It aired 3,000 episodes in its 31 seasons, displaying people\u2019s great love and appreciation of music in the \u201850s. <\/p>\n
TVs were also becoming more prevalent in this era. This made America a smaller, more connected place. Everyone could watch one show at the same time! The country was more connected also through the broadcast of news instead of reading it on magazines. We could all find out \u201ctoday\u2019s news today!\u201d And for the first time, instead of listening to radio shows, people could watch their favorite sitcoms such as I Love Lucy, The Ed Sullivan Show, Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, and The Twilight Zone. Families could bond over the comedic aspect of many of the sitcoms, but they could also learn how to live in the \u201850s and see what was expected of a \u201ctypical American family.\u201d Television guided American life and provided a framework of how it was supposed to be. People relied more heavily on pop culture to dictate what society was expecting. This educational aspect made television an important part of life in the 1950s. It also took the country\u2019s worries and soothed it with comedy, letting Americans relax, even if it was only for a mere thirty minutes.<\/p>\n
Popularity with movies and movie theaters declined when the television was introduced. People enjoyed that they could watch multiple shows right in their living room with their families. To bring back the love for movies, Hollywood decided to be more risqu\u00e9. They challenged the boundaries of what was socially acceptable to put on the silver screen. The movies were trying to appeal to the audience, to get people to come back out and watch cinema. Elizabeth Taylor was cast in multiple movies playing the part of a temptress. The stretched rules of what could and couldn\u2019t be seen gave way to the most well-known symbol of the the fifties, Marilyn Monroe. She acted in twenty-three films, and everyone only truly focused on her appearance, objectifying her as a \u201csex symbol.\u201d Movies such as Around the World in 80 Days, Moby Dick, and The King and I, allowed people to relax and enjoy a good story, forgetting about the world\u2019s problems. The movie producers spent millions on making these films called \u201cblockbusters.\u201d The astounding amount of money used peaked curiosity and once the movies were seen, they reinstated the people\u2019s love for going to the movies. This distracted people from the troubles of the era, and let them appreciate the nice things in life, such as beautiful women and good movies. <\/p>\n
As important as the music, the movies, and the TV were to the shaping of the culture in the \u201850s, we learn much about the era and how it shaped the current world through these resources. The music business was forever changed because of the 1950s. Without acts such as Elvis, rock and roll wouldn\u2019t have been a genre for future acts to find great success in. It introduced the sound of rock, paving the way for arguably, the most influential band in all of history: The Beatles. The emergence of rock and roll in the \u201850s gave The Beatles a platform to create their great success. More so, people still listen to and know many of the musical acts from the \u201850s; sixty-three years later, the stars of that time are still household names. That is astronomical success. People still love the actors and actresses of the era. Marilyn Monroe is still one of the most well known women of the \u201850s, and people idolize her to this day. The movies made then, are still loved today, so much so that many movies have been remade because the storyline was so well written. Classic \u201850s sitcoms are still watched and appreciated today. We appreciate them for the comedy aspect, but also for the (partially delusional) fact that we love the \u201ctypical\u201d \u201850s family life that was depicted. We crave the quirky, loving nature that is displayed in our favorite sitcoms. Their simple lives with the strict gender roles that get them into trouble, we find funny, yet lovable. <\/p>\n
People are in love with the culture and the idea of the era that was portrayed in the \u201850s pop culture. That\u2019s what people remember when they talk about the \u201850s. All of the iconic music, movies, and sitcoms, we loved then and we still love today. Even though the era was ravaged with wars, atomic crises, and foreign relations, we turn a blind eye to that aspect. We do what the people did in the \u201850s, and pay more attention to the culture to take our minds off the looming threats that existed. Because we choose to overlook that side of the \u201850s, we can further appreciate and love the \u201850s for the happy-go-lucky side of the era. <\/p>\n
-Sarah Y.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is quite exciting that we are now talking about the music, the television, and the culture of the \u201850s. As much as the country was struggling with being in and out of wars, and having worries about foreign policy, we had an iconic pop culture forming. I believe this is what people are referencing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student-blogposts","tag-fa13"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsu.tonahangen.com\/fysfifties\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsu.tonahangen.com\/fysfifties\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsu.tonahangen.com\/fysfifties\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsu.tonahangen.com\/fysfifties\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsu.tonahangen.com\/fysfifties\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wsu.tonahangen.com\/fysfifties\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87,"href":"https:\/\/wsu.tonahangen.com\/fysfifties\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions\/87"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsu.tonahangen.com\/fysfifties\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsu.tonahangen.com\/fysfifties\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsu.tonahangen.com\/fysfifties\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}