"The Sandlot" and the 1950's

The 1950’s were a restless time. People were moving in the U.S from the cities to the suburbs, entertainment was becoming more and more popular, civil rights and arts movements were growing, and science and technology was becoming more advanced. One of the many books and movies that help to depict the social continuity of the decade was the movie “The Sandlot”. “The Sandlot”, though also a very enjoyable and funny movie, showed many of these aspects of the 1950’s. From suburbia to sexism, the movie helps you to see what life was like back in ‘50s.
The first concept of social life in the 1950’s is suburbia. There was a great migration of people from the cities to the suburbs during the ‘50s. There were many reasons people thought that living in the suburbs was better than the frantic life style of the city. One of them was that it had become easier to travel to and from places with invention and advancement of the automobile. One of the other larger reasons was because of the increasing racial and immigration tensions in the city, many white people who wanted to escape it moved to the suburbs. This was known as the White Flight. The suburbs were also seen as a great place to raise a family since it was calm and peaceful. Since the homes were cheap and east to get, it seemed like a miracle for people needing a house because of the postwar housing situation, which made it hard to find homes anywhere. Ads on TV showed the suburbs as being a kind of paradise. In the movie “The Sandlot”, Smalls had just recently moved to the suburbs. In the movie, it depicts the suburbs as a family friendly place to live with fun activities and events. There was a block party on the 4th of July accompanied by fireworks. And the community pool that everyone could go to in the summer for a fun time. “The Sandlot” and the actual 1950’s suburbia seem to fit with each other perfectly.
Conformity was also a large part of the 1950’s. It became a normal, everyday part of American life. The