MYP Unit Question: How did culture, events and leadership shape and reflect post-WWII America?

 

Table of Contents

1. Business and the Economy
2. Education
3. Fashion
4. Film and Theater
5. Food and Drink
6. Print Culture
7. Sports and Games
8. Music
9. "The Way we Lived"
10. Government and Politics
11. Leadership
12. Law and Justice
13. Religion
14. Works Cited

 

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Business & the Economy

 

Following the inflation, stagnation, and recession of the 1960s and 1970s, the 1980s were relatively prosperous.  Although the United States was still deep in recession up until 1982, it broke the constant cycle of inflation that had been plaguing the nation.  With prices returning to reasonable levels, the economy was free to grow once more and rebounded rapidly.  This was aided by the new economic policy instated by President Reagan.  He focused on lowering taxes which increased the money supply and stimulated business. Although this directly aided the rich more than the poor, it allowed more jobs to be created as companies expanded and put more people back to work.

 

 

However, the recovery was not without its faults.  The situation was continually worsening for farmers, who had to face serious droughts followed by floods in the 1986 and 1988 respectively.  Banks were also suffering problems due to poor money management, and many defaulted.  The United States as a whole was falling into greater and greater trade deficits, with other countries (such as Japan) growing much more rapidly.

 

 

Education

 

Education reform was one of the defining aspects of the 1980s.  The focus shifted from equality and self-esteem in the 1960s and 1970s, which left most students unprepared for the real world, to academic success and excellence in the 1980s.  Prior to the ‘80s, the high school diploma had become a standard rather than a measure of aptitude due to the decrease in course requirements and time spent in school, and more unnecessary filler courses.  This caused SAT scores to plummet and, according to tests on 17 year-old males, left 8% of whites and 42% of blacks functionally illiterate.  To combat this, the school system underwent drastic restructuring, with a greater focus on higher education and jobs in business rather than teaching skills for menial labor directly after high school.  However, these changes were gradual due to a lack of immediate national and state level funding. 

 

 Fashion 

     In the 1980’s there was a great change in fashion. The fashion in this decade was influenced by the economic boom. Youth culture came to a halt as the teenage market lost its boom. The market was now older and secure financially. New technologies were developing, people were living longer but acting younger and, the older, traditional style was going away. With the lead of President Reagan and his wife, America now wore fashionable clothes to show off the American wealth to other countries and people around the world.

          

     The style for clothing transformed into cut and tailored clothing. This new trend was on the opposite side of the spectrum when compared to that of the hippies. In the 1980’s baby boomers worked hard. They displayed the wealth they earned through the clothes they wore as well as other materialistic items. Companies would use cheaper material so that even those of the lower class would be able to afford the latest fashions. This exponentially increased affordability and people were seen wearing and displaying fashionable clothing.

 

     With the craze for fitness, athletic wear became extremely popular as synthetic material and was often used in the place of cotton. In addition, leggings, racer pants, synthetic shirts, and leg warmers became extremely popular. Hawaiian shirts with sport coats were often worn to casual occasions.  Other fashions that came up in the 1980’s were denim jackets and acid washed jeans.  The great Michael Jackson set the trend for leather jackets. This craze was followed by millions in America which then led to the comeback of aviator jackets and sunglasses. Jewelry also became extremely popular among men and woman. It was common to find men with ear piercings on the left ear.

           

     In the 1980’s woman’s fashion transformed as well. Although gender biases still existed, woman started wearing suits which were originally designed for men. This became especially popular when woman began taking up executive positions. Along with the suits, skirts and jackets also became a popular attire to wear to the workplace. For men, the fashion mainly changed in business clothing. The men began wearing white shirts, ties and jackets. Leather shoes were popular with the business clothing.

                                                                                                                          

 

 

Film and theater

            Film in the 1980s could be characterized by the term ‘blockbuster’. They were made to appeal to a wide range of audiences. This was done by surveying demographics and the “bottom-line mentality”. Some of these are the “Back to the Future” series, “Ghostbusters”, “Indiana Jones” series, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial”, and more.

            During holidays or in the summer, there were event films that had soundtrack, cast, and special effects that would be beneficial because they were advertised as the "must-see" movie, using simple phrases to describe the film. This way, film-makers would make a lot of money on one blockbuster movie.

     President Reagan was a great influence on the genre of the hit movies. Patriotic films, though most times violent, were popular because of the president's strong view against communism.

            Broadway was also increasing their budget in order to make more money. For example, in 1982, Andrew Lloyd Webber produced the musical Cats for 4 million dollars. As the decade progressed, his 1988 musical Phantom of the Opera had 8 million dollars spent on its production.

 

Food & Drink

            Most of the commercial foods from the 80s are still popular today. There were a lot of “junk food” and candy, such as Coca-cola, Nerds, Kool-Aid, and more that still exist today.

     Many people of this era looked for foods that can be prepared easily and quickly. TV dinners regained popularity in this decade when microwave oven-safe trays were invented. Slow cookers, invented in the previous decade, were used commonly in American households. They allowed for easy cooking.

            Eating healthily was also a trend that started in the 80s. This can be represented by the creation of “Lean Cuisine”, which was meant to be a healthy alternative to the TV dinners. Sugar substitutes were very popular as well.

 

 

Print Culture

     Printed Material was a large part of entertainment during the decade of the 1980s.  These comics kept the public happy and they also spread messages.  Comics told morals aswell as the views of the authors on some issues. 

     This decade produced many cartoon and comics that are still around today.  One of the most popular ones is the comic “Calvin and Hobbes”.  Calvin and Hobbes is about a boy named Calvin and his pet tiger named Hobbes.  It began in 1985 and by the next year of it’s production, it had already been in 250 magazines.  Ever since 1985, “Calvin and Hobbes” has earned countless awards including the Reuben Award, Humor Comic Strip of the year in 1988, outstanding cartoonist of the year award, and many others.

     The popular comic producing company, “DC comics”  was quite active during this decade.  The company created two brand new comics including “The Sandman” and “Swamp Thing”.  These comics were slightly more aimed towards adults as opposed to other comics.

 

Sports & Games    

Introduction to Sports in the 1980's

      In 1980's the sports industry of the United States flourished. Many accomplishments were achieved in a variety of sports. Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Football, Tennis, and the Olympics gained much popularity. In this decade the people of the United States witnessed some of the best athletes in the history of sports. Names like Ervin (Magic) Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Larry Bird, Mike Tyson, Joe Montana, and John McEnroe are a few of the many famous athletes of the 1980's. Due to the hard work and great accomplishments of these great athletes, the United States sports industry grew as the United States became one of the most sports appreciative countries in the world.

 

Basketball in the 1980's

     Before the glory days of The Bulls in the '90s, basketball was ruled by legendary players Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the '80s. Up and coming NBA stars Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley made their debut in the latter half of the decade. Throughout the 80's the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics took over the NBA as they shared 8 out of the 10 championships, with the Lakers winning 5 and the Celtics winning 3. The other two championships were won by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983 and the Detroit Pistons in 1989. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, three of the best players in the history of the NBA, ruled basketball for the whole decade. The rivalry between Magic and Larry Bird made basketball one of the most popular sports in America. The fans were extremely dedicated to their favorite teams, as they came up with chants and rallied their teams to push them towards victory.

                                                                                                                                                                              

 

                                                                                                                         

     These videos illustrate the true rivalry between the Celtics and the Lakers in the 1980's and how the people of the United States were completely involved. It shows the intensity and the drive to win the championships along with the mutual respect between the two of the all time greats, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. It was this respect that made millions of people around the world want to watch these two superstars compete against each other. The legacy of these superstars as well as their rivalry will stay in the annals of sports history forever.

In addition to NBA, college basketball grew extremely popular in the nation.
 

Boxing in the 1980's

     In the 1980's, the boxing industry grew tremendously due to one man named Mike Tyson. In 1986,Tyson made his first impact on the Boxing world by knocking out Trevor Berbick in the 2nd round to win the WBC Heavyweight Championship. 1987 was Tyson's best year as  he defeated James "Bonecrusher" Smith in an unanimous 15-round decision to win the WBA and WBC Combined Heavyweight Championship. To continue his great fortune in 1987, Mike Tyson defeated Tony Tucker in 12 rounds to win the Unified Heavyweight Boxing Championship. At the end of the decade, Tyson took his career to new heights by knocking out Michael Spinks in a minute and thirteen seconds to win the championship. To this day, Mike Tyson remains one of the greatest and most revered superstars in boxing history. Although some argue that he is not the best of all time as that title should only belong to the great Muhammad Ali, the 80's unarguably belonged to Mike Tyson.

                                                                                                                                                                 

 

"Miracle on Ice" - Olympics 1980

 

     In the 1980 Olympics, there is one game that remains in the thoughts of American people to this day as "The Race to Gold" in hockey.  The USSR was on top of the hockey world going into the 1980 Games at Lake Placid. The previous year, the USSR national team had crushed the NHL All Stars 6-0 in the deciding game of a challenge series. Their combinations of veterans such as, Boris Mikhailov, Valeri Kharlamov, Alexander Maltsev, and Vladimir Petrov as well as fresh and exciting newcomers such as Sergei Makarov and Vladimir Krutov created fear in the eyes of the opposing teams.

 

     Faced with the challenge of dethroning the USSR, coach Herb Brooks emphasized speed, conditioning and discipline to match the skill of the Europeans. He challenged all of his selected players not only in a physical fashion, but also in a verbal fashion by questioning their skill level and their toughness. When going into Lake Placid, the Americans knew that they were underdogs. The Americans went to the Olympics in 1980, with the hopes of at least achieving the Bronze medal.

 

     The Americans were challenged both mentally and physically from the get go. In a pre-Olympics exhibition match against the Soviets, the Americans were manhandled 10-3. Their hard work and toughness made them bounce back and get through the group stages and into medal round of the Olympics. This is where the biggest challenge came the Americans’ way. The group standings set up the scenario the Americans had been hoping to avoid: their first opponent in the medal round was the USSR.

 

     With the Soviets pressuring the Americans from the start of the match, the Americans kept their control and kept the game close until they had a chance to strike back. With a few seconds left in the first period, the Americans got back into the game and created a thought of an upset among their fans, when they tied the game at two apiece. This led to one of the most controversial calls and perhaps one of the worst decisions ever made. The coach of the USSR decided to take out his goalie Tretiak. The world’s best goaltender had been replaced by a backup. Although it is understandable that the coaches were under pressure, it is still believed that the game could have ended much differently had Tretiak stayed in the game.

 

With the Americans coming out with confident and aggressive play, the Americans were able to take a 4 -3 lead on the Soviets with 10 minutes remaining in the game. “It was the first time I ever saw the Soviets panic,” said one of the American players. “They were just throwing the puck forward, hoping somebody would be there.” In the final seconds of the game, broadcaster Al Michaels delivered the most famous call in American sport: "Eleven seconds. You got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now. Five seconds left in the game! Do you believe in miracles? Yes!"

 

This classic game is often referred to as the “Miracle on Ice.” This was the turning point in the tournament that would lead to the confidence boost that the Americans needed to win the gold medal.  In the end, the team that went in as a heavy underdog with the confidence of few on its side, came back as a hero.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Music 

            In the 1980s came music videos. They were probably the most influential to the popularity of new music in regards to the amount of exposure to they created through television programs such as MTV. For example, Michael Jackson’s Thriller would not have been nearly as popular if it were not for the music video that supported it with the dance and other visual effects. Madonna’s charisma was demonstrated through her controversial yet appealing music videos. Duran Duran, Queen, and Prince were among the others who benefitted from the new form of media.

     

One of the most dominant genres in this decade is hard rock, heavy metal, and glam metal lead by the bands of the likes of Bon Jovi, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Van Halen, Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister, AC/DC, Cinderella, and others. Later in the 80s was the most commercially successful era for this genre. Previously a subcultural type of music, these bands maintained their opposition to authority. Even though this genre has its roots in classical music which has an art music tradition, metal/rock has a theme of rebelling against the norm. This is represented in their performance image, with the famous down-the-back long hair having its roots in the hippie subculture, makeup such as lipstick and eyeliner which is not typically worn by males.

      

            The 80s were also the era of synthesizers and drum machines. It was used in various types of music, but mostly in “New Wave” and “Synthpop” music which emerged from British and American artists. New Wave music can be summed up as a mixture of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco, 1960s pop music, and punk rock sound. This form of music evolved alongside punk rock, which includes music by the Ramones, the Clash, and many more.

     
     Another genre that gained popularity in the 1980s is hip-hop. This genre was also a subculture before this decade. It is part of the culture that includes graffiti, breaking, rapping, DJing, and beat-boxing. Through mass media communication, hip-hop spread to young audiences all over the world. 

            Many musicians of the 80s were devoted to helping others through fundraising, as displayed in the charity concerts that were held for providing food for the unprivileged in Africa. Among the most talked about is Live-Aid. Held in 1985, many popular artists at the time performed for free, and the money made from the tickets were used to support the starving poor. Another project for Africa is “We Are the World” which is a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. A supergroup called “USA for Africa” was formed from many popular artists at the time, such as Stevie Wonder, Kenny Rogers, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Billie Joel, and more.  They recorded solos and choruses of this song, which sold about 20 million copies worldwide. It was well received because of the variety of musicians involved, and because it was well marketed. 

      

 

"The Way We Lived" 

With Reagan in office, the American culture entered an era of conservatism.  This followed the popularity of counterculture in the 1960s and 1970s, and the conservatives called for a return to traditional values.  The government was purposely less involved in daily life, both in regulations on business and aid for the lower class. This put an emphasis on “self-interest” and created incentives for hard work and individual success.  An economic boom resulted, and the return to traditional values produced an era of social simplicity and economic security.

 

 

Despite the many successes, this lifestyle had its criticisms.  First of all, aid for the lower class and unemployed was drastically cut.  The theory was that these people would actively seek work and find success for themselves without the government to support them.  However, this was very difficult for many people and left them without any way to support themselves.  Also, the focus on individual economic success caused an era of materialism and consumerism, and drug abuse (especially cocaine) was rampant due to the increase in wealth.  Finally, the spread of AIDS changed the way Americans thought about sex and drugs, and created a social and moral stigma surrounding these acts.

 

 

Government & Politics

 

     The Government attempted to make actions that would make their nation more prosperous.   They attempted to make large recoveries from Richard Nixon's scandals at watergate.  Richard Nixon made many Americans lose trust in republicans, and Americans needed a strong Republican team (such as Ronald Reagan and George Bush) to reinforce their newly gained trusts.

 

          Ronald Regan did a fine job at helping the economy and it's prosperity.  He was able to get his way into the Iraq-Iran war and not disrupt the oil trade with the United States.  This was a crucial thing to because oil is so necessary in modern-day society.  The government was popular for actions like these.

Leadership

 

    The decade of the 1980s in the United States was largely lead by President Ronald Reagan.  Ronald Reagan was the president from 1981 to 1989.  Prior the becoming the president, Ronald Reagan had been a popular actor.  As the president, Reagan helped our nation with its prosperity.  He was able to keep the free-flow of oil during the Iran-Iraq war.  The Reagan-Doctrine helped aid anti-communist agencies.  Some people were not happy with the things Reagan did, he was shot 69 days into his first presidentship.  Fourtunately, he lived.

     Ronald Reagan's Vice President was George Bush.  George Bush had always been a bit quiet during his vice presidency.  He avoided criticizing Reagan at all costs and kept many ideas to himself in preparation for when he was to become president (which occurred in the term directly after Reagan's in the year 1989).  He was the father of two other popular politicians, Jeb and George Bush, 1 of which also became the president.

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Law & Justice

 

In the 1981, Ronald Reagan, the California governor was elected president. His presidency would change the country immensely and would later be known as the Reagan revolution. During his eight years of presidency, Reagan and his teammates in the government had a heavy influence on the American people. While the Reagan Revolution promised and delivered great things to the American people, Reagan was condemned of not ensuring the protection of civil rights for the minorities in the United States. Reagan worked assiduously to make sure that no such claim about him not working for the minorities would be brought up again, and therefore, he replaced the Civil Rights Commission with another person who was regarded as “Uncle Tom,” for his conservative beliefs and disapproval of affirmative action. Reagan brought about more significant change, as he appointed Sandra Day O’Connor as the first ever female justice on the Supreme Court. Although many did not believe that Reagan made many of the correct decisions, they all respected him for the fact that he made America prosper in many ways and broke many traditional barriers to make the United States of America a more modern nation.

        In the 1980’s crime rates skyrocketed. It was in the 1980’s that the true danger and terror of mass murderers and serial killers was recognized. This was due to the media which focused on murder reports and other terrorist attacks around the country. The similarity between the many attacks, made Americans realize the horror of terrorism for the first time. The 1980’s also had and abundance in greed and white-collar crime. Some of these many crimes included the Abs cam scandal and the selling of junk bonds as legitimate investments. Drugs also became a great problem in this time period. President Reagan and President Bush declared war on drugs to limit the flow of illegal substances in the United States. In the 80’s prison population reached its zenith and private prisons were encouraged in order to save tax money. Along with these problems, gang warfare reached a new level with gangs around the United States followed the footsteps of the Mafia to expand their gang as well as their grounds.

        Throughout this decade, it seemed as if crime was continuous and never took a break. This led to the Supreme Court letting the police officers arrest suspects without much questioning or other procedures that were in place in the past. Illegal evidence was allowed for the first time, and the Supreme Court allowed the intervening of the FBI when people from other countries caused crimes against the Americans. With this rise in crime, many crime shows were started on television such as COPS, Unsolved Mysteries, and America's Most Wanted. Many programs were started to teach children from early ages about the harms of crime and drugs. At the end of the 1980’s, the actions taken to stop the crimes seemed to outweigh the crimes themselves.

 

 

The 1980’s brought about many changes with respect to religion. After many religious divides in the previous twenty to thirty years, the 1980’s was a time when everyone went back to just worshipping rather than creating more divides as well as distinguishing who was superior and who was inferior. But even this change did not make religious worship run smoothly. The Christian religion, which dominated and still dominates the Americas, was split. The liberal Christians and the conservative Christians who had different views on what religion should be and the role of it in everyday life broke off. Liberals were ones that combined social issues, political issues, and religion. On the other hand, the conservatives only focused on religion while they were at church and had a tremendous belief in the respecting and following of the elders and the leaders. The Conservatives consisted of the Protestant group. The Protestant had a sub-group known as the Baptists. The Baptists were and remain to this day the most conservative group in Christianity. The other sub-group of the Protestants is the Catholics. The Catholics during the 1980’s began to “defy” their religion by asking many questions and demanded to make church attending flexible.

        All of this defiance and want for flexibility only occurred due to the development of technology.  The new inventions, innovations, discoveries, and the notion that people should not always follow leaders changed the way the people of the United States wanted to pray and go to church. With people starting to make their own decisions with regards to going to church, church attendance decreased due to people simply being too busy with work and other things. Going to church and praying became more of a person’s own choice rather than that of elders or religious figures. This decline in going to church mainly hurt the orthodox and traditional churches in America. This was because of the arguments and disagreements between the traditional and modern. This conflict between the traditional and the modern brought about the New Age movement. The New Age movement brought about religious reform in the United States and people went back to their praying and their religious beliefs rather than focusing on changing the beliefs of others.

 

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Negative Political Cartoon

 

 

 

MYP Unit Question: How did culture, events and leadership shape and reflect post-WWII America?

 

     The 1980s were a drastic transition from the liberal counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s.  After the social experimentation and economic instability of the previous decades, the American people needed a return to traditional values.  This desire embodied itself in conservative President Reagan.  He decreased government control, citing it as the enemy, and brought back the incentive to work hard and earn economic success rather than promoting equal results for all.  Although this did increase materialism for the general public, it allowed the United States to return from the recession and continue growth into the 20^th century.  However, perhaps more importantly, the conservatism of 1980s helped restore the American work ethic, and the American dream.

     The culture in the 1980's completely transformed. The culture was now to pay close attention to the economy of the country. Moreover, the citizens paid close attention to every move of the United States government thus making the United States a very economically powerful nation. Under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, the economy of the United States was transformed, as it became one of the largest consuming countries in the world. This set the stage for what America is today, and the role it plays in the global economy. 

     Along with the culture of the United States, there were many events that shape and reflect America as it is today. The sports industry evolved to new heights in the 1980's. This created a new past time for the United States citizens. Sports such as basketball, hockey, football, and baseball became the favorite hobbies for millions in the nation. Even today in the 21st century, one can see that without these past times, America would not be itself. Without the sports industry, the culture and the lifestyle of American society would be incomplete. Along with the sports industry, the continuous growth of technology and science, made America a totally different nation than what it was before World War II. With more information available to all, the education was more widespread and more people were able to gain any knowledge that they wanted to know. This helped American society transform itself from a powerful nation to the superpower that America is today. When looking at these events and comparing them to society today, one can see that without these events occurring, American society would not be anywhere near the same as it is today.

     Finally, along with the events and the cultural changes in American society, the leadership also made a difference in shaping the social order of the United States. Under the rule of a combination of both liberal and conservative presidents after the second world war, American society had many ups and downs, but it has had an overarching graph that illustrates the growth and the improvement of America. Under the leadership of great presidents such as President Ronald Reagan and President George Bush from 1980's the economy of the United States improved exponentially and took America to new heights. 

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Works Cited

 

Fitzpatrick, Jamie. "Miracle On Ice - How The 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team Won Gold." About Hockey - The NHL, the Stanley Cup, Fantasy Hockey, Trade Rumors and More. Web. 05 June 2010. <http://proicehockey.about.com/cs/history/a/miracle_on_ice.htm>.