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Post by SharksFan99 on Dec 12, 2017 15:37:43 GMT 10
What are your thoughts on the decade? Do you like the pop culture from the decade? Would you ever want to live in the '50s?
As for myself, the '50s aren't a decade I would ever have an interest in experiencing. While I appreciate the development and success of rock 'n roll, I personally don't like any RandR songs or any songs released during the decade. There is very little variety in song formulas and they all generally sound similar to each other. In all honesty, the only aspect of 1950's pop culture I do like are the Looney Tunes shorts. Everything else is too simplistic and conservative for my liking.
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Post by #Infinity on Dec 12, 2017 16:08:50 GMT 10
The only two aspects I like about the 1950s would be the fashion, as well as the movies. Both men and women sported pretty classy, tasteful looks of decent variation, while classic Hollywood really forged a solid identity that was maturing into a more diverse range of styles than had been explored previously; even if they wasn't superlatively better than the 30s or early 40s, the 50s were nonetheless a solid time for cinema, especially the year 1950 in particular.
Other than that, the 1950s absolutely, positively blow. Music, for the most part, was really mediocre; jazz music had gone from viscerally colourful in the 20s and 30s to corny and whitbread by this decade, and the modal jazz revolution that would lead to some classic movie themes in the 60s didn't occur until 1959. Rock and roll songs may have offered an edgier alternative to all the squeaky-clean pleasantness that dominated the decade, but for the most part, it was pretty much the same song over and over again, a lot like the flood of pop song chords tracks that have owned the 2010s. If the chord progressions are predictable and uninspiring, then I generally have little interest in the song unless it's done exceptionally well, like with "What'd I Say," "At the Hop," and "Johnny B. Goode."
The technology of the 1950s was mostly still very primitive, of course. The rise of television was cool, and my guess is that at the time, shows like I Love Lucy felt groundbreaking, but nowadays there's just much more of a variety of programs to appeal to more dynamic tastes. Things such as computers, video games, and portable music were still ages away.
The very worst thing about the 1950s, however, would be its egregiously socially conservative environment. In stark contrast to the 1920s, which were quite libertarian and saw the drastic liberation of social expression that pretty much birthed the modern cultural decade in the first place, the world of the 1950s were under the tight grip of the FBI, the fuzz, and any other McCarthyite institution with absolutely no sympathy for social eccentricity, ready to label almost anything individualistic as un-American, Communist, or vagrant. Homosexuals were routinely imprisoned (I still can't believe our institutions were that hostile towards the LGBT community only a matter of decades ago...*shudder*), steps made towards black equality were marginal at best aside from Brown v. Board of Education, women were squarely expected to serve a husband without reservation, and the media in general was sternly propagandized towards conformity. Grease and Happy Days may glorify the beatnik culture that sprouted from the Silent Generation's rebellion against authority, but as a whole, I actually tremble with disgust when I imagine the world of the 50s.
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Post by SharksFan99 on Dec 12, 2017 20:43:57 GMT 10
The very worst thing about the 1950s, however, would be its egregiously socially conservative environment. In stark contrast to the 1920s, which were quite libertarian and saw the drastic liberation of social express that pretty much birthed the modern cultural decade in the first place, the world of the 1950s were under the tight grip of the FBI, the fuzz, and any other McCarthyite institution with absolutely no sympathy for social eccentricity, ready to label almost anything individualistic as un-American, Communist, or vagrant. Homosexuals were routinely imprisoned (I still can't believe our institutions were that hostile towards the LGBT community only a matter of decades ago...*shudder*), steps made towards black equality were marginal at best aside from Brown v. Board of Education, women were squarely expected to serve a husband without reservation, and the media in general was sternly propagandized towards conformity. Grease and Happy Days may glorify the beatnik culture that sprouted from the Silent Generation's rebellion against authority, but as a whole, I actually tremble with disgust when I imagine the world of the 50s. When you consider the context of 1950s society, it's quite amazing how the social norms/values changed to the extent that they did. I know racism, homophobia and women's inequality continued into the '60s, however there was undeniable progress made on breaking down old societal values during that time frame. I think it's genuinely scary that 1953 was only 15 years prior to 1968. As much as it would have been horrible to experience the '50s, I must admit, it would have been interesting to experience the evolution in society and pop culture. I believe it's truly incredible to think that we went from songs such as "Mack the Knife", "Personality" and "The Battle of New Orleans" in 1959, to "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Light My Fire" and "White Rabbit" just eight years later. I do agree, however, that the 1950s were generally a very awful period of time for society and pop culture. Even my Grandparents (who were both born in the Late '40s) don't reminisce about the '50s, despite the fact that they experienced their core childhoods during the decade. As someone who is quite individualistic, I would of hated living in such a conservative and restrictive society.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2017 13:40:37 GMT 10
The very worst thing about the 1950s, however, would be its egregiously socially conservative environment. In stark contrast to the 1920s, which were quite libertarian and saw the drastic liberation of social express that pretty much birthed the modern cultural decade in the first place, the world of the 1950s were under the tight grip of the FBI, the fuzz, and any other McCarthyite institution with absolutely no sympathy for social eccentricity, ready to label almost anything individualistic as un-American, Communist, or vagrant. Homosexuals were routinely imprisoned (I still can't believe our institutions were that hostile towards the LGBT community only a matter of decades ago...*shudder*), steps made towards black equality were marginal at best aside from Brown v. Board of Education, women were squarely expected to serve a husband without reservation, and the media in general was sternly propagandized towards conformity. Grease and Happy Days may glorify the beatnik culture that sprouted from the Silent Generation's rebellion against authority, but as a whole, I actually tremble with disgust when I imagine the world of the 50s. When you consider the context of 1950s society, it's quite amazing how the social norms/values changed to the extent that they did. I know racism, homophobia and women's inequality continued into the '60s, however there was undeniable progress made on breaking down old societal values during that time frame. I think it's genuinely scary that 1953 was only 15 years prior to 1968. As much as it would have been horrible to experience the '50s, I must admit, it would have been interesting to experience the evolution in society and pop culture. I believe it's truly incredible to think that we went from songs such as "Mack the Knife", "Personality" and "The Battle of New Orleans" in 1959, to "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Light My Fire" and "White Rabbit" just eight years later. I do agree, however, that the 1950s were generally a very awful period of time for society and pop culture. Even my Grandparents (who were both born in the Late '40s) don't reminisce about the '50s, despite the fact that they experienced their core childhoods during the decade. As someone who is quite individualistic, I would of hated living in such a conservative and restrictive society. I imagine how someone from the 50's will view "Fire" by Arthur Brown (it came out in 1968).
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Post by SharksFan99 on Dec 27, 2017 10:10:16 GMT 10
I imagine how someone from the 50's will view "Fire" by Arthur Brown (it came out in 1968). A person from the 1950s probably would have viewed it as being the "devils music".  Here's another good example of that.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2017 10:25:15 GMT 10
I imagine how someone from the 50's will view "Fire" by Arthur Brown (it came out in 1968). A person from the 1950s probably would have viewed it as being the "devils music". Here's another good example of that. I like that song; it sounds like very primitive industrial metal. Here's another song that may be viewed as "demonic" to a person from the 1950's:
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Post by TheUser98 on Apr 3, 2018 7:29:54 GMT 10
The 1950's was the first decade I ever really became interested in before I knew anything about the other decades. I played this video game called Mafia II, an open-world game set in the 50's. It introduced me to the music, fashion and pop culture of the era, and soon I became fascinated with this time in American history.
However over time having learned more and more of how the 1950s really were as opposed to how they are portrayed in film/TV, I agree the 50's were pretty shit. What bugs me however is that there seems to be a lot of people who romanticize the 50's and see it as this glitzed up, teenage-friendly time popularized by American Graffiti, Grease, BTTF and Happy Days (just look at the comment sections of any YouTube video that compiles 50's music and you'll see what I mean). If these people knew anything about the 1950's, they'd know that this was just Hollywood and was pretty far from the truth in many cases.
However, like #Infinity said though, the 50's were a pretty good time for film. A good example being Rebel Without a Cause, which is infact one of my all time favourite movies. Alfred Hitchcock directed some of his best movies around this time too.
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Post by SharksFan99 on Apr 3, 2018 21:16:31 GMT 10
The 1950's was the first decade I ever really became interested in before I knew anything about the other decades. I played this video game called Mafia II, an open-world game set in the 50's. It introduced me to the music, fashion and pop culture of the era, and soon I became fascinated with this time in American history. However over time having learned more and more of how the 1950s really were as opposed to how they are portrayed in film/TV, I agree the 50's were pretty shit. What bugs me however is that there seems to be a lot of people who romanticize the 50's and see it as this glitzed up, teenage-friendly time popularized by American Graffiti, Grease, BTTF and Happy Days (just look at the comment sections of any YouTube video that compiles 50's music and you'll see what I mean). If these people knew anything about the 1950's, they'd know that this was just Hollywood and was pretty far from the truth in many cases. However, like #Infinity said though, the 50's were a pretty good time for film. A good example being Rebel Without a Cause, which is infact one of my all time favourite movies. Alfred Hitchcock directed some of his best movies around this time too. I think the progression of social norms is partly to blame for the misrepresentation of the 1950s. Nostalgia is prone to changing people's perception of a past era, but because social norms and taboos changed to the extent that they did during the '60s and '70s, people subconsciously glorify the aspects of 1950s culture which have similarities to today (e.g youth culture, rock 'n roll) and create a hypothetical image that the 1950s were a much better and more identifiable time than they actually were.
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The 1950's
Apr 17, 2018 21:00:08 GMT 10
via mobile
Post by Telso on Apr 17, 2018 21:00:08 GMT 10
Nah, the 50s give off a horrid atmosphere of fake, plastic, pitch-perfect Hollywood life that you should aim for and nothing else, but on the inside very dark secrets are kept from seeing the light. The worst is that the next decades romantized it and saw it as the «idyllic past», specifically the 70s and the 80s (another thing the 90s bucked which is good).
The reason why the 60s were such progressive times is simply because of the huge backlash against that famous previous decade.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2018 10:20:43 GMT 10
I wouldn't want to live in the 1950s because of segregation.
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Post by mwalker96 on Apr 23, 2018 13:54:15 GMT 10
One thing that interest me about the 50s was the beat generation. There values were everything against the norms of the 50s, society tried to antagonize them as intellectual savages but really they wanted to have a fulfilled life in something they were passionate about.
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Post by mwalker96 on Apr 23, 2018 13:56:06 GMT 10
I wouldn't want to live in the 1950s because of segregation. Bruh right, I just couldn't live in a decade where white people call me a nigger everyday as a sign of disdain.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2018 14:18:31 GMT 10
I love the fashion, and the scientific/technological progress made that decade were immense, which is probably the most fascinating part to me. Other than that, there was some social progress, despite it being clearly outranked by the following decades.
I wouldn't want to go back there for the same reason I wouldn't want to go back to the 1890s: it's just too archaic and culturally backwards. I think it gets too much flack though, it must have been a amazing decade to experience as it was ongoing (especially compared to the two to four horrid ones before it! 1900s/1910s/1930s/1940s). I think it's because some people idealize certain parts of the decade so much, particularly the parts which people find really distasteful (the whole conformity and stringent gender roles aspect, and racism) that makes the reactions to 1950s very negative.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2018 8:56:37 GMT 10
I wouldn't want to live in the 1950s because of segregation. Bruh right, I just couldn't live in a decade where white people call me a nigger everyday as a sign of disdain. Yeah i wouldn't want to be the next Emmett Till just for talking to a white girl either.
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Post by TheUser98 on Feb 26, 2019 18:05:01 GMT 10
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