Britain in 1960s and 1980s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Britain in 1960s and 1980s - Essay Example Britain in 1960s and 1980s This was because the 70 million children from the post war baby boom had by then transformed into teenagers and young adults. This was a movement that weaned away from the conservative notions of the fifties and led to revolutionary thinking and change in the overall cultural life of British and Americans. This was a generation slightly ahead of the previous generation of its time. This youth strived for and demanded change. They were mostly rich from their ancestors and families and longed for changes that would impact educations, entertainment, laws, values and lifestyle. This generation has had immense impact and some of its revolutionary ways continue to trend in even today. (Hall, 1993) Towards the end of 1940s and the beginning of 1950s striking differences between the teens and parents began to crop up. The paradigms of the British dating system was completely transforming towards the end of 1950s. The â€Å"Make Love Not War† was trending towards a social subculture th at was weaning away from the concept of â€Å"rating and dating† system and moving towards steady relationships and early marriages. Television had started gaining momentum and becoming increasingly popular amongst the teens. They were now portrayed as juvenile delinquents. The youth of this era was rich and preferred a lavish life style. Thus it does not come as a surprise that it was in the sixties only that the counter culture hippies emerged. (Cohen, 1964) There were varying opinions about draft and military involvement by them. Drug usage became significant for this generation and a major topic with the generation gap of this era. This is denoted by a depiction of Alfred E.Neuman on the cover of Mad Magazine, issue no 129, dated September 1969. In this cover, thy show the â€Å"old† Alfred on the left side and the â€Å"new† Alfred on the right side. The old one is wearing a â€Å"My Country: Right or Wrong† label button while the young one can be se en as long haired and on the right wearing a â€Å"Make Love Not War button†. The cover statement of the magazine read as â€Å"MAD Widens the Generation Gap†. Another famous TV series, All in the Family, depicts the nuances of the conservative of middle aged generation of the previous years and that of the then sixties and the issues arising due to these differences in notions amongst the generation. (Usual Gang of Idiots, 2000) As explained in the aforementioned paragraphs, the drug youth culture also gained momentum during the 1960s. Many people are of the view that an influx of thirty year youth consuming drugs and the inception of this was the 1960s. This trend affected many other western cultures with America and Britain being the primary targets. The western culture became severely damaged as a result of this. Many western movies depict this trend. For instance, Transpoitting and Basketball diaries demonstrate this youth subculture. The sub culture is infused wi th anti-social behavior signaling the negative impact of this sub culture on the youths. It highlites how the youth rejected their main stream society and identity in this era. The film also places emphasis on the role of media in its influence on this type of youth culture. Thus the youth of this era was more rebellious and provocative in their rejection of norms. The influx of drug culture in particular was a result of repeated references to drugs in popular culture. The youth started romanticizing the drug culture which led to its massive adoption all over. Most