tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9022354377530449289.post8850590511053362335..comments2011-01-24T08:27:07.792-05:00Comments on Summer at Brown: 2009 Ivy League Connection: Last Day of the FiftiesDennis Shemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07106247464730295713noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9022354377530449289.post-53628449693033064562009-07-02T22:29:32.237-04:002009-07-02T22:29:32.237-04:00Avauna,
It’s interesting that you wrote that rock...Avauna,<br /><br />It’s interesting that you wrote that rock & roll was all about sex. Music from earlier eras was also about sex to some degree but rock & roll seemed to entice kids to dance and the dancing SEEMED sexual to the older generation.<br /><br />Take a look at jitterbugging from the 30’s and 40’s and tell me that it wasn’t sexually suggestive. Dancers’ bodies were all over each other and they even tossed each other about in such a way to display the undergarments of the young ladies. Shocking!<br /><br />Compare the reactions of the old fogies of that generation towards rock & roll dancing with the reaction of today’s old fogies with regards to today’s dancing with the grinding, freaking and simulated ex on the dance floor (and sometimes unsimulated). Is there really a difference? Or perhaps we’ve become more accepting. Perhaps we even think back to the reactions of our parents and want to make sure we don’t come across the same way.<br /><br />Playboy’s big influence was in the fact that it changed the laws so that ownership of such “filth” was no longer a crime. More importantly, it changed the postal regulations so it was no longer a federal crime to mail the magazine.<br /><br />Take a look at the old Betty Page photos which, even by the standards of Playboy of the day were considered obscene and sent people to prison for possessing them.<br /><br />[Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Within months of the invention of photography the French started taking and selling French Postcards. These were postcards with photos of naked women on them. Some even showed sexual acts on them. Keep in mind that we’re talking about the 1840’s when Zachary Taylor was still President. The French passed some obscenity laws, though, to deal with this “problem” While it was legal to take these types of photos and it was legal to own these types of photos, it became unlawful to SELL these types of photos. As you might expect, that law didn’t do a whole lot of good.]<br /><br />Pleasantville did a great job of showing how sanitary our TV and movies were back in the 50’s. I loved the scene where Jennifer goes into the bathroom and there’s no toilet. TV people just didn’t do that kind of thing back then.Don Gosneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17110247579694408858noreply@blogger.com