Rebellion and angst are almost a right of passage for teenagers. Countless movies, games, TV shows have had the rebellious teenage trope. However, this is only a very recent invention in pop-culture. This trend began to pop up during the 1950-60s, where teenage culture had started to have a real impact on society. Younger and younger generations were becoming more influential into society, entertainment, and politics. The counterculture movements have been traced back to the entertainment business in the 1950s. Books and movies spread the idea of anticonformity, which led to the rebellion of the era. One of the best, and earliest, examples of rebellion is from the book The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger. The main character of the book …show more content…
The antithesis of Nuclear Family Culture, and the counterculture movement in general, began to flourish during the mid to late 1950s. There were several examples of counterculture that popped up during this time, mainly Rock ‘n Roll, Greasers, and The Beats. In the terms of society, Rock ‘n Roll and Greaser culture helped bring teenagers to the front of counterculture, and gave them an identity outside of the Nuclear Family. Entertainment would begin to be produced towards this audience, showing the growing impact that they were having on society. Movies such as Rebel Without A Cause were hallmarks for rebellious teenagers that wanted a break from the conformity. The Beats were a literary and poetic movement during the same time period. The Beats were generally leftist preservationists, but that is about the entirety of their similarities. Highlighting their general similarities and yet personal differences, the Beats “...literature speaks out against injustice, apathy, consumerism, and war. At an individual level, however, the poets are very difficult to classify. Their political and spiritual views varied to extremes…” (Moran). In general, the resulting counterculture highlighted the importance of anti-conformity, …show more content…
Elvis began recording in ‘54, James Dean began acting in ‘55, and Jack Kerouac published On The Road in ‘57. All of the unforgettable rebellious counterculture movement idols of the 1950s worked after Catcher was published. In the context of literature, “...Kerouac is the quintessential Beat… and his novel On The Road (1957) is the quintessential record of that counterculture.” (Kohl). The quintessential novel of counterculture was published six years after Catcher, and was undoubtedly influenced by the book itself. Holden not only embraces, but completely exudes the rebellious attitude himself. His final words to Pencey Prep are a reminder of this, yelling “Sleep tight, ya morons!” at the top of his lungs as he leaves the school (Salinger 52). J.D. Salinger was able to foresee and bring to life the rebellion that would happen in the country years before it made its debut in the mainstream
1950’s culture revolved around predetermined roles in society that caused numerous issues, both within an individual and within the society. The stringent society caused teenagers and parents to act a certain way, and if they did not, they were viewed with suspicion. Conforming to the society was challenging for many, and if one did not conform, he or she would be face mental issues or societal issues. In Rebel Without a Cause, Nicholas Ray depicted the culture of the 1950’s by showing the type of dating, juvenile delinquency, and parenting that took place during those times and showed its effect on not only that decade, but how it would shape the future years.
Since its publication in 1951, The Catcher In the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger has served as a conflagration for debate and extreme controversy. Although the novel has been the target of scornful criticism, it has also been the topic of wide discussion. The novel portrays the life of sixteen year old, Holden Caufield. Currently in psychiatric care, Holden recalls what happened to him last Christmas. At the beginning of his story, Holden is a student at Pencey Prep School. Having been expelled for failing four out of his five classes, Holden leaves school and spends 72-hours in New York City before returning home. There, Holden encounters new ideas, people, and experiences. Holden's psychological battle within himself serves as the tool that uncovers the coming-of-age novel's underlying themes of teen angst, depression, and the disingenuous nature of society. The novel tackles issues of blatant profanity, teenage sex, and other erratic behavior. Such issues have supplemented the controversial nature of the book and in turn, have sparked the question of whether or not this book should be banned. The novel, The Catcher In the Rye, should not be banned from inclusion in the literature courses taught at the high school level.
The 1950s saw a period of extensive contentment within postwar America. A majority of the population adapted to the modern suburban lifestyle that emerged within this time period. They bought houses, started families, got steady jobs, and watched the television while complacently submitting to the government. Although fairly monotonous, this sort of lifestyle was safe and secure many Americans were ready to sacrifice individuality for a sense of comfort. There was a minority, however, that did not quite accept this conservative conformity that had swept across the nation; some of these people took the shape of artists and writers. During the 1950s, what became known as the "Beat Generation" inspired the challenging of and rebelling against conventional America.
Rock ‘n’ roll and 20th Century Culture According to Philip Ennis, rock ‘n’ roll emerged from the convergence of social transformations which resulted from World War II (Ryan 927). Despite its pop culture origins, rock music is arguably one of the strongest cultural factors to develop in this century. Artists such as Lennon, McCartney and Dylan defined the emotions of a generation and, in the last decade, it as even been acknowledged by members of the establishment which it hoped to change as a major influence in the country. In order to understand how rock went from a sign of rebellion to a cultural icon, it is necessary to understand where it came from.
Indeed, teen rebellion has been the cause of many accounts of vandalism, destruction and terror within the world, but mainly within the United States. However, in this book, teen rebellion is seen as a positive instead of a negative. Because the main teenage protagonists of the story have to deal with the possibility of them being unwounded, they are full of anxiety at every step they take, despite having moderate amounts of hope. It is fair to mention that the way that the teenagers rebel at first is not by causing fires or ultimate destruction. They rebel in the form of escaping arrest and hiding in various safe havens so that the Juvenile guards don’t take them to a harvest camp. This places another positive spin on the negative view of teen rebellion. Because they are so passive in their resistance, the main characters are unintentionally debunking the negative stereotype of juvenile teens and giving themselves a positive to fight
The 1955 film, Rebel Without a Cause is a seminal film for its period, not for its cinematic or literary excellence, but for what it conveyed to post-war adolescents embarking on a trajectory of shifting social mores, namely a paean for emotional expression and acceptance of social outcasts. The story fearlessly exposes elements of the dreaded rebellious adolescent; an age group alienated by parents and family, seeking greater meaning and value through questionable means, lacking confidence, and only acquiring validation and acceptance from peers. The writer/director of the film seems to take the point of view of a juvenile delinquent, constructing a sympathetic portrait of maladjusted youth rather than that of standard 1950’s middle class adults. The story does not condemn nor promote the wild behavior it depicts, but rather holds it up to an ambilivent kind of scrutiny. Subjected to widespread censorship, the film was daring for its time for failing to uphold production code standards in its representation of criminal behaviors that go unpunished. More importantly, Rebel Without a Cause struck a chord for many teenagers who were moved by honest depictions of irreverent adolescents empowered to stand up against the hypocrisy of an older generation. The story models a level of compassion and sensitivity for the human condition that allows the viewer to question social prejudices of the time and the moral courage it takes to face down those prejudices.
The movie represents a change in all of culture, including rock and roll. The mother of William represents the traditional type of mentality as it relates to rock and roll. At one time, rock and roll was considered ‘the Devil’s music’. The culture shift in rock n roll itself can be shown through capitalism. The big record companies wanted to expand the artist’s skillset in order to profit from more revenue. The pressure of the group as a whole suffered in this process.
American attitudes and behaviors have shifted and swayed throughout the history of this great country. They are often influenced by things happening in not only our nation, but in the world. Things like world wars, economic upheaval, and even natural disasters. These ever changing shifts in how we view and respond to the world around us change us as a nation. Some of those changes are fleeting, some fade and we revert back to former ways, but one stands out from all the rest. One change, an explosion of our view of cultural norms, burst onto the scene and changed us in a deeper and more meaningful way than ever before. This change was caused by rock and’ roll music. It brought about such deep transformation to our societal views about family, sexuality, and race that even today we are “All Shook Up.”
When the Punk Movement emerged in the mid-1970s in both the United States and United Kingdom, it spanned into such areas as fashion, music, as well as youth mentality and thus became its own type of subculture. However, this movement can also be considered a form of social deviance when viewed through the lens of Robert Merton’s theory of anomie. This deviance stems from the anti-social and anti-conventional nature of the movement’s members in response to lower and middle class socio-economic strain. Therefore, the Punk Movement can be categorized as a combination of two of Merton’s types of adaptation to strain, including retreatism and rebellion, due to the subculture’s rejection of capitalist values, withdrawal from the workforce and apathetic attitude.
In the 19th century, America consisted of only two phases of life: childhood and adulthood. Children struggled to enjoy their youth and at the same time prepared for the trials and tribulations of the next phase of their lives. The amount of time children spent in school also increased, and parents were waiting a longer time to marry off their children rather than pushing them away at the mere age of sixteen. Ultimately, it was clear that a new phase of life – the teenage phase – was becoming a reality in America. American teenagers were displaying traits unheard of among adults and children. The word “teenager” was not coined until decades later, but the teenage culture was on the rise in the 1920s. Just around this time, Holden Caulfield, the teenage protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, is beginning to figure out who he is and what he stands for. The teenage culture in that time period partially influences Holden’s thoughts and actions in good ways and bad. J.D. Salinger’s portrayal of Holden as the quintessential teenager truly reflects Holden’s tendencies and rebellious nature, also seen in modern society, but his school life is not characteristic of a typical teenager.
"Rock ‘n’ Roll/Teen Rebels." Youth Culture in the 1950's. N.p., 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.
On the evening of February 9, 1964, The Beatles made their American television debut and shook Americans by storm. The four lads from Liverpool redefined American culture, popular music, and traditional standards of living. After The Ed Sullivan show, The Beatles became a worldwide household name, and millions of people around the world began to get sucked into a world where The Beatles were like royalty. For the ten years The Beatles were collectively together as a group, they changed the way people dressed, thought of music, changed cultural views of sex, and race, and ultimately changed music and culture permanently. The Beatles never realized the effect that their influence would have on the public, they just wanted to play music in America. As an avid Beatles fan, I have always been intrigued about The Beatles influence on the world, especially in America. I pondered different issues within The Beatles change, and I found myself asking: how did the Beatles’ dependence on counter-culture change and image change music industry and The American public? Although The Beatles did not intend to change American culture, The Beatles changed America by helping bridge the gap between set gender roles, helping shift public opinion towards the civil rights and anti-war movements, and their devilishly good looks and marketing team were able to transform The Beatles into a band everyone knew and loved.
During the sixties Americans saw the rise of the counterculture. The counterculture, which was a group of movements focused on achieving personal and cultural liberation, was embraced by the decade’s young Americans. Because many Americans were members of the different movements in the counterculture, the counterculture influenced American society. As a result of the achievements the counterculture movements made, the United States in the 1960s became a more open, more tolerant, and freer country.
Rock n Roll is without a doubt one of the most popular music genres in America. Rock originated in the 1950s. Rock took a huge popularity jump from the 60’s up to the early 90’s. Rock is a very decorated genre. If it wasn’t for Rockabilly, Rock n Roll would not have even existed.
J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is a remarkable book that gives readers a unique and perhaps gloomy perspective of the 1950's through Holden Caulfield, a cynical and peculiar teenager. Through The Catcher in the Rye Salinger describes important aspects of the 1950's. Salinger emphasizes several key characteristics of the 50's and criticizes them through Holden. In addition, Holden Caulfield is a very interesting character with several traits that put him at odds with society.