1950s Essay

There is a reason why the 1950s are so memorable : It is a decade where a huge amount of noteworthy and life-changing events happened. This is the decade that the King, Prince, and the future King of Pop were born. While Elvis Presley was singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, Marilyn Monroe was actually falling in love with Joe DiMaggio. The movie Grease is a great representation of life in the 1950s and the wild lifestyle they had. The 1950s was the most influential decade due to the developments in the fields of inventions, entertainment & celebrities, and historical events. Throughout the years, as innovation was improving, a wide variety of useless and important everyday items were created. This was around the time that the television
Televisions were not that dispersed until the 1950s,when manufacturers turned out six to seven million sets a year (Lindop 74). Although the TV did help to spread news and make the public more aware, there were several people who criticized it and claimed they were not important. “Boob tube” and “idiot box” were some of the most common nicknames the critics would call them. Several people even said that “...in the single year of 1954, more people were murdered on TV than the United States lost in the entire Korean War” (Lindop 75). Although, the opinions of all these people did not matter because Americans loved the idea of television and quickly became obsessed with it. In fact, so many people started buying TVs instead of going to the movies and several theaters had to close down because attendance was extremely low (Lindop 75). One of the reasons this technology was so desired was all of the talent that was being presented in movies and programs. Marilyn Monroe was a legendary actress who was also considered to be the sex symbol of the decade. Some films she is known for are Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Some Like It Hot (1959), and The Seven Year Itch (1955). Everywhere she went, men and women rushed to get a glimpse of her and see all of her beauty. She was married to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. Tragically, she died in 1962 because she overdosed on sleeping pills. She did not like the way the public viewed her and all of the fame pushed her to the edge (Rich). Another rising star from the 1950s was James Dean. Even though he died young, he still had a spectacular career. He was only in Hollywood for a year before he died in a car accident, but he did complete three films, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), East of Eden (1955), and Giant (1956). Due to his role in these movies, he was an idol to many teenagers and sort of