1930s Depression-Era: Dance Marathons

Everyone competed for the grand prize of money. Professional dancers would blend in with the other marathon dancers to win the money. Many citizens would attend to watch for entertainment, meaning other businesses were losing money while people attended dance marathons. Cities across the nation began banning dance marathons because these endurance contests were thought as inhumane, especially when citizens were paying to watch.

Many people consider activities such as, football, baseball, volleyball, and track to be a sport. The qualities that tend to make these activities considered sports are, running, tackling, hitting a ball, participating in relays, and so much more. Not mentioned in this list of sports is dance. People tend to believe that dance is nothing more than moving your body to some music, it is also very mentally engaging as well as being a physically demanding activity. The question that many might ask: Why is dance not classified as a sport? Dancers that compete in competitive situations do not get off as easily as people may think. These dancers require countless hours of exercising, training, and stretching, just as much, if not more, than other sports. To perfect the art of dancing comes with years of training and dedication. With this explanation of the art of dancing, it can be concluded that dance is in fact a sport.

There have been many sports that were very well liked during The Great Depression such as baseball and horse racing. The sports were used to keep peoples minds off of all of the things that were wrong with the world. Many famous sports heros played there greatest games in the 1930s.

            It all began with a childish game of jumping out of a tree into a river, a test of guts and will.  All fun and games until that summer day when the star athlete is ready

During the 1920s, dancing was one of the main forms of entertainment. There were lots of new dances introduced during this time. It became the newest craze of the 1920s. People would dance anywhere they could, but mainly in their homes, clubs, parties, and during competitions. These new dances captivated the nation, because they were easy to learn, promoted new types of clothing, and assisted in the advancement of entertainment.

A second institution was in the growth of public amusements or “fads.” This constant change in American mood and popular topic was a new revelation. Fads flowed from Mah-Jongg, a chinese game, to marathon dancing, to flagpole sitting and to crossword puzzles. These shifting trends mirror the ever-changing obsessions of the American public today as new concepts are constantly introduced and forgotten.

The buzzing of razors and the clipping of scissors filled the basement of the Iowa Memorial Union. A few girls are wiping away tears as their golden locks fall to the ground. Our friends are taking photos and videos of our reactions. Other girls are chatting about how much they want to cut off, while others are complaining about how much their feet hurt. It is four in the morning, we are only nine hours in, we still have fifteen hours left.

The movie Cinderella Man is a biographical film of boxer James J. Braddock that illustrates his struggle through the Great Depression. Movies often exaggerate the suffering of the Great Depression or just gloss over it, but Cinderella Man accurately shows the prevailing attitude of the time through the facial expressions of the actors and the obstacles they overcome. In the film, the people on the street and in the crowd in the boxing arenas appear worried and never smile. The only time that people appear happy is while watching the excitement of a boxing match. This shows how important sporting events like boxing were to a public which had very little to cheer about. In a time when few people had television sets in their houses, listening to a boxing match on the radio let people imagine the fights through their own interpretations in their heads. The movie correctly shows how boxing was a temporary shelter from the suffering for many.

When I was a kid in kindergarten, my parents and I used to watch the Olympics every year. Most memories about watching the games are blurred now, but I clearly remember the gymnasts flipping and twirling in the air. I was enraptured by how they achieved such complex movements as if they can fly while controlling their bodies. I loved watching gymnastics and always wanted to try the sport. However, when I saw the passage “Is Watching Gymnastics Worse than Being an NFL Fan?” written by O’Rourke, I was astonished by the author’s doubts to the sport. In the article, the author talks about the development of gymnastics and emphasizes its sexual and emotionally abusive history. In her opinion, gymnastics is bad for female athletes and she doesn’t enjoy watching the sport as she used to. However, I don’t think she justifies her doubts toward the sport, nor does she explain the specific reasons she doesn’t enjoy the sport as much.

Do you know the guiltiest pleasure of the American public? Two simple words reveal all—reality TV. This new segment of the TV industry began with pioneering shows like MTV’s The Real World and CBS’s Survivor. Switch on primetime television nowadays, and you will become bombarded by and addicted to numerous shows all based on “real” life. There are the heartwarming tales of childbirth on TLC, melodramas of second-rate celebrities on Celebrity Mole, and a look into a completely dysfunctional family on The Osbornes. Yet, out of all these entertaining reality shows arises the newest low for popular culture, a program based on the idea of a rich man or woman in search of

Dance Marathon as the title brings clear understanding to the artwork. Marathon means an event that lasts longer than normal and requires great endurance. The audience recognizes that the people struggle to move because

What do you think of when you hear the word entertainment? Do you ever wonder why it’s the way it is? Have you wondered what forces, ideas, and people have molded and shaped it over time? How does entertainment affect culture and a society? These are questions that might have many different answers of varying explanations and magnitudes. For centuries, people have looked to a multitude of different things to do as a way to escape their normal lives and to have fun. So then came various forms of entertainment. Although it may not seem so at first glance, taking a more critical look at the similarities that our society shares with the Brave New World’s society may yield some shocking discoveries.

For close to a decade, the ethics behind the existence of reality TV have been questioned. While there are ardent viewers of reality TV, researchers and other scholars disapprove them, and claim that the world would have been in a better place. Reality TV shows, especially in America, are extremely profitable to media owners, and this has increased their popularity in the recent years. The main target audience for these shows are teenagers and women, who spend a lot of time discussing about them, even hours after the shows. Most of the reality shows in America and other parts of the world have common ideas. The most fundamental aspect of most reality TV shows is that they display people who go through embarrassing, painful and humiliating ordeals. This is what the reality shows expect their audiences to be entertained, and presumably laugh at the situations the people go through. For this reason and many more, it has been found that they are more detrimental than entertaining to the society, and therefore, the world would be in a better place without them (Pozner 89-91).

Going to a track meet for the first time and watching runners pour their hearts and souls out on the track just to win a race was awe inspiring. Some people lost their shoes, some fell, some passed out and some even vomited. I thought to myself, why would anyone want to do this? Five years later, I stood on the line waiting

“Let’s go the shows almost on” was what my younger cousin said to my brother as they both rushed in to watch Pequeños Gigantes a reality TV game show about kids. Reality TV over the years has garnered a rather negative reputation over the years due to shows like the Jersey Shore encouraging bad behavior. While there are some reality TV shows are a negative influence, most reality TV shows have a more positive influence on audiences of various ages.