Preview

Society Impact on Pop-Culture Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
646 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Society Impact on Pop-Culture Essay Example
Media Impact on Pop Culture
Popular culture has had many influences from the current society. As times change and attitudes also change so does pop culture. Some influences include fashion, music, art, television, and movies. Television became popular in the 1950’s. People were anxious to buy a television set for their homes. At first, the programs were carried over from the days of radio. For example, the format of The George Burns Show was very similar to the format used on the radio. Only now the audience could see the characters as well as hear them. Later in the 1950’ss and early 1960’s new programs were introduced to television such as The Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best, and Leave it to Beaver. These programs reflected the typical middle class family of the 1950’s.
The father was the bread winner and the mother stayed at home. You never saw the parents in the same bed. In fact, you rarely saw their bedroom. The problems the family faced were usually solved by the wise father. The mother usually supported his decisions, as her role was mainly to take care of the needs of the family.
By the 1960’s divorce was occurring in society more than ever before. The Brady Bunch reflected the blended families that were beginning to increase. As the 1960’s decade progressed, several nonsense programs aired. These included Gilligan’s Island, The Beverly Hillbillies, and I Dream of Jeannie. America was involved in a very unpopular war in Viet Nam. These nonsense shows gave Americans thirty minutes of silly entertainment that distracted them from the stress of the country being at war.

Another very popular television show was Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In. This program was definitely a direct reflection of the times. It used humor to promote the use of drugs and free sex. It also, was extremely anti-war. The format of the show went from one quick shot to the next with short skits or one-liners. It was done all on a subtle level but truly

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Parody is like walking a tightrope, it’s incredible hard to succeed, but if you can make it to the other end it can turn out to be downright hilarious. Most full-blown parodies are found in films, like the gut-busting films like Spaceballs (1987) and The Naked Gun (1988), on the flip side TV rarely delves into this territory. Although one of the greatest examples comes from the show Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a show from the 1970’s that parodies soap operas. This is a fondly remembered show, which leads to a big question why did this show succeed? There are two big reasons why the show succeeds and these are the way Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman parodied soap operas in their form and industrial aspects.…

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sitcoms – situation comedies – are probably the most “American” of all TV formats. They convey a high degree of viewer identification, as they show scenes of everyday American life. If the viewer identifies with the series, is the series representative to the viewing society? I will try to elaborate on that question by comparing to sitcoms of the 1950s and 60s and the image of women that they carry.…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The post-war economic boom of the 1950's in the U.S. resulted in overwhelming prosperity in comparison with the rest of the world. This economic boom produced a white, middle-class consumer culture in which that population had more money and time in which to pursue leisure activities such as television viewing and movie-going. These leisurely pastimes produced a conforming American popular culture. We define conformity as behavior in accordance with the expectations of a social group or adherence to societal and cultural norms. In the 1950's, these strict social norms were communicated primarily through television. Between 1952 and 1958 the amount of households owning a television set tripled from 3 million to 9 million. TV advertising created new consumer markets and TV sitcoms from the 1950's portrayed the conservative values and mores of the ideal American life. "Domestic" comedies were very popular and portrayed the stereotypical suburban white family in neighborhoods seemingly unaware of racial discrimination and ethnic problems, and where mothers never desired or were expected to work outside the home. During a Father knows Best episode it seemed that any problems facing the family could easily be solved in a 30-minute time slot. Shows like this promoted honesty and always had a strong moral lesson to end the program. Westerns were also extremely popular. The pioneering idea of cowboys living in the wild and woolly west where good and bad, right and wrong, were evident was very popular…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Though this show aired some thirty years before I was born it has been one of my all time favorites. The show was a first of its kind. Twilight Zone aired from 1959 to 1964 lasting five seasons, remembering the time was early fifties, many of the fears and anxieties of that time period could be felt in the show from the events during that decade. The Twilight Zone captured America at the end of one of the most time changing decades of the century. During this time, Americans experienced dramatic changes not only in the country's position in the world, but also in the culture, and one of the major influential changes was television. In a time when skit comedies and game shows ruled the air waves, Rod Serling's created a science fiction program that would stand out as an example of the artistic potential and cutting edge special effects of the era. The powerful television program had a social commentary and a thought-provoking theme. Seeing television's potentially as not just a entertaining tool for the masses, but as an opportunity to indulge the conscious, stimulate the subconscious, and make people think without realizing it, Serling used this new medium to showcase the troubling issues of the time, as well as to reflect on people’s fears of the consequences of our actions. The Cold War, the H-Bomb, space travel, aliens, technology -- even morality in general -- are all themes that would appear frequently in The Twilight Zone. What sets the show apart is the…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most popular forms of entertainment in the United States is television. Whether it's used to spread news, watch sports, or watching a sitcom, television can be used to address the many issues of the period. Television shows such as Battlestar Galactica, The Twilight Zone, The Cosby Show, and Freaks and Geeks have reflected the many societal and political issues of their time period.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    By the end of WWII the American culture and lifestyle made its way into the Australian pop culture mainly impacting on teenagers and their ways of entertainment. During the late 1950’s, television spread throughout Australia as many improvements and adjustments were made to the reception and price, therefore, many people began to purchase it mainly for entertainment purposes. This caused a significant impact on the Australian culture as most people were influenced by what they saw on T.V, which was mainly American programs. In 1959, the top ten popular programs on the Australian T.V were all made by American productions, which consisted of shows like Perry Mason, The Flintstones and I Love Lucy. In the early 1950’s, 75% of the movies that were…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1950s and 1960s were times of unprecedented change, and Australian society was influenced greatly by American popular culture, through various mediums, such as: music, film, television and fashion. This especially affected teenagers. It will be explained how Australian society was impacted by American popular culture, and also why American popular culture had such an affect. Australian developed its own responses to these influences, and the extent of this will also be explored.…

    • 1604 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Television played a large role in the way Americans lived during the 1950’s. The normal “all american family” would schedule their lives around television programs. After a popular program was over millions of toilets would be flushed at the same exact time due to people not wanting to miss a second of their entertainment. However, Television also helped in other inventions such as TV dinners. TV dinners were designed for a convenient meal while you were watching a program. Many of the classic movie stars starred in these classic American TV programs.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A Decade in Movies

    • 1433 Words
    • 6 Pages

    TV innovations and trends included anti-family sitcoms like Roseanne and Married...with Children; tabloid tv with Geraldo, Phil, Sally, and Oprah; stand-up comics included Gary Shandling, Jane Curtin, George Carlin, Jackie Mason, Bill Cosby, Jerry Seinfeld, and Tracy Ullman; info-tainment included Nightline with Ted Koppel, CNN Cable News,and 20/20 with Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters. 60 Minutes which had first aired in 1968 was bigger than ever. It was a media decade with superstars. The decade of the sitcom, here is a list of the top ten TV shows of 1989.…

    • 1433 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    I have chosen the movie “Life, staring Martin Lawrence, and Eddie Murphy”. The movie takes place in the Mississippi during the 1930’s, as two would be bootleggers are framed for a murder committed by a white man who happens to be in a role of power, as the sheriff. Because of the times and place it is not hard to frame two black men who come from the north of the United States.…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Popular culture changes frequently and occurs exceptionally in place and time. It forms currents and represents a complex of mutually interdependent perspectives and values that influence society and its institutions in a various amount of ways. Today, we rarely see the representation of television shows that embrace settings that set positive images for our children today, it is more towards exploiting the fact that times have changed and so should we as people. There was a time when families gathered together and listened to programs being broadcast over the radio. During this time, that was considered a special bonding family moment. Further more families at one time would allow their children to watch programs that created positive messages between each other. The physical connections among families have altogether been replaced by modern technology such as televisions, cell phones, and computers. The intimate relationship between Americans and their families has changed so that people do not indulge in an open conversation with each other; it has certainly been replaced by modern amenities. There was a time when programs such as The Brady Bunch, The Cosby Show, and The Partridge Family were number one hits with families of that particular generation, now those choices have been replaced by reality TV, what is now considered family shows, such as American Idol, Big Brother, and Survivor. Among other television shows, Bart Simpson of the Simpson’s and Stewie Griffin of Family Guy, which should be targeted as an adult program, surprisingly are viewed by American children. Most of what is known about the world comes from figurative rather than experienced reality, particularly in advanced media-saturated societies like the United States. Youth today tend to be more influenced by pop culture and are more likely to take information from media sources into their worldview than older people. Children and adolescents largely rely on…

    • 343 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    If a person went to the mall a person might notice the changes from even 30, 20, or even 10 years ago. They may see different types of electronics and different types of clothing than what it used to be. The change that I am talking about is the appearance of adolescent girls and how different things have gotten from years back to now. Pop culture has a negative effect on American adolescent women relating to their physical appearance, educational goals and view on relationships with men.…

    • 1551 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Irony

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In today’s society, we have a different type of humor and that shows through different types of sitcoms compared to the 70’s but what does not differ is that like the 70’s sitcoms, today’s sitcoms also deal with the same types of anxieties. I watched the first episode of Family…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Teenagers know nothing and do not help society in the least bit possible.” This is some peoples’ opinion on teenagers, but not all teenagers are like this. A lot of teenagers do help out in society and help to make it better. Some volunteer, work, etc, etc. Not all teenagers are bad! Everyone wants a good society to live in and enjoy.…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the 80’s there were some sitcoms on that influenced America and its family life immensely. “The Cosby Show” had a big impact on middle class families. We all got to see every week how Cliff and his wife went through the same struggles that all families go through. Through these struggle with teenagers, older parents, etc. we learned how to handle them, and that everything would come out okay. Another show that had a great influence on us is “The Walton’s”. The Walton’s showed us that you can always count on family, and that family is the most important thing in life. In both of these shows morals were taught. A teenager could see that lying was not good, that parents always found out. We also got to see how family’s relied on each other and needed each other. In the 80’s when more families had to have two working parents this was important to see.…

    • 590 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays