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positive and negative impacts of television on youth
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The 1950’s Nightmare
Where american citizens afraid during the 1950’s? From the films we see about this certain time period most would say no because from the looks of the film they had no problems. People had on smiles and families greeted each other happily as they came home from school or work. What you don’t see in those films is what was really happening during the 1950’s movie magic can cover up the parts of the 50’s that were basically pure nightmares to go through. Though it may be true that families in the fifties would still greet each other when they walked through the door but like was all just black and white smiles. When you imagine the fifties after seeing it on tv you don’t bother imagining things like The red scare, Nuclear attack threats, or the Korean war. During the 1950’s you basically had to watch what you say or you’d be considered communist or practice your drill’s in school in case a nuclear attack ever happened (though I seriously don’t believe duck and cover as you hide under your desk would really protect you from a nuclear bomb). The 1950’s weren’t a dream when you think about it.
Before I decided to do my report on how the 1950’s was a nightmare had had to first rule out what the nightmares where and what the dreams of the 50’s were. thinking of the nightmares was easy while thinking of the dreams was a little hard I ended up was putting trivial things like television sets came out to replace ye old radio and many other things in that nature such as the suburbs, credit, or Vacation work days for the man who works. it all came down to how the 1950’s being a nightmare. Though the 50’s weren’t just a nightmare I admit there are some parts of it that where dreams but for the sake of this essay I can ...
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...communism. the 1950’s were a nightmare but to the unseen eye there were also some parts that were a dream but as I already said when trying to choose my topic of this essay I discovered though there were good parts of the 50’s there were even more parts that made it a nightmare. which probably gave film directors more reasons to try creating the illusion to us with the films, novels, and total out look of the the 1950’s as a dream so that we are not consumed by the nightmares of it all until we learn about it through our education in history.
work cited
http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/red-scare
http://www.radiochemistry.org/history/nuclear_timeline/50s.html
http://www.atomcentral.com/the-cold-war.aspx
http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/hollywood-ten
http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/joseph-mccarthy
During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.
The thirties were a time of the Great Depression. Everyone was poor. People who had had riches in abundance not one year earlier were living on the streets. It would take years for America to recover, and the road to get there was not very smooth.
The Fifties by David Halberstam is a phenomenal account of one of the most influential decades in the history of the United States of America. From the war in Korea to the opening of E.J. Korvette, it seems as though Halberstam scrutinizes the nineteen fifties with the utmost care and respect. In doing so, he also creates a vivid portrait of American life in the decade. However, Halberstam's writing style is not always straightforward and at times can be confusing, especially to readers without some prior knowledge of the events that took place during the fifties. Though the book may be confusing at times, it is still a marvelous collection of the events that defined the fifties and the decades that followed.
The 1950’s have received a reputation as an age of political, social and cultural conformity. This reputation is rightfully given, as with almost every aspect of life people were encouraged to conform to society. Conforming is not necessarily a negative thing for society, and the aspects of which people were encouraged to conform in the 1950’s have both negative and positive connotations.
1950’s culture revolved around predetermined roles in society that caused numerous issues, both within an individual and within the society. The stringent society caused teenagers and parents to act a certain way, and if they did not, they were viewed with suspicion. Conforming to the society was challenging for many, and if one did not conform, he or she would be face mental issues or societal issues. In Rebel Without a Cause, Nicholas Ray depicted the culture of the 1950’s by showing the type of dating, juvenile delinquency, and parenting that took place during those times and showed its effect on not only that decade, but how it would shape the future years.
(Goldberg, 2004) The 1950’s was a decade of fear, but it was fear that came with hope that peace and prosperity should never be taken from the people again. A shift from families crowding around their radio trying to hear the news, they began sitting down in front of their television watching their favorite shows that only aired once a week on either CBS, ABC, or NBC. Richard Powers said, "There have always been inter-family conflicts between parents and their adolescent children, but this cultural division was larger.” (Powers) he went on to say “A significant proportion of the adult generation disapproved of the values and lifestyle of the teens, and was doing something about it, including setting new rules, restrictions and prohibitions.” (Powers). This quote ties directly into the movie. This decade had many ups and many downs. It launched the
The 1950’s Red Scare did majorly impact artists and intellectuals of the time, but it also affected everyone from the average citizen to the highest ranking solider in the military. It is also very important to mention that the Red Scare also affected Canadians of the 1950’s and Canadian immigrants that lived in the area at the time. The thesis statement however is still a solid fact that can’t simply be shirked away and is a part of a moment in time that historians say is “the most despicable moment in human history.”
Since the beginning of time, humans have been changing, developing, and evolving. The 1950s was a fascinating era in American history, and whether its people altered for good or bad is debatable, but one thing is for certain - many drastic changes were made during this time, especially involving teenagers. Juvenile delinquency erupted from the depths of the community, and countless gangs arose. Different genres of music were also emerging. Old perspectives were being replaced with controversial ideas; a lot was about to change.
The fifties was a learning year and the 60's became the time to express everything that they learned. The 60's was a time for new and innovative ways to entertain the people. Since the blacklisting continued in Hollywood, the making or films became very difficult to express. The restrictions, such as the production codes, kept the big corporations to produce films that had no interesting subjects. These films also had to be films that show no signs of communistic values. The film industry was failing to bring in the audience to the theaters. With the TV making a big wave all over, the U.S. the film industry was losing it is money. Then in 1961 something big happened, 20th Century Fox took apart its lot. This act was one that led to a chain reaction. Studios were assuming the role of distributors. This would allow the independent companies to come in and add a new flavor to the silver screen. During this time films changed it's traditional film making ideas. Things started to get graphic, more violent, sexual and more expressive. Movies had found a new look and with the production codes now gone and the blacklisting ending, there was an explosion of ideas that would be presented to the United States.
The Fifties were a good time to be a white middle class American These years brought an UN-thought of prosperity and confidence to Americans who barely remembered the Great Depression. Popular music of the early fifties mirrored the life of mainstream America: bland predictable and reassuring. Which didn't seem bad after the depre...
The 1950s was a time when American life seemed to be in an ideal model for what family should be. People were portrayed as being happy and content with their lives by the meadia. Women and children were seen as being kind and courteous to the other members of society while when the day ended they were all there to support the man of the house. All of this was just a mirage for what was happening under the surface in the minds of everyone during that time as seen through the women, children, and men of this time struggled to fit into the mold that society had made for them.
The 1950s were a decade in American history that was filled with many of successes. Everybody was excited and relieved now that the war was finally over and that their loved ones were safely home with their families. Families in the 1950s were very conservative and always had the perfect family image, until the “teenagers” came along. Teens were not the most likable people in society, because they listened to crazy, tasteless music and were known as rebels. The crazy, tasteless music changed music forever. Since the 50s were right after WWII, many foreign policies emerged, some provided assistance to countries that were in need. The U.S. was also dealing with and epidemic for years, until the early 50s when a vaccine was created which also changed the way vaccinations were given to the public. The 1950’s were the most influential decade towards contemporary America because, throughout this decade not only did we discover vaccinations that saved hundreds of live, but we also had the rise of Rock N’ Roll which changed music forever including a foreign policy which helped rebuild economies in Europe called the Marshall Plan.
During the years between 1920 and 1960, America saw change in many aspects of life. The United States was a part of two major wars and a crash of the banking system that crippled the economy greater than ever seen in this country’s history. Also the country had new insecurities to tackle such as immigration and poor treatment of workers. These events led to the change of America lives socially, economically, and politically. The people of America changed their ideas of what the country’s place in the world should be. The issues challenging America led the country to change from isolation to war, depression to prosperity, and social change. The threats to American way of life, foreign and domestic, were the changing forces to the country in the twenties to the sixties.
Stephanie Coontz's essay `What we really miss about the 1950's' is an essay that talks about a poll taken in 1996 by the Knight-Ridder news agency that more Americans preferred 1950's as the best decade for children to grow up. Coontz doesn't believe that it is a decade for people to remember fondly about, except for financial reasons and better communication within families. Coontz doesn't believe in it as the best decade because of the votes, the 50's only won by nine percent, and especially not by African Americans. Examples from family and financial issues in the 50's that makes it better than other decades from 20's to 80's. She doesn't believe that the 50's should be taken `literally' because from 50's there were changes in values that caused racism, sexism discrimination against women. Even though the 50's were good, it didn't lead to a better 60, 70, and 80.
The 1950s seemed like a perfect decade. The rise of suburbs outside cities led to an expansion of the middle class, thus allowing more Americans to enjoy the luxuries of life. The rise of these suburbs also allowed the middle class to buy houses with land that used to only be owned by more wealthy inhabitants. Towns like Levittown-one of the first suburbs- were divided in such a way that every house looked the same (“Family Structures”). Any imperfections were looked upon as unfavorable to the community as a whole. Due to these values, people today think of the 1950s as a clean cut and model decade. This is a simplistic perception because underneath the surface, events that took place outside the United States actually had a direct effect on our own country’s history. The rise of Communism in Russia struck fear into the hearts of the American people because it seemed to challenge their supposedly superior way of life.