Free Essays on Influence

Popular music and its artists have an enormous impact on our culture's youth from generation to generation. In almost any generation within the past fifty years, the behavior and beliefs of the majority of pre-teens and teens can be closely correlated with those of the popular music artist's of that time. Which music was "the popular music" changed drastically several times between the 1950s and the present, along with the attitudes of that generation's young adults. With each change in popular music came also a lasting change in the behavior of generations to follow. In some cases, the change was evident the band or artist was creating or surrounded by controversy in other cases, the change was not evident until afterwards, a learning experience perhaps. In the 1950s, Bill Haley and the Comets first used the word "rock" to describe a musical form. They also released two movies, Blackboard Jungle, and Rock Around the Clock, which featured their music and were aimed specifically at young audiences. Blackboard Jungle told a story of teenage alienation and also made a star of Haley because of the overwhelming number of negative criticisms it received. Also, since adults of that time thought the music was just plain bad, the teens were even more drawn to its sound (Brown, 50, 53). Elvis Aaron Presley is known as the "King" today, but in the mid-fifties, he was known as "Elvis the Pelvis" because of his pelvic thrusts and somewhat exaggerated hip movements (67). These sexual mannerisms caught the attention of young women who viewed him as a sex icon, but also caught the attention of the media. In the fifties, these actions were too obscene to be shown on television and so it was that he could only be shown above the waist. The media attention and restrictions only made him more-loved by fans and better known to the public. The early sixties were the years of Motown when black performers like Aretha Frankli... Free Essays on Influence Free Essays on Influence In â€Å"Under the Influence,†Marilyn Elias, a health and behavior reporter, states the effects alcohol advertising has on young children. Elias states that middle-schoolers who are most familiar with beer ads have the most favorable attitudes about alcohol and expect to drink more frequently as adults than classmates who barely recognize the ads, that Ray McGrath says beer industry commercials are designed for adults viewers and never target young people, and that kids pay attention to beer commercials and brand names. I find the author’s points very convincing because she has throughly research the history of alcohol advertising and the effects it has on children. Elias writes about the different effects alcohol television advertising has on young children. She writes this essay because she believes that these alcohol advertising influences young children to drink. She also believes that alcohol advertising shouldn’t be advertized during sports programs because majority of young children watch sports. This report appeared in USA Today on November 3, 1998. First, Elias states that middle-schoolers that are most familiar with beer ads have the most favorable attitudes about alcohol and expect to drink more frequently as adults than classmates who barely recognize the ads. She is saying that children, who know about the beer ads are more likely to drink more as adults than the one’s who don’t know. She writes, â€Å" Another new study of seventh-to-tenth-graders find those who view and like alcohol commercials are most likely to drink than kids less exposed to the ads† (172). I am not really sure whether those who view beer ads are more likely to drink then others, but I feel that it does influence them in some ways. Elias also points out that Ray McGrath says beer industry commercials are designed for adult viewers and never target young people. He states that beer commercials aren’t designed to catch the attention o... Free Essays on Influence Popular music and its artists have an enormous impact on our culture's youth from generation to generation. In almost any generation within the past fifty years, the behavior and beliefs of the majority of pre-teens and teens can be closely correlated with those of the popular music artist's of that time. Which music was "the popular music" changed drastically several times between the 1950s and the present, along with the attitudes of that generation's young adults. With each change in popular music came also a lasting change in the behavior of generations to follow. In some cases, the change was evident the band or artist was creating or surrounded by controversy in other cases, the change was not evident until afterwards, a learning experience perhaps. In the 1950s, Bill Haley and the Comets first used the word "rock" to describe a musical form. They also released two movies, Blackboard Jungle, and Rock Around the Clock, which featured their music and were aimed specifically at young audiences. Blackboard Jungle told a story of teenage alienation and also made a star of Haley because of the overwhelming number of negative criticisms it received. Also, since adults of that time thought the music was just plain bad, the teens were even more drawn to its sound (Brown, 50, 53). Elvis Aaron Presley is known as the "King" today, but in the mid-fifties, he was known as "Elvis the Pelvis" because of his pelvic thrusts and somewhat exaggerated hip movements (67). These sexual mannerisms caught the attention of young women who viewed him as a sex icon, but also caught the attention of the media. In the fifties, these actions were too obscene to be shown on television and so it was that he could only be shown above the waist. The media attention and restrictions only made him more-loved by fans and better known to the public. The early sixties were the years of Motown when black performers like Aretha Frankli...