Changing popular culture

Business Interests in sport:

What were the main trends in sport at this time?

What was there now an emphasis on?

• Main trends: increased commercialisation, corruption, individual athlete profits and lawsuits.

• Emphasis on greed rather than previously esteemed US values

How did sports become commercialised?

What was this due to? What were ‘Armchair spectators’?

• Colleges, teams and athletes earned vast sums from spectators, corporate sponsors and TV rights.

  • This was due to the new popularity of sports on TV.

    • Armchair spectators were targeted by advertising.

  • Amount received by National Football League for TV rights rose to $646 million 1978-82

What was evidence for the capitalisation of sports? What did the Oakland Rangers do in 1980 and why?

• Capitalisation of sport shown by teams dumping fans and moving to different cities.

  • Oakland Raiders: owner failed to get city finance for stadium improvements so moved to LA in 1980.

How did greed impact lawsuits?

• Athletes demanded a greater share of profits and resented restrictions on ability to make profits.

  • = Labour disputes, walkouts and strikes characterised 1970s sports.

Why did cheating increase in sports? What percentage of the US Olympic team used steroids in 1972?

• Cheating and violence increased due to the capitalisation of sport

  • 68% of US Olympic team used steroids in 1972.

The fragmentation of popular music:

What attitudes to music characterised the rock subculture in the 1970s?

• Opposed to ‘mass society’ + consumerism of pop.

  • Felt the genre was defined by feeling and creativity rather than fashion; non-conformist.

When did Disco begin? How many discoteques were there by 1976? What is an example of Disco music?

• Began 1974

• 1976: 10,000 discoteqhes

• Bee Gees “You should be dancing”

How was Heavy Metal given an outsider status?

What were some features of the sub-genre?

What did Alice Cooper do? How many Gold/Platinum albums did they hold by 1976?

• Ignored by radio and press so given an ‘outsider’ status

• Focused on live shows; provocative moves- nicknamed ‘cock rock’

• Alice Cooper; challenged traditional gender roles- 1976: 8 gold/platinum albums

What were some features of Punk Rock?

What is an example of an American Punk Rock track?

Who was it popular with?

• Rejected pretentious rock genre

• Element of shock: The Ramones “I just Wanna Sniff Glue”

• Politically radicalistic; liked by young WC and Left Wing.

Where did Hiphop/rap originate?

What is an example of a Hiphop song? Why was it criticised and by who?

What is an example of a rap song? Why was it criticised and by who?

What themes did rap/Hiphop traditionally cover?

• Originated in Harlem

• 1979: The Sugarhill Gang “Rappers Delight” charts and sells 2 million copies.

  • Criticised by purists for its pre-fabricated sound which lost the character of hiphop.

• Rap: Blondie “Rapture”

  • Criticised by purists for white exploitation of a black sound

• Tackled challenging themes

  • “How we gonna make the black nation rise"?”

What are some examples of singer-songwriters? What did they sing about and why did they gain a positive status?

• Gained status as ‘authentic’

• Carly Simon’s songs were seen as personal; possible had a feminist influence.

• Bruce Springsteen: ‘heartland rock’- sung about the ‘forgotten man’ and rust belt unemployment.

Contradictions in film/TV:

What was social consciousness in TV?

What are some examples of social consciousness TV?

Why/how did CBS turn socially conscious?

• Maude (1972-82) depicted a feminist main character

• CBS ridiculed as “hillybilly” network so moved to socially conscious TV

  • “All in the Family”; main character supposed to be shown as a bigot (racist etc..) BUT… middle America agreed with him!

How did pressure from activist groups influence TV?

• Pressure from organisations (e.g. Gay Activist Alliance) led to a sympathetic portrayal of homosexuality in TV

  • “A Question of Love” 1978: showed a lesbian mothers custody battle for her child.

What were blaxploitation movies? What were they the result of?

• Blaxploitation movies featured black casts and were often set in ghettos.

• Result of dismay with ‘bland’ black characters in Hollywood.

  • Hollywood also had a recognition that 30% of the population was black, so these films would make money in the box office

• Also a result of awareness brought by the ‘Black power’ movement

What did blaxploitation movies typically depict and why were they criticised by the Black MC?

• Characterised by black heroes overcoming the corruption of whites.

• Criticised by black MCs for their glorification of gang culture, violence drug taking and overall objectification of women. Created tensions in Black communities over the issue.

What political issues did movies depict?

What is an example of a film depicting political issues?

• Watergate: “All the presidents men” told the story of reporters who uncovered the Watergate scandal.

• Environmental: movies highlighted concerns around public good vs. private greed.

What political issues DIDN’T movies depict?

• Little on Vietnam war, feminism, homosexuality etc…

  • The few produced were high quality.

What movies/TV shows evidenced a return to escapism?

• Grease (1978): showed idealistic 1950s teenagers

• Little House on the Prairie (1974-85): showed an idealised family.

• Sci-fi (Star wars, 1977)

  • Some sci-fi films more downbeat; Solyent green 1973: showed a society characterised by environmental disaster.

Developments in news media:

What events helped the expansion of interrogative journalism?

Why was it liked/disliked?

• Helped by the credibility gap in the Vietnam war and the Watergate scandal

• Liked: journalists became national heroes, helped to keep democracy in US

• Disliked: many wanted to become heroes; fears that some would make scandals out of the trivial in order to do so.

Development 2: expansion in TV/News coverage.

What CBS news show was popular? What journalism methods did it use?

• Expansion in TV/News coverage

• CBS ‘60 Minutes’ very popular; used “gotcha journalism”

  • Some criticised this as having a cynical view on news/society.

What was “happy talk”? What did it lead to? Why was there concerns over this?

• Happy talk= informal news anchor talks

• Led to news anchors becoming personalities.

• Concerns that personalities and appearances would overshadow the true journalistic work of anchors.

Who campaigned for marginalised groups to appear more in TV?

How did special reports help women in the News industry?

• NOW campaigned for more women in the news.

• Special reports on current issues increased opportunities for women

  • 1976: Barbara Walters joins ABC evening news.