The Teenage rebellion in the 1950s was greatly influenced by various mediums. During this time “cinema, television and rock ‘n’ roll swept the world’ (Skwirk, 2015). “ Rock ‘n’ roll music was seen as rebellious and many believed that it “[encouraged] inappropriate behaviour (Darlington.R, Greer, Hospodaryk, J, 2004)”. This behaviour was considered unacceptable because World War 2 had only ended fifteen years earlier where young adolescence behaviour were expected to be more mature than what teenagers in the 1950’s were.
Rock ‘n’ roll was greatly influenced by “leading figure of the rock ‘n’ roll era (Darlington.R, Greer, Hospodaryk, J, 2004)” Elvis Presley. Presley was "an American music giant of the 20th century who single-handedly changed the course of music and culture in the mid-1950s (Wikimedia, 2015)”. Emerging with a collection of movies and songs, his “Evocative performance style … shocked many of the older generation (Darlington.R, Greer, Hospodaryk, J, 2004)”. "In white society, the movement of the butt, the shaking of the leg, all that was considered obscene. Now here's this white boy that's grinding and rolling his belly and shaking that notorious leg. I hadn't even seen the black dudes doing that (Ballard, H, 1956)”. This quotation from Hank Ballard helps to show how the new dance moves were provoking many of the older generations and influencing teenagers. It was seen as a song style that influenced the younger generation to “let loose their emotions and lose control”.
The Teenage rebellion was influenced by younger generations yearning for greater freedom and the “new modes of expression in music and film were giving them a way of achieving a new sense of identity (Darlington.R, Greer, Hospodaryk, J, 2004)”. The film ‘Rebel without a Cause (1955)’ helps to capture the themes of the teenage rebellion by helping to show how younger generations were beginning to question authority. The Teenage Rebellion had a great influence on many people throughout Australia and because of this “teenage fashion quickly developed a huge industry in its own right (Darlington.R, Greer, Hospodaryk, J, 2004)”.
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