1980s Overview

I'd like to talk about Challenger, the assassination attempts, HIV, and Mount St. Helens.

1970s Movies

The movies we watched in class definitely seem to represent the 1970s in one way or another. Jaws is an all around great movie and one of my personal favorites. The movie reveals that people at the time wanted a little horror, but also wanted to be able to rally behind a hero. The main characters in the film are perfect characters to root for, and the mayor and the shark are the perfect characters to dislike. People at the time definitely wanted to be able to root for a hero, which is also seen in Star Wars. Star Wars creates Luke Skywalker is the ultimate underdog, which makes him a great character to rally behind. The theme of one powerful being trying to rule over an entire galaxy almost parallels Americans' fear of Communism. The Cold War and fear of the USSR was present in the minds of most, and the Vietnam War only served to trigger the fear of a Communist revolution all over the world. Finally, a movie like Apocalypse Now plays up the lingering impacts of Vietnam. This movie came out pretty quickly after the war ended. Vietnam was still fresh in the minds of Americans. The movie was received well, though, so the country must have liked the inside look the film provided, even if it did criticize the war.

1970s TV

Overall, I had mixed feelings about the TV shows we watched in class. I enjoyed The Brady Bunch, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and MASH, and the beginning of Hawaii Five-O. I did not like Little House on the Prairie or All in the Family. I liked The Brady Bunch because it depicts the idea of the perfect family. This is something that some shows today try to do, like The Middle and Modern Family, but the humor in The Brady Bunch is much more wholesome and the family is more willing to work as a team. With The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the women are portrayed as very strong characters. As a woman, and a self-labeled feminist, I appreciate this portrayal. Many Tyler Moore and Betty White are able to hold their own against the men on the show. MASH was also fun to watch. I liked the plot and that it was centered at a war camp in the 1950s. Most shows today do not take place in the middle of wars. The beginning of Hawaii Five-O was really intriguing. Finding out who the murderer is at the beginning of the episode was completely opposite of most shows today, but a welcome change. It made me interested in how the investigators were going to catch the killer. The Little House on the Prairie was too religion-oriented for me to fully enjoy it. The lessons were much too in your face, even more so than The Brady Bunch. I also did not like All in the Family. I found Archie Bunker to be far too obnoxious and offensive. The character I liked the best was Archie's wife, and even she was annoying. All these shows embody the 1970s in some way. The clothes and furniture in the shows scream 70s. The Brady Bunch's idea of the ideal family was carried over from some of the shows from the 1960s. All the characters get along most of the time and are able to resolve all their issues. It also depicted a blended family, though the blend is ideal because it is implied that both the parents were widowed. All in the Family was completely opposite. It talked about many topics that were almost considered taboo in the years before, like politics. The Mary Tyler Moore Show showed a progressive view of women, and MASH had sex, violence, and alcohol. The Little House on the Prairie still held on to the traditional views of religion, which many people were still very invested in. These shows were popular because each one had something that a particular group wanted to see. All in the Family played out ideas from the average middle class family, while The Brady Bunch portrayed the ideal family. MASH is funny and the characters are likable. Each of these shows had something for everyone, and many are still popular in syndication today.

1970s Overview

Some words to describe the pictures are pollution and carefree. A lot of the pictures seemed to depict the pollution happening around New York. There was an oil spill, illegal dumping, and parts of a car in the ocean. There also seemed to be many carefree kids. A lot of pictures showed kids playing in the streets. They were all smiling and laughing and seemed to be having a good time.

1970s Music: Differences to the 60s and Why It Was Popular

The music of the 70s is pretty different from the 60s music. Disco was something that didn't become popular until the 70s. This music was happy, much like some of the music in the early 60s. Also, Disco got people to dance, a lot like the popular music from the 60s. But, Disco music focused on sex, which is something that was never done with the happy music of the 60s. America was becoming more free in terms of sex, and Disco embodied the new ideas. The Rock music of the 70s was able to evolve past what started in the 60s. Southern rock began with groups like the Allman Brothers, and heavy metal formed with bands like Black Sabbath. The Beatles were the biggest Rock band of the 1960s (and possibly ever), but their sound was much more mellow on occasions, and happy in their early days. The Rock of the 70s had a completely different sound. Comparing Led Zeppelin to the early Beatles is almost like comparing Bruno Mars to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They can go well together for a few songs at the Super Bowl, but have completely different audiences and sounds. Punk created rebels in teenage boys, and no sound in the 1960s came close to the sound that the Punk bands made. New Wave and soft rock are both completely new to the decade, but both become popular in their own right. The popular music does connect to the decade. Minorities and women loved the happy sound of Disco because they were getting equal rights. Punk was popular to the rebellious teenage boys because they felt left out and ignored and needed to sing about their anger. The music I liked best Disco and some of the Rock. I like the happy sound of Disco. I really like the New Wave stuff because of the use of the synthesizer. Punk was my least favorite because a lot of the songs were really angry. But, I listened to The Ramones with my dad when I was a kid, so I'll always have a soft spot for them.

1970s Music Styles

There were tons of different styles of music during the 1970s. Disco and Punk were really popular for several years, and other genres were also able to become popular. With Disco, the songs were all happy. The BeeGees became very popular, and their song "Stayin' Alive" is still played on the radio today. Songs like this made people want to dance. The main focus in the music were the instruments, and most of the songs did not have deep meanings. Brass instruments were the main instruments used in Disco. Minorities and women were the main audience of Disco. With Punk, brass instruments were not used, and the guitar was one of the main focuses. White male teenagers were the main audience of Punk, and a lot of the music talked about rebelling and anarchy. "Anarchy in the UK" by the Sex Pistols pretty much embodies the genre. The song talks about anarchy, and the lead singer's voice is not necessarily pleasing to the ear. The Punk bands never signed with record labels, unfortunately, and were never able to make money. The entire genre was spread through word of mouth. Another genre that became prevalent was New Wave. New Wave took the place of Punk. There was the same amount of rebellion in the bands' look, but the bands signed with record labels and were actually able to make money, which allowed this style to become popular and stay popular. Rock also expanded and began to include hard rock artists like Kiss in "Rock and Roll All Night". Lynyrd Skynyrd helped southern rock, and Led Zeppelin helped heavy metal. The sounds in songs like these are pretty much the same as today, though today's Rock does not appear to be as popular as the Rock of the 70s. The Singer/Songwriter genre also became popular, and artist like Carly Simon with "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" defined this genre.