American culture has evolved a lot over the past half century. When you go back and listen to the music and watch the movies that our grandparents listened to and watched, you see it is completely different then what we see today. American culture has morphed a lot over the past years separating us from our grandparents. It seemed much more innocent back then. For example, if girls wore a skirt over their knees a certain length they were considered a whore. If a guy had an ear pierced they were labeled gay. You didn’t expect to see blood, gore, sex and drugs in the movies back then but today, it’s a common part of every movie above G rated. However, back then it was also much more intolerant. Today, the level of tolerance in America has dramatically improved. Whether it is Race Relations, gender gap, gay rights, and immigration, people are a lot more accepting in my generation then the generations of the past. We are the new great generation.
But with this era of new found tolerance and equality, comes negative parts of our culture that is reflected in what we see as pop culture. For example drug use, children born out of wedlock, and STD’s are way up from the 1950’s. We can see these problems mirrored in Hollywood and on MTV as we learn about celebrities being rushed into rehab and their kids being taken away from them like Britney Spears or in the movies where it seems like drug use and unprotected sex is celebrated in some ways. But would I trade these times for the past? No. We have come too far as a society that the gains we have made far overshadow the negative things that have resulted. From the Civil Rights acts of the 60’s, to the leveling out of economic differences between men and women, our society has advanced very far in 50 years. It is up to us to keep that going.
1 comment:
American culture has definitely progressed greatly over the past half century. This has been a result of pop culture. Pop culture has always been a forerunner in transitioning society from one phase to another. I agree with the fact that as more and more things become tolerant, it becomes tougher and tougher to keep out the bad. I think a key point that has affected this huge leap in tolerance as well as exposure to gore, nudity, drugs, etc. is technology. First off, movies have always had an impact on American culture, actors have served as idols for our society. As technology has improved, a larger audience has been influenced by movies. In addition to movies, the internet bounded onto the scene in the late 80's and early 90's. This has provided access to all sorts of information that would never been available to many people prior to its invention. People have been able to share different ideas and visions over the internet, which opens peoples eyes to things they hadn't been exposed to before.
You mentioned that you wouldn't change our progression into a new type of culture, even though it comes with a price. I completely agree; although, there are negatives, I enjoy the freedom that I have nowadays, that might have been forbidden 50 years ago, such as hanging out with whatever people I want regardless of their status or race. In order to move forward in a positive fashion, these pop stars who created these badass images that people follow, need to step up and create a new image. Use this improved technology to reach as many people as possible and preach good values that will improve society as a whole.
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