50’s Pop Culture Essay

Pop culture is commercial culture based on popular taste. Today’s pop culture consists of rap/ hip hop music, sagging jeans, high-top shoes, and 3D movies. In the 1950’s fashion, music, and technology was worlds apart from how it is today. Rock & Roll, Hot Rods, black leather jackets and rebellious teens are iconic images often imagined when mentioning the 1950’s in the US. History repeats itself. This fat is perhaps the most obvious when it comes to fashion. Fashion today is heavily influenced by the fashion during the 1950’s. Girls wearing bright colors, flow dresses, tight blouses, and high-waist shorts are common now, and were during the 50’s. Guys wearing fancy suits/ dress shirts, with khakis are undoubtedly coming back into style especially among â€Å"hipsters. † The â€Å"rebel† style of the 50’s with blue jeans (which everyone wears today, but were unacceptable for young women to wear) T-shirts under leather or jean jackets, with boots and long hair is becoming quite common for the youth today. Music has played a huge role in American society for over a hundred years. In the 1950’s the fastest growing genre was Rock & Roll. Largely because of teens, and they’re need to express themselves and be noticed. Music in the 50’s was one of the only things in this time embraced it fully. Country singers like Johnny Cash stayed above water because of their ingenuity, ability to adapt, and pure talent. Blues and soul artist like James Brown and Ray Charles are icons for their ability to touch people through music on a personal level. No essay about American 50’s pop culture would be complete without mentioning â€Å"The King of Rock & Roll† Elvis Presley. Almost every aspect of pop culture in the 50’s was heavily influenced by the era of Rock & Roll. Cars were no exception. Hot rods were very popular among the youth, but seen as death traps by adults. In reality â€Å"adult cars† like the Lincoln Continental were far more dangerous. Car advancements were huge during this time, like the growth of automatic transitions. Cars were simple to work on making it a hobby for many young adults. Racing and car shows became common. Learning about pop cultures from different is not only interesting but important too. It helps you understand how todays pop culture became the way it is. People that ask questions about why fashion is the way it is, or how music became how it is, can study past pop cultures for answers. 50’s pop culture changed music, fashion and technology forever!