How It's Moved Us
Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll. Those words started a revolution of youth in the 80s, as culture changed for good. For on August 1st, 1981, MTV was officially released. Their goal was to do something that was unprecedented at the time; broadcast music videos 24 hours a day. And that was not the only change that was abound in the 80s. For music was not the only thing that was emphasized in this culture, as films and TV soon found their footing as important to America's youth and society at the time. Movies such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and TV shows such as Cheers found their way into TVs all around the nation instead of important war notices. Youth resonated with John Hughes movies and saw the issues put to the side in favor of telling the story of the times. Youth were finally being recognized as a subculture within their own. Hughes in particular presented his characters as witty and trying to find meaning in their world, since they were ignored or misunderstood.
Movies, music, and tv shows all showed youth doing typical teenage activities, The Breakfast Club; kids at detention, Ferris Bueller's Day Off; kids skipping school, even Sixteen Candles; kids celebrating a birthday. Films at that time, did not show war or anything wrong with the world, it showed youth acting just like they normally did: like youth. Not going off to war, or facing extreme circumstances, just how they felt and thought. This was reflected in music as well, war was not talked about, but love and other relationships were brought up. Youth questioned if they were to act like their parents in the future, why they felt ignored, or what they would be in the future. This has led to youth giving to their children the values that they valued, leading to this generation becoming very similar to the 80s. Now, mind you, there are several distinct differences between our culture and theirs, technology was not as advanced,but overall our culture and their culture are very similar. War is not as present as it was in the 80s, and under the influence of Reagan pop culture florished.
Compared to today, movies and television had a golden era. Today's culture is much more expressive and vulgar, whereas in their time, those indecencies were not yet bridged upon yet. This influenced youth in a way as well, as curses and other language become rudimentary, leading to our culture becoming much more curse friendly and aware of vulgarities, compared to the different cultures of the 50s and 60s where behavior like that was looked down upon. This has led to our society becoming a lot less strict about certain forms of expression, namely verbal, but also sexual and in other forms as well. The 80s started acceptance in all types of different fields. This was displayed in all types of material in the 80s, particularly in music videos. New forms of dancing were soon introduced, including the moves of Michael Jackson and Madonna, which to the older generation were very different than what they grew up in. This could be comparable to what we listen to today, many adults don't understand the phenomenon that is going on right now, namely named Gangnam Style. Everyone knows the movements, everyone knows the song. Today's youth and 80s youth both share the same like: to stick out among their peers, and to become one within this culture. Also, video stars were rampant in this culture, as Duran Duran were not well known before the release of their album Rio, but after a risque video premiered on MTV, they were propelled into fame, their album selling over 1000 copies.
Movies, music, and tv shows all showed youth doing typical teenage activities, The Breakfast Club; kids at detention, Ferris Bueller's Day Off; kids skipping school, even Sixteen Candles; kids celebrating a birthday. Films at that time, did not show war or anything wrong with the world, it showed youth acting just like they normally did: like youth. Not going off to war, or facing extreme circumstances, just how they felt and thought. This was reflected in music as well, war was not talked about, but love and other relationships were brought up. Youth questioned if they were to act like their parents in the future, why they felt ignored, or what they would be in the future. This has led to youth giving to their children the values that they valued, leading to this generation becoming very similar to the 80s. Now, mind you, there are several distinct differences between our culture and theirs, technology was not as advanced,but overall our culture and their culture are very similar. War is not as present as it was in the 80s, and under the influence of Reagan pop culture florished.
Compared to today, movies and television had a golden era. Today's culture is much more expressive and vulgar, whereas in their time, those indecencies were not yet bridged upon yet. This influenced youth in a way as well, as curses and other language become rudimentary, leading to our culture becoming much more curse friendly and aware of vulgarities, compared to the different cultures of the 50s and 60s where behavior like that was looked down upon. This has led to our society becoming a lot less strict about certain forms of expression, namely verbal, but also sexual and in other forms as well. The 80s started acceptance in all types of different fields. This was displayed in all types of material in the 80s, particularly in music videos. New forms of dancing were soon introduced, including the moves of Michael Jackson and Madonna, which to the older generation were very different than what they grew up in. This could be comparable to what we listen to today, many adults don't understand the phenomenon that is going on right now, namely named Gangnam Style. Everyone knows the movements, everyone knows the song. Today's youth and 80s youth both share the same like: to stick out among their peers, and to become one within this culture. Also, video stars were rampant in this culture, as Duran Duran were not well known before the release of their album Rio, but after a risque video premiered on MTV, they were propelled into fame, their album selling over 1000 copies.
Comparisons
Especially in today's culture, the 80s and the millenials have several differences and more specifically likenesses. Thriller was a dance sensation then, Gangnam Style is a sensation now. Madonna was big back then, Britney Spears is big now. If you compare us with the 80s, mostly everyone acts the same and has the same goals. There aren't many differences other than the fact that the 80s generation didn't have as advanced technology as us. But they still acted the same as we do in this day and age. For comparison, the movie 13 Going on 30, the main character (who is 13 at the time) is transported from the 80s to today's culture. She sees differences all over the place, but when compared to an actual 13 year old at the time, they experience the same experiences, and deal with the same problems; relationships, appearance, and fitting in. They also tend to use their money which resulted in pop culture being so significant, as people in that time could spend their money and not have to deal with today's culture, where money is much tighter. However, if pop culture wasn't successfully ingrained in America's culture in the 80s, pop culture would not be the phenomenom it is now. For in today's culture, we look at pop culture for the answer to all of out individual problems, as it brings us to a world that is so much different than our own and that ordinary people tend to want to explore more and more.