ipl-logo

The Film Industry In The 1960s And 70s: Ever-Changing Youth Culture

1215 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social change took place in the U.S. from the 1950’s to the 1970’s

During the 1960s and 70s, America underwent a period filled with anti-war movements and ever-changing youth culture. This was due to the scandals of Johnson and Nixon’s presidential administration, the Vietnam War, and the rejection of conformity seen in younger individuals. Drug abuse, government distrust, and even traditional gender roles were challenged in these two decades, leading to corresponding themes being dug up in successful films. However, the political and social demise in the nation at the time inspired the film industry to a new era of self-expression and broke down conventional norms, as seen through award-winning movies such as “The Godfather” and “Star Wars.” While many movies reflected the changing society of the United States, …show more content…

People all around America began to partake in the sudden increase in drug use. Fueled by the need for rebellion and self-expression, as well as a lack of trust in their government from the Watergate scandal and the Pentagon Papers, many citizens turned to drugs, most commonly LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). LSD was originally synthesized by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to be unknowingly administered for a mind control program. However, LSD was never meant to be introduced to American citizens. The increase in drug use was soon noticed and acted upon by the American government. By 1966, numerous drug scandals caused by LSD were discovered, leading to the Senate hosting multiple hearings, and many newspapers revealing that many LSD users were admitted to psychiatric wards. Eventually, the drug would be banned in the United States in 1967. Towards the end of the decade, American society soon became obsessed with the idea of drug use/deals, and these situations were translated into many movies in the late sixties and early …show more content…

The release of Star Wars, directed by George Lucas in 1977, served as a significant milestone in American film with its high-tech characters, fast-paced plotline, and fantastic soundtrack and visuals, winning 7 Oscars in 1978. The film portrayed common and irregular American beliefs and mixed undertones of striking visuals and vocals. The film’s plot could represent Vietcong’s fight for sovereignty and America being an empire. Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo would be the Vietcong rebels trying to fight off the Imperial Forces and save Princess Leia (their right to sovereignty), from America (Darth Vader and the Galatic Empire). The film conveyed ideas of restoring justice, freedom, and success while detailing stories that the citizens of the seventies needed to hear after the hysteria of the Vietnam

Show More
Related
812 Words | 4 Pages

Josiah Koser 04/10/2017 Robert Sklar, Movie-Made America, Random House inc., New York City, New York, 1994. The argument made by the author Robert Sklar in his book Movie-Made America has to do with the impact that American movies have had on the country's culture and society as a whole. Sklar says this by stating that, “American movies, through much of their span, have altered or challenged many of the values and doctrines of powerful social and cultural forces in American society, providing alternative ways of understanding the world.”

Read More
1310 Words | 6 Pages

One of Nixon’s aide named John Ehrlichman admitted to the real reason why the War on Drugs was introduced, he stated “You want to know what this was really about. The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m

Read More
1120 Words | 5 Pages

Americans and movies have a unique relationship. While the American public lets the movies of Hollywood engulf them with various amounts of pop culture references, the movies reflect the culture of American people in way of religion, beliefs, and concerns. Movies hold a substantial place holder with the American society; they show what most Americans believe in during the time period in which they are made. During the 1940’s and 1950’s, movies showed a more modest and conservative America, a small reflection of its time. But the movies began to drastically change in the 1960’s mostly due to the rise of revolutionary and rambunctious youth and young adults revolting against the prominent social structure.

Read More
1209 Words | 5 Pages

The Nixon administration declared that drugs were the country's "public enemy. " These illegal drugs were implemented in poor communities where minorities reside, so mass incarceration began. Throughout the 70s and 80s, the government spent millions to crack down on drug dealers and those doing drugs. This led to many Americans being imprisoned for simply possessing a drug, specifically marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. The majority of those Americans were minority men, which caused many of their families to be torn apart.

Read More
813 Words | 4 Pages

In the 1980’s and 1990’s there was a drug hysteria that took place in the United States. The incarceration rates began to skyrocket within our prisons and this was all in connection to the drug war. Many people were being arrested and received harsh sentences for minor drug offenses and this increased the number of people in jails and prisons. In result, drug courts emerged and policies were implemented. One particular Proposition that took place in California is Proposition 36 the Substance and Abuse Act.

Read More
1026 Words | 5 Pages

The films of the 60s often portrayed young people as rebellious, free-spirited, and independent. This

Read More
1069 Words | 5 Pages

There was a report about the growing heroin epidemic of the U.S. servicemen in Vietnam. In June of 1971, President Nixon officially declared war on drugs. President Nixon named drug abuse as “public enemy number one in the United States”. From 1972-1974 was the end of the President Nixon’s time in office. This is also when the office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement was founded, the U.S. and French Connection broke up, The Drug Enforcement Administration was established, and President Nixon resigned.

Read More
1370 Words | 6 Pages

Film got people the news they wanted to hear through an exciting, action-packed, or family-fun movie, and the news that these people want to hear is that America can win this war. “Hollywood – the very name was a symbol, a term of art. Ironically the movie industry became known by that shorthand term just as Hollywood proper itself ceased to exist”(Koppes, Clayton R., and Gregory D). Hollywood, back then and still today represented the face of film and was a symbol. Hollywood’s films were a representation of how Americans wanted to feel about the war and the hope they wanted to have even though it was sometimes hard to have since the war was such a hard fought battle.

Read More
496 Words | 2 Pages

In the 60’s, marijuana and heroin can be strongly connected to Timothy Leary, a radical Harvard professor, urging the world to try LSD. The 60’s were the heyday of illegal drug usage. The 60’s were a time of discrimination, extreme drug usage and violence. Although, many people today would argue that the 60’s were a safer time of unification.

Read More
212 Words | 1 Pages

During the late 1960 to early 1970, New York city struggling with the Drug laws, and so many pressures and negative affect around the whole city. The country filled with gloomy air and everyone looks depressed, it is a really tough time. In the 1971s, American president Richard Nixon announced that drug abuse as the number one enemy in the United states, he started a war on drugs, there was unprecedented in history and this policy still continues today. The drug war was a huge failure, bringing an unexpected and devastating effect. In the United States, nearly 90 percent of treatment-seeking patients who began using heroin in the previous decade were white, this is a big change from racial representation prior to the 1980s.

Read More
861 Words | 4 Pages

Cinema attendance rapidly declined which resulted in Hollywood losing money. Film companies were forced to adapt by creating movies for television in order to compensate the lack of audiences in the theatre. As television dominated the industry film genre’s started to change in the 1960’s. Movies were fun focused, rock n’ roll driven with entertainment as a priority and not drama like the previous eras. With the Vietnam War at the front of political and social issues, a burden was placed on the film industry.

Read More
1428 Words | 6 Pages

According to the American Film Institute (1997 list) seven of the top ten films of all time were produced during the Hollywood studio era that took place between the 1920’s to the mid 1950’s. These are impressive numbers considering that America’s film history goes back more than one hundred years. Why do so many of America’s greatest films come from this era? Why is this time period called the golden age of Hollywood? The reason is the Hollywood studio system is the best method ever developed for making quality film and no other system has been able to produce as many quality films in such a short time.

Read More
2758 Words | 12 Pages

To what extent do Hollywood films reflect social and cultural behavior of America? Outline: History of Hollywood film industry: 1917—1960: the development of Hollywood film industry and characterized most styles to this day: biography, fiction, action, horror, animated, comedy, etc. After the World War One, the America experienced a cultural boom which resulting different forms of culture appears. In order to make films appeal to the audience, various cultural elements were introduced into the production of films.

Read More
848 Words | 4 Pages

Hollywood movies affect national culture in various ways. In one sense, movies could be characterized as America’s storytellers. Hollywood movies „Americanize“ global values and beliefs ,therefore they in a way diminish national culture traits and adapt and reinforce American customs. People tend to copy the ideas,customs and culture of American people or in other words they tend to acculturate. So called „Americanization“ is

Read More
865 Words | 4 Pages

Some may not be too familiar with the war on drugs and the effects it has had on the society we live in. The war on drugs was started by the Nixon administration in the early seventies. Nixon deemed drug abuse “public enemy number one”. This was the commencement of the war on drugs, this war has lasted to this day and has been a failure. On average 26 million people use opioids.

Read More

More about The Film Industry In The 1960s And 70s: Ever-Changing Youth Culture

Related Topics

Open Document