Essay on American Culture in the 1920s - 1151 Words

During the 1920’s sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age, America was taking its last final steps from the traditional period to new era of modernization. It was a time in which American popular culture reshaped itself in response to the urban, industrial, consumer- oriented society America was becoming (Brinkley 641). In this reshape two sides stood in defense of their beliefs, the traditionalist who wanted America to stay the same or go back to the way it was. Rebelling against the new customs and morals of the urban middle class, they sought to defend older values. However, the new modernist looked forward to change; embracing the future and its fore coming traditions and ethics. During these time a mass consumer culture submerged,†¦show more content†¦Many Americans especially those living in urban areas challenged the rules and inhibitions of traditional public culture. They looked instead for freedom, excitement, and release (Brinkley 652). Motion pictures took America by storm, probably the most identified mass communication product at the time. Americans flocked to the movie theaters, with over 700 featured films produced a year during the 1920s to choose from, was more than ten times the number created by any other nation. Americans started to develop a night life, and there was nowhere to be more vigorously and visibly than in nightclubs. A dancing craze swept urban America, sending young people from out the house to dance halls filled with powerful pulsing new music and dazzling lights, to show off new clothes and hairstyles. Over 10 percent of the men and women between the ages of 17 and 40 in New York went dancing at least once a week. Thes e dance halls encouraged all kinds of uninhibited behaviors sexual dancing, drugs and alcohol. Flappers were women who smoked, wear seductive clothes, and makeup, often went to dance halls alone to find excitement and companionship. One event that impacted the 1920’s was the upcoming movement in music, jazz. Equivalent to rock and roll in the 50’s and 60’s, and today’s hip hop era, was said to have caused a lot of issues because of its African American background. One issue was young white kids would go out to Jazz Clubs and dance to jazz performed by blackShow MoreRelatedAmerican Culture Between The 1920 S2083 Words   |  9 PagesEver since Thomas Edison invented the Kinetiscope in 1894, films have been reaching its way to the heart of American culture. Since the roaring twenties, where the United States began to see the first movie theaters to the 1960’s, where films are officially a source of leisure and escape from reality. Films influenced American culture between the 1920’s through 1960’s by becoming an increasingly popular form of leisure for years to come while causing scandals, riots, and movements about films orRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. 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