pop culture and entertainment

1927, Cinematograph Films Act

•        : 7% had to be British, 20% in 1935

change in cinema

Cinemas in post-war period were depicted as ‘seed’ and dirty places to go but they soon became much more respectable places to visit. And in 1930 hundred if ‘picture palaces’ were built that attracted affluent middle-class

cinema 1930

•        19 million tickets sold every week during the thirties

•        Escapism- offered unemployed men and women escapism from mundane reality of unemployed life: London study identified the unemployed as watching 2.6 films per week.

•        In Glasgow 80% of cities jobless saw a film once a week during the depression suggesting that it became an important part of life for people caught in long term unemployment

•        1937-39 - cinema provided more than 50% entertainment tax revenues

•        1937 – cinema tickets yielded £5.6 million in tax; football yielded £470, 000

•        1938 – 978 million admission to the cinema

films reflecting life

•        Films reflecting social issues: The Pleasure Garden – Hitchcock;

•        The Firstborn –  an unhappy wife with an unfaithful husband longs for a hold so she adopts her unmarried hairdressers child. Issues and shame of an ‘illegitimate’ child would have been recognisable.

•        London Love – empowered women. She becomes a famous film star it raise money and pay legal fees for her fiancé

cinema WW2

•        Morale boosting during war, short-term attempt to close cinemas in fear of bombing but outrage kept them open because they had value in taking peoples minds of problems

•        Manage to produce over 500 films during war years

•        George Formby – Let George Do It. Alleged by Mass observation to be one of the highest morale boosting films

•        Ministry of Information – used cinema to promote ideas such as avoiding waste, grow your own

ealing comedy 1945-9

•        Ealing comedies entertained and explored the changing quality of life in a Britain still struggling with economic aftermath of the war

•        1947 Hue and Cry

•        Passport to Pimlico- aftermath of the war and difficulties of post-war austerity. Satirised harsh economic conditions that Britain found itself in at the end of the war and popular dissatisfaction with post war rationing

war films 45-79

•        As austerity ended and Britain’s world role declined, a generation of war films served to reassure cinema goers about war record. This was important for many people because relative economic decline, loss of world power status, end of empire and growth of immigration left people with a sense of uncertainty. As other countries were becoming more prosperous a sense of Britishness could be found in the films

•        Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957- tragic end is mirrored the feelings that many British people had about the war, it was a noble but fruitless endeavour

social realism 1945-79

•        New wave of filmmaking produced dramas based on everyday experiences of Britain’s working class

•        John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, 1956; Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey, 1961- both told stories of passions, desires and ambitions of everyday people

•        Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, 1960- portrayal of a working-class man with access to more money, leisure time, and consumer products than parents. Experience of mass affluence for working class people

darker visions 1945-79

•        Get Carter 1971- gangster seeking revenge on the death of his brother. Darker and more pessimistic tone than any other crime dramas. A relaxation in film censorship meant that it could include scenes of drug abuse and prostitution. Portrayal of Britain as seedy and corrupt place represented popular concerns over quality of life in early 1970

•         A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick. Gangs of violent young men kill and rape for enjoyment many viewers found graphic scenes of violence shocking. Mirror filmed popular anxieties about hooliganism and lawlessness. It was withdrawn from cinemas after violent crimes were blamed on the films

cinema in decline 1970

•        Confessions of a Window Cleaner- soft porn ; On the Buses; Carry on Films. James Bond was the only exception with top talent moving to Hollywood trough lack of funding.

•        Few successful blockbusters as funding drained people moved to America or switched to tv

music: Ivor Novello

Keep the Home Fires Burning. Appealed to families who had loved ones posted overseas, reflected fears and sorrows of separation and wartime hardships. He was paid a lot by his record company and successful until death

jazz and swing

•         20,000 dance bands by 1930 according to magazine ‘melody maker’, demonstrating immense popularity of the dance hall during the decade.

BBC created the Light Programme in 1945 to accommodate changing popular tastes. Replaced in 1962 by Radio 2. All to broadcast music

•        Rock ‘n’ roll:

•        Found an enthusiastic following in Britain. People like Elvis Presly reinvented black blues and popularised it for a youth audience

•        Skiffle, a home grown from of Rock and Roll was extremely popular- Lonnie Donegan, had 31 top 30 singles.

•        Skiffle was overtaken by British bands the Beatles, rolling stones ect.. and invaded America making British pop music world famous

glam rock

•        Music had become a means of expressing and challenging ideas of gender identity.

•        David Bowie appeared androgynous and made statements about sexuality. Was shocking to an older generation and fascinating to younger fans who saw them as radically different and subversive

•        Could argue this increased interest in recording artists who challenged gender and sexual identity was due to improved living standards.

•        Teenagers had more disposable income and greater leisure time, some sought out new ways of distinguishing themselves from their parents

•        Increased wealth enabled some teenagers and adults to assert identities in ways which wouldn’t have been possible a generation earlier

reggae

•        Reggae music was sold to a black and white audience reaching an appeal beyond a small black audience but to a larger white one

•        It reflected the changing ethnic makeup of Britain and began to articulate the experience of black immigrants dealing with racism, police violence, inequality in work and housing.

roots reggae

•        Roots reggae described the experienced of black people living in Britain and called for a resistance against racism.

•        Album ‘dread beat an’ blood’ was very popular and songs on the album reflected widespread anger among Caribbean immigrants in Brixton and allegations of police brutality.  

•        Race groups used pop culture to present political message. E.g panthers collaborated with magazines like ‘oz time out’ where stories campaigned for racial inequality

Valuable way of influencing public opinion and exposing racism.

ska

•        Was adapted by black and white musicians into a harder more aggressive sound then reggae called two tone. It drew from punk. Most popular ska performers were ‘the specials’

•        Reflected the lack of opportunities for black and white young people in 1970’s

punk

•        Bands like ‘the sex pistols’ punk fans tore their jeans, wore piercings and spiked their hair in order to appear offensive

•        Commentators in ‘new musical express’ directly linked punk’s appeal to declining living standards. Growth in youth unemployment throughout the decade led to punk being labelled ‘the music of dole queue’. For some articulated anger and frustration felt at decline in living standards and job opportunities

•        Audience for punk was small and tastes were quite tame e.g preferred the bee Gees

radio

•        In the years first following WW1 the government was suspicious of the possibility of a public radio service that could transmit information to the public. Fears of strikes made ministers apprehensive about the power of radio broadcasting

•        British Broadcasting company, 1922, it was licenced since the start and became the BBC, had a close relation with the state

•        Radio programmes often represented the values of the government, not having the interest of the listener at heart. So they didn’t reflect the quality of life experienced by many.

•        given a royal charter in 1927 and effectively became publicly owned state broadcaster though it retained its independence over editorial content.

pirate radio

•        Home, light and third programme lost ground to unlicensed and illegal broadcasters

•        Radio caroline had an audience of 10 million people

•        No effective way of stopping broadcasts and gained a large following because it played pop music. BBC didn’t want to lose its teen audience because their mass amount of disposable income

•        Millions turned to pirate broadcasts to enjoy music they couldn’t hear of BBC

•        challenged the BBC’s monopoly leading to the creation of Radio 2, 3 and 4.

•        Commercial radio created in 1975 which appealed to more niche audience

influence of TV

•        By the mids-1960s sociologists were describing Britain as a TV nation.

•        1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II televised – 8 million viewers – led to TV licence holders doubling to 3 million

•        BBC would have been smaller and less important without TV. Early 1960’s it changed and was a mirror to British values

•        The elitist tone of old BBC was very outdated due to elitism being under greater scrutiny and criticism than before

tv licences

1947-15,000,

1955-344,000,

10,470 000,

1965-13,253 000,

1975-17,701 000,

1985-18,716 000

That Was The Week That Was

•        challenged establishment and ridiculed snobbery

abortion and homelessness

•        Cathy Come Home, 1966- homelessness. wasn’t widely accepted as people preferred escapism

Up the Junction, 1965- illegal abortion

doctor who

incredibly popular, spin of shows and merch made from it.

•        TV became a fundamental aspect of family life

•        Price of TV sets decreased and was no longer a pleasure of the minority

•        Some people argued TV was playing it too safe and some said it was destroying traditional working-class life

ITV

•        1954, Television Act established commercial TV.

Produced ITV which was different to BBC which was more classless and modern and didn’t try to impose values but offered entertainment to viewer wanted. Very popular among working class

•         Middle-class viewers tended to prefer the BBC and looked upon ITV broadcasts as ‘vulgar or common’. TV showed the class distinctions and elitist attitudes developing.

youth culture rose

·       They wanted to be different from there parents and create an identity entirely separate

youth culture continues

·       Youth cults had two things in common:

o   they wanted to be shocked and noticed

o   they were exploited by shrewd business minded people such as Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood

·       Some rejected the materialism of youth culture and became hippies