The Cultural Revolution 1950's-60's

Before the 1950's

• WW2 ending 
• Rationing
• No thought about teenagers

Britiain was entering a period of increased freedom and affluence
Many of the old social structures began to be challenged, especially by the young

The Cultural Revolution
The American way of life had started to become key to the aspirations of the British public
Increasing availability of cheap colour magazines brought a proliferation of advertising for luxury comodities, much of it originatuing in America
A world wide economic boom (post war regeneration schemes
Cons were defeated by Labour

American Influence
Consumed items made in America
Viewed as a symptom of cultural degeneration
Films, TV, glossy magazines and consumer goods proved an instant hit with British consumers
Offered a rich and desirable future
Cultural imperialism - practice of promoting, distinguishing, separating or artificially injecting the culture of one society into another
Massive increases in production and availability of consumer goods stimutated mass consumption
People expected to have goods such as tv, refridgerators, music systems and cars as a basic requirement - before the war these were luxury items available to the most privilidged 
Car ownership rose by 250% 1951-61, 55-60 average weekley earnings rose by 34% while the cost of most technical consumer items fell in real terms. 1950s consumers had more money to spend on goods and more goods to chose from.
By the 1960s consumption had become less connected with utilitarian needs and more to do wit status and cofort (Maslows Hierarchy of Needs)
The era of the 'lifestyle' ad begun and specialist reailers began to spring up, providing outlets where people could buy into a new identity based around design or fashion
Teenaers become a recognised social group - become more affluent
Manufactures happy to meet thius demant that differentiate teens - products refelcting an increasin interest in fsahion and pop musi, began to be developed and sold
As youth culture became more dominant - attitudes rapidly spread among other social groups - their consumption choices began to shape their identity

Social Mobility
As a result of the stae funded education system, many children from w/c cildren went to study at uni
HE, with increased affluence, helped to create an incease in social mobility, and with it blurring of the old class-based distinctions between High Culture and Mass Culture
Establishment values began to be questioned and someties even iiculed in tv shows, satirical magazines + films
New cultural forms - cinema and pop music began to be treated with the same degree of seriousness as High Culture
Pop design embraced the kitsch and throwaway attempts to throw off te worthy restrictions of 'good design and its modernised ideology. Pop art - mass media and everyday life = subject matter + fuled advertising and fashion with its imagery
Affluence, social mobilty and the advernt of the mass media, com with a govt that had placed individualism at the heart of its agenda had transformed Britain

Hollywood movies
Rebel Without a Cause
The Wild One
The Happy Days

When was Qualdrophenia made?
1979
What subcultures are represented in the film?
Mods & Rockers
What is the title of the film based on?
loosely based on the 1973 rock opera of the same name by The Who