GRAFFITI and FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH
Coming of Age in California in American Cinema
Fast Times at Ridgemont High chronicles the lives of adolescents during the early 1980's in the suburban mall culture of California during that era. American Graffiti is also a cinematic chronicle of the latter stages of suburban, Californian adolescence, but of the early 1960's. The mixed group of girls and boys in Amy Heckerling's classic film hang out at the food courts of shopping malls, empty and soulless places of white tile and franchised signs. The lower tiers of the social rungs work at these establishments, unlike the individuals who patronize such places. The boys of American Graffiti hang out at diners that are locally run and not filled with artificial light. But they too, like the adolescent protagonist's of director Amy Heckerling's film and Cameron Crowe's script, are merely wasting time, waiting for their real lives to begin in an empty void of place and time, where not even adults can provide vision and moral guidance.
In both films, both the diners...
Rock n' Roll: A Reflection of American Culture Music and art are products of the society from which they evolved. History tells us about events that happened in a certain time, but the events themselves do no tell the whole story. Behind these events are thoughts and feelings. Music and art tell us about the passions that drove the events that shaped historical events. Music is one of the oldest mediums
Rock 'N Roll Music - the Diary of Youth Rock n' roll is best described as a "hybrid of many musical styles: white country and western, black guitar blues and rhythm and blues, and both black and white gospel music." (De Curtis) Rock ' roll began in the early 1950's as a dancing music strictly for teenagers and became known in the 1960's as simply rock music. This was because rock no
Shook Up Rock 'n' Roll and Revolution As a distinctly American form of cultural expression, Rock 'n Roll may be our nation's greatest global export. Its influence on popular, social and artistic mores on a global basis is incomparable. Indeed, one could make the argument that most modern forms of popular music derive from the basic components, if not the underlying attitude, or Rock ' Roll. However, this observation should not be
He encourages people to come aboard a train being engineered in "weirdo abandon" by musicians who "dramatized a sense of what it is to be American" (1987, p. 10). Christgau, another writer who sees the correlation between this music and the greater society in which it occurred, adds: "rock criticism embraced a dream or metaphor of perpetual revolution. . . . Worthwhile bands were supposed to change people's lives,
" There is nothing plaintive in Gaga's voice as she sings. It is an upbeat tune with a light, pop accompaniment. Gaga is not sad. It happens, sometimes, she says, that relationships end. One person meets someone else, and it is time to move on. She does not regret that it happened and feels entitled to her new happiness with her new man. She does not have to grieve for
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Four Contemporary Artists That Will Likely Be Successful in the Future It is difficult to determine which artists will continue to have an impact on society and release music that appeals to audiences aesthetically and financially. Moreover, continuously changing tastes require that a recording artist create music that will stand the test of time and continue to appeal to audiences. Given the changing world of
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