Analysis Of Amusing The Million

Though the 1920s were remembered primarily as a decade of firsts, bold innovation, and experimentation, it was also an age of extreme contradiction. The unique prosperity and promotion of politics, laws, cities, movements, culture, scientific discovery, and equality were underlined and accompanied by intense social anxiety and reaction; bearing witness to organized crime, nativism, discrimination, and resistance. This prosperous age heralded a dramatic break between America’s past and future and showed how great things can be accomplished from the low points of life. Before World War I, the nation remained culturally and psychologically entrenched in the nineteenth century. However, the end of the First World War brought in a period of ambiguity,

When Coney Island opened in 1895, it was the prime example to show how people wanted to spend their free time. Kasson gives the reader an understanding of the evolution of the nature of American entertainment via Coney Island, which was used by the American public as an escape from the ridged societal expectations of moral integrity and long suffering that was imposed upon them by the leading powers during the time. Coney Island represented an act of social rebellion that birthed a dichotomy of how Americans view and use entertainment. We can see even today the different kinds of ways and reasons that people entertain themselves, whether it be a carefree carousal to momentarily distract themselves from the harsh realities of the world, a calm and collected reflection of themselves and what is around them through media and art, or anything in between, it can be argued that Coney Island was the beginning of all that we see today when it comes to American entertainment and even life. The amusement park was given praise from

In John Kasson’s book Amusing The Million; Kasson creates an image of Coney Island that is an escape from the increasingly urban lifestyle where people were expected to follow strict social codes of conduct. Throughout the nineteenth century a polite and courteous norm was considered as the ‘official’ culture of America. This proper group of reformers took matters into their own hands to try to control and end the debauchery caused by the public. These reformers built museums and libraries to influence a culture based on integrity and morality.

The 1920’s in the United States brought times of prosperity and change, but also a detachment from morals and traditions. This decade is known for it’s large parties, flapper girls, and the stock market boom. The 20’s brought a mass culture to the United States so unlike in the past people on the East Coast where buying the same things that people were buying on the West Coast or popular music or dances that were popular to people in Los Angeles were popular in New York. For the first time more people lived in cities than countryside and for many young people their dream was to live in the big city. Many Americans having extra money were able to but mass made products like clothes and electric refrigerators. Also they were able to

new era had begun. A compelling case can be made for viewing the decades of

Throughout the 1980’s and 90’s, a significant amount of events and tragedies constantly arose among these 20-23 years. We know the stories of the events through internet research or by our history classes, but what we don’t know is the stories and the reactions of the people who were living through these years. Sitting down with my father and grandfather outside on a warm weekend, I got to know their reactions to these events. Most of the events that they remembered were the tragedies that happened during these 20 years, the government scandals or operations, but what they most fondly remembered was the new forms of entertainment that arose among the

The Roaring Twenties and The Jazz Age are both labels for the time period of the 1920s. This time period involved drastic social along with political change that emphasized artistic and cultural dynamism. Evidence of this is that jazz music and dancing developed, the flapper redefined modern womanhood, Art Deco popularized, and many inventions of great significance came about that continued to fuel this age. Also, the majority of U.S. people were now living in cities rather than on farms for the first time, contributing to the doubling of the nation’s wealth. This economic prosperity transformed American society into one that was now primarily consumer based. Supply and demand to fit consumers needs was the ultimate goal of

The decade of the twenties has become known as “The Roaring Twenties,” “The Epoch of Confusion,” “The Age of Intolerance and Wonderful Nonsense,” “The Jazz Age,” amongst many others, all of which attempt to encompass the great times and good feelings of this decade that would influence modern America for many decades to come. Americans had more money to spend and more time for leisure in the hustle and bustle of cities like New York and Philadelphia. The economic boom, the changing roles of women, and the explosion of mass culture were all contributing factors to this time of “dramatic social and political change” (Staff).

The 1920s or The Roaring Twenties played an important role in American History. It’s past and future experienced a dramatic change, because of how entrenched america was physiologically and culturally, but in the 1920s it seemed to break its evocative attachments to the recent past and escort in a more modern era. The most scintillating impressions of that era are flappers and dance halls, movie palaces and radio empires, and Prohibition and speakeasies. Scientists unraveled boundaries of space and time, engineers built wonders, aviators flew men, and women were free to work. The country was confident and rich. But the 1920s were an age of extreme contradiction. The

The 1920s was a decade comprised of economic restoration post World War I. Americans often referred to this decade as the “roaring twenties” because of its economic boom, prosperity, and wealth. People of the 1920s began challenging traditional values in exchange for modern proposals. Standards changed from living in rural countries to living in modernized cities. Its technological advances and mass production of goods such as the creation of automobiles (from Mr. Henry Ford), radios, telephones, films, and electricity provided people more leisure than ever before, which gave them time to socialize by dancing, watching films, and drinking. Many believed that the United States’ economic changes provided them liberation from their restrictive past. Although some people benefitted from these changes, most unfortunately did not do as well. Many stated that the “new and modernized” economy of the United States made them uncomfortable and generated more conflicts than commemorations. The desire for freedom that various races, immigrants, women, and classes had during this decade were shown through their convoluted experiences and attitudes.

The height of visual spectacle and novelty was the Luna Park, which shunned traditional Victorian norms of civility and refinement and turned towards lavish attractions. Middle class ideas of leisure changed along with their own patterns and behaviors as a result. Novelty was the crucial element of the cultural changes that emerged in those years. Many examples are evidence of the changing middle class tastes and values. Novelty, commercialization and consumerism helped insinuate the middle class way of life at Coney Island.

In the book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman states his thesis, "All public discourse increasingly takes the form of entertainment which has out us in a position where we are "slowly amusing ourselves to death”. By this, he means that the media has negatively affected the level of public discourse in contemporary America, and it considers media in a larger context to achieve that. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a foretelling look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals.

The 1920s in America is often regarded as a decade of debauchery, characterized by glamorous gangsters and fashionable flappers, and its decadent reputation is largely deserved. The glitzy image of the “Roaring Twenties” primarily arose from the influx of bootlegged alcohol incited by the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition) and the film industry driving a newfound boom in pop culture.

Hollywood tried to provide “escapist entertainment”, to supply this demand (Dirks part 3). The movies provided a “vacation from reality” at a fairly inexpensive cost, causing it to be particularly popular in the 1930s. These movies let Americans forget their problems for an hour or two (“Screwball” 1). Interviewed in the 1930s, C.M. Deal, Jr. said, “We can go to a good show and have the best of time” (“Good” 1). This shows that even through the suffering going on in peoples’ lives, movies provided a way for Americans to get away from the pain and suffering and just enjoy themselves.

During the 1920’s sometimes referred to as the "Jazz Age", America was taking its last final steps from the traditional period to new era of modernization. It was a time in which American popular culture reshaped itself in response to the urban, industrial, consumer- oriented society America was becoming (Brinkley 641). In this reshape two sides stood in defense of their beliefs, the traditionalist who wanted America to stay the same or go back to the way it was. Rebelling against the new customs and morals of the urban middle class, they sought to defend older values. However, the new modernist looked forward to change; embracing the future and its fore coming traditions and ethics.