WWII was so monumental that it redefined what it meant to be American and fighting extremism became a part of the new American identity while the Nazis became the ultimate bad guy. You can really see this myth at work in other works of American pop culture in the terrible film The Patriot, in the much better though ideologically muddled TV series Sleepy Hollow, in the many Hollywood films where British actors play straw-men villains while out-acting their American counterparts (e.g. He doesn't have thousands of workers helping to give him the songs that have earned him so much success, he does it himself, because he believes in his vision and his creativity. The echoes of WWII are present in many aspects of American popular culture either explicitly or non-explicitly because of the way in which the lines of good and evil were very clearly defined during that time. At any rate, thanks for an interesting read. It reminds Americans that even larger, better equipped versions of our past enemies can be defeated. : ). Even though many felt they were breaking the mold and doing the non-conformity thing by becoming Communist, it was the conformity to fear of Communist overlords and rules that caused much of the destruction echoing still from the 20th century. Rather than accept her fate, however, she enrolled in an illegal underground institution: Warsaws Flying University. Well youre talking about real people. Given Disneys anti-Nazi history, it is not surprising that these themes would make their way into modern Disney films. The lessons of mans cruelty to his fellow man taught to us by this horrible time in our history must not be forgotten, lest we believe it was normal behavior and are then destined to repeat it. One example of this is when one of the doctors married her patient so that he could use her medical insurance, because without the insurance he would not have been able to get a life saving operation. Showing how the Second World War and Nazi themes weave through films is interesting and insightful. Non-conformity is shown through celebrities in today's pop culture, for an example Lady Gaga is known for her unique out-fits, she comfortable enough in her own skin to wear what she wants to wear and she doesn't care what people think about her. And in doing so, allowed us to conveniently forget each and every of our misdeeds prior to that. Pop culture is the shared culture of the masses. I think the fear and anxiety of losing freedom has increased, because there is often a struggle on who should be entitled to freedom without undermining American nationalism. Whatever comes about is unknown to many of us for we can only hope for the best and expect the worst in times of distress. (April 27, 2023). I think that Fin breaking out of the Stormtrooper mold in The Force Awakens is reflective of a Post-Modern sentiment coursing through North-Americas veins as we speak. Star Wars is not the only film that does this. Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop Culture of 20th-Century America. The term popular culture refers to the pattern of the more accessible cultural experiences and attitudes that exist in mainstream society. They saw themselves, just as the Confederacy did, as successors of George Washington and the American Revolution. They are not the zombies of TWD or Shaun of the Dead. I guess Ill take that. WWII was a world war, meaning that it affected most of the world. Lucas used Nazi/Wehrmacht inspiration in the original trilogy folks. Traditionally, foreigners have also been associated with the left, caught in a constant struggle to assimilate into American culture for their own safety while still retaining aspects of their own culture. This is shown in every aspect of his career including his distaste for being titled to a specific genre of music because it creates expectations for his music, which he says is all about free spirit. The Warners film Black Legion (1937) featured home-grown fascists and associated them with both the Nazis and the American Ku Klux Klan. But ultimately, he comes down on the side of arguing that we could use a little less conformity. When Curie, neSkodowska,was a girl in Poland, she excelled at scientific studies, but was prevented from attending a traditional university by the restrictive, sexist educationalpolicies of the occupying Russian Empire. Excellent work! Rock and pop music"pop" is short for "popular"are part of popular culture. The ripples of WWII continue to impact people in Europe today. The transcendentalist idea of nonconformity is used all throughout America in art, literature, drama, movies, and music. Politically fascism embodies everything that both sides of the American spectrum seem to abhor. Yoda, for example (a character who is as close in the original trilogy to a Zen master as any character in a major American entertainment), is shown as lightsaber master in the prequels who must fight his way out of a bind (not use nonviolent resistance or Jedi mind tricks). This was reflected in his propaganda films. The Cold War had its dark side as well. Nonconformism as defined in the Mirriam Webster dictionary is the " refusal to conform to an established or conventional creed, rule or practice.". They dont need much character development. He believed in the power of the human mind and that all people were equal, but his writings on religion were condemned by some. In the last week, they also attempted to storm the presidents office, with talk of a third Maidan. It operates independently with the writers collaboratively building and maintaining the platform. However, even reading into the Star Wars universe separate from Disney, we can begin to see difficulties with this narrative. Another way non-conformity is shown in today's pop culture is motivational music. Looking back at the landscape of history, we can easily spot the mountain of accomplishments Galileo left behind: He discovered the largest moons of Jupiter, now named for him, and the rings around Saturn, just to name a few. The quote "and I get high on you and me" shares a lot I think. The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content. Billie Holiday. In . Essay about Examples Of Transcendentalism In Popular Culture The movie industry had to adjust to the fact that many Americans now sought their entertainment at home, so they produced bigger, more spectacular, and more exciting films than before. From a more social conservative/religious point of view, nonconformity has Biblical origins. Well done! While music critics may jeer pop acts of rock's early days, like Pat Boone, as lame takeoffs of the real thing, a Penn State cultural historian writes in his new book that they played a key role in bringing in white audiences to rhythm and blues, as well as paving the way for more black artists and harder white rock 'n' roll performers, like Elvis. Die Hard), or where British actors play comical sidekicks (with a tip of the hat to Hugh Grant). While performers, like Rihanna, went on before him with a number of other people for back up vocalists and dancers, Kanye made a point of going on stage alone. I was born in the 1970s (closer to the end of the war than we are now from my birth) and I grew up watching films like The Great Escape, Damn Busters, Where Eagles Dare and so on, right down to television fluff like Allo Allo. This is a very interesting article. In addition to his contributions as a doctor, the impacts of his 10th-century scientific studies are pervasive in the 21st century. Examples Of Nonconformity - 9049 Words | Internet Public Library Here, Curie was able to continue the foundations of her education. Overall I think that this article touches on an interesting strain of Western thought, but Ill still think of the new movies as a curse from the Dark Side. Nonconformity. Insightful analysis of American values and of Star Wars. Throughout the twentieth century, this conservative nonconformity principle was often applied to morality and the idea that popular morality (as opposed to Christian morality) was sinful and that the faithful must have the courage to practice things like chastity in the face of changing times from the 1960s to MTV culture. He stirs the pot with shocking and in your face lyrics, and he is not scared to show his opinion no matter how harshly he does it. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Why would the Happiest Place on Earth have an exhibit dedicated to villains? As soon as you see an iron cross, swastika or golden eagle you know who the villains are without too much time wasted, this moves the plot forward with ease. Tell that to the families of the victims. The Artifice is an online magazine that covers a wide spectrum of art forms. Id be interested in knowing what parts you thing dont hold water. The 1950s are most often remembered as a quiet decade, a decade of conformity, stability, and normalcy. Then he went on to wreck our memories of the original film. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Laughter and the voice of the person you love. I was really interested in this particularlly, mainly because its all around us, and most of us are looked down at for being different. His observations of the cosmos are the part of the foundations of modern astrophysics. To report a Copyright Violation, please follow Section 17 in the Terms of Use. When Katniss went to her first hunger games she defied the capital by almost making it so that they didn't have a winner because her and Petta were going to kill themsleves so that they didn't have to live without eachother when the entire point of the hunger games is to have a winner and keep everyone in line. In the case of Disney (particularly late-period, multimedia conglomerate Disney), there is certainly a corporate drive to be a pinnacle hegemon in the entertainment world, but in pursuing said goal, they have been careful to emphasize messaging that plays into our American self-mythologizing ideals of freedom and (to an extent) nonconformity as desirable ideals. Noncomformity shown through Disney | Transcendentalism: Through the The minions of the Empire wear uniforms; in the case of the Stormtroopers and Darth Vader, faces are not seen. Like the author point out, it was a long time ago, but being a World War, its ramifications are still being felt today and thus, not time to get over it. The Impact Of Nonconformity On Society - 794 Words | Bartleby Billie Holiday Singing the Blues (1947) by Jay RobinsonGeorgia Museum of Art. Perhaps one of the most present of these examples in popular culture in recent years is the Harry Potter series in which the villain Voldemort seeks to wipe out or enslave wizards who arent pure-blooded. He doesnt even consider sending an evacuation warning to Imperial staff at Alderanns Galactic Embassy, hes that bad. youtube.com. These heavy and dark themes may surprise those who think of the Walt Disney Company as mindless childrens entertainment. These are just a few examples of the doctors in Grey's Anatomy favoring their intuition over their reason. Well, its not just about what happened in Germany. Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. Great article, not sure if it all holds water or not but well reasoned. I do think it is true that every generation has a different way of thinking about how to resolve issues affecting our way of life. This show follows a group of doctors and the challenges and triumphs they face. After the tumult of the 1930s and 1940swith their sustained economic depression (192941) and world war (193945)the 1950s did seem quiet. The New York Yankees' decade-long dominance of professional baseball was the big story, followed closely by the increasing integration (blacks were no longer banned) in baseball and other sports. However, Im not sure that the Star Wars narrative is sufficiently subtle to yield up much of real value. Their film Pinocchio preached nonconformity in some ways too, in the end, nonconformity doesnt always equal anti-Nazism. Millions of Americans purchased TV sets and the big three networksABC, CBS, and NBCproduced a wealth of new programming, including situation comedies, westerns, variety shows, and dramas. However, when the girl with orange shorts, hammer, and Apple iPod comes in, she is completely different. Holidays career began in Harlem, but her voice took her all over the world. Americans call their presidents Mr. Its commonplace now, of course, but was this the first war to be covered in such detail in popular media? Who does Scar promise to get rid of? Superman fought Nazis, and a new hero called Captain America was born to fight Nazis and famously punch Hitler in the face. His involvement in denuclearization efforts led to accusations of being a foreign agent, and he was charged when he refused to register with the government. National Archives. However, in his own time, the dominant institutions declared Galileoa heretic his support of the idea that the Earth moves around the sun contradicted the church. WEB DuBois (1919-05-31) by C.M. This fear is mostly embodied by an idea that somehow, the overlords will return and we will go back to the dark days. The choice to cast Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort is also important because he had been so well known as the Nazi commandant Amon Goeth in the Holocaust film Schindlers List. He has figured out that money can't buy happiness, but its the simple things in life that give you joy. I agreed with everything. Transcendentalism was a religious and philosophical movement during the late 1820's and 1830's. Major belief that society and it's institutions corrupted the purity of an individual. Of course, there are many ways in which the article could be expanded but I always like to keep them around a certain length so there are things which I dont always get to go as deep in as others. It is one thing to produce the Force Awakens (which, full disclosure, I thoroughly enjoyed), and seem to emphasize freedom and a version of nonconformity, it is quite another to ensure that as an entertainment enterprise, the saturation point of that message is so high that to nonconform (by, say, not participating in the cultural phenomenon that is Star Wars) is unusual and discouraged. Above is a picture of the quarter quell arena where Katniss defies everything that the games stand for just like in her first hunger games. What is more simple than that? These principles which Americans hold near and dear, and have been used to justify every civil rights movement, have also trickled down into everything from government policy to cultural mannerisms which foreigners might find arrogant. However, the Second World War was the largest and most traumatic event of the 20th Century for much of the world including America. I am not Dauntless. This, along with Disney creates an education process for children in America and around the world. But then again, there is always an agenda coming from hollywood (the good forces of multiculturalism vs. the evil fascist Empire). Hmm. However, in the wake of the Obama administration, many conservatives, especially libertarians, have embraced the story as their own proving the political transcendence of anti-fascism and the politics of resistance and nonconformity. Not to mention how those films (and Lucas films in general) have always tried to express american values. The answer is simple: because villains, especially Nazi-like villains, give Americans a clear sense of what we stand for by presenting them which what humans are supposed to stand against. The Zombie Nazis are participating in exclusion to maintain their conformity. What is the place of psychological horror and thriller in a world gone mad? You can really see this myth at work in other works of American pop culture in the terrible film The Patriot, in the much better though ideologically muddled TV series Sleepy Hollow, in the many Hollywood films where British actors play straw-men villains while out-acting their American counterparts (e.g. Therefore, with the rise of Communism, even ones own neighbors can be seen as potential overlords who must be feared. Encyclopedia.com. But what makes this show a perfect example of Favoring Intuition over Reason is how often these doctors go against the rules to save some of their patients. They are Superior Nazi Zombies that will stop at nothing to win their war. This article from The Artifice articulates the politics ofThe Hunger Games very well. Freely? If a Nazi gets killed in an elaborate death there is never any sympathy. A second example is when doctor Izzie Stevens cut a wire that was connected to one of her patients because as long as that wire was keeping him alive they would not perform a risky surgery that, if successful, would make it possible for him to finally live outside of the hospital. Today, as the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize (and the first person to win two of the coveted awards), Marie Curie is a household name, but the odds werent stacked in her favor. and the Nazis in many of those films are compelling and essential villains (yes, in great uniforms). Though the First World War was close: it lead to increased nationalism, fascism, the carving up of the Middle East, and introduced to the battlefield radio communications, airplanes, bombing, poison gas (more or less), the tank, machine guns (on a mass scale, though they were there in the Boer War too), and the use of trucks and the railway to move masses of troops. The popularity of sports also boomed in the 1950s, helped along by the widespread broadcast of sports on TV. Major non-conformance are mistakes that adversely affect . I disagree, I think he enhanced the force with the introduction of midi-chlorians. Transcendentalism in Pop Culture by Mario Colozza - Prezi It is a plain fact that sci-fi is more about the present than the future, and anyone who can think knows that there are useful readings to be had from relating sci-fi narrative to its cultural context. A large part of the aesthetic and focus of the park is the Golden Age of Hollywood and the films from this era (many of which pertain to WWII). He campaigned tirelessly for people of color throughout the world and wrote many works integral to the fight against racism. 1950s: Pop Culture Explodes in a Decade of Conformity Dont get me wrong, I think your article is well written and I find the Nazi trope in fiction very interesting, but I disagree with the message of conformity. Simply put, people were paranoid. Du Bois (1936/1937) by Harmon FoundationU.S. Emily N. Cannon: After spending 12 years in tech working as an information professional without realizing it, I decided to pursue my MLIS and refocus my career. Transcendentalism in Pop Culture - express.adobe.com Learn about another American music pioneer, Thelonious Monk, by visitingMonk At 100. 2013. Izzie could have also lost her job doing this, but she believed that the surgery would work and that his life would be better after it because he would finally be able to leave the hospital. Holiday cut her first record in 1933 when she was just 18, and was touring with Count Basie just a few years later. In such categories, not everyone is included and entitled to this freedom, although the Bill of Rights or Constitution states this. "i got to do what i have to do to survive". I disagree. 1940)Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The economic prosperity of the United States at the beginning of last century created cultural industries.The term cultural industry was created by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1944; 1993) to mean the creation, production, and distribution of goods and services that are cultural in nature and usually protected by intellectual property rights. In this way, the Warner Brothers were making a statement about white supremacist overlords at home who fear people who are different and dont allow free thought within their ranks. This is not the time to get over it.. An excellent piece, certainly one of the finest pieces Ive read in this publication for some considerable time. The economy was booming, bringing millions of Americans into the middle class; politics were stable and the president, World War II hero Dwight D. Eisenhower (18901969), was beloved by many. Understanding the meanings behind these Nazi associations and symbols helps to place Star Wars and other pieces of pop culture into context. No surprise that the folks who run Hollywood are keen on Nazi imagery. Globalization and Popular Culture. This idea is present in Star Wars in the fact that Storm Troopers are seen as so weak minded that they are susceptible to Jedi mind tricks. Indeed I grew up in that era and I absolutely lapped up anything to do with WW2. failure or refusal to conform to a prevailing rule or practice. . The reanimation of marginalization (Gay, Black, Muslim, Women, and indigenous peoples, Zombies or Nazis) of the other carries conflict and continues the unfounded fears without resolution. There is a potent political message in making fun of extremists because it deflates much of the power that they hold in their image. This will providebetter context forStar Wars episodes IV, V, and VI, as well as the new Force Awakens, which uses these themes as well. In fact, in his one of his most popular songs, "Yonkers" he openly shares his dislike for pop artist Bruno Mars. Deep article! As Ive highlighted in my article onX-Men and the Holocaust, Americans were widely unaware of the full extent of Nazi atrocities until much later in the twentieth century. One of the main focuses of transcendentalism is noncomformity. Rigby is a perfect example of nonconformity. The aesthetics of the farm are similar to a prisoner of war camp or concentration camp. This proves the emotional effectiveness of using the Nazi imagery in a film to encourage resistance. Conformity has important social implications and continues to be actively researched. . Teens today glorify the beauty of the world and that is proven by the thousands of posts and pages that revolve around breath taking scenery. This idea of transcendentalism was started in 1836, in New England and was carried out to the foundation of America. For most Americans, the 1950s saw a return to normalcy after the crazy war years. The Transcendentalist belief of the Importance of Nature is shown throughout the media. These signs of normalcy and quiet prosperity do not obscure the fact that the 1950s saw real social change and awakening and a remarkable explosion of pop culture. What Are Examples of a Non-Conformist? - Reference.com German accents, one liners (like Ve have vays of making you talk), senseless violence, or dismissal as being simply insane are some of the ways in which these villains are portrayed. It is most likely a combination of all of these plus the fact that he represents an evil Empire which is not only ruthless, but encompasses a deeply seeded American fear: conformity, the death of the individual. I am Divergent. There is a great rise in Neo-Nazism throughout Europe at this time. [CDATA[ The forceful acquisition of private property alluded to in the Communist Manifesto would be a direct violation ofseveral constitutional amendments which were put in place by the founding fathers because they saw private property as a part of what it meant to be independent. A compelling social and cultural force during the decade was the Cold War (194591), the name given to the long battle for supremacy between the United States and the Soviet Union. Nice job! Elvis Presley (19351977) was the king of rock 'n' roll, but there were also a dozen princesincluding Chuck Berry (1926), Little Richard (1932), Jerry Lee Lewis (1935), and many others. As her popularity grew, though, so did the adversity. Nonconformist Overview & Examples | What is a Nonconformist? - Video No, it WAS the most important event in the 20th century. Thus, the purpose of this article is not to argue that Star Wars is about WWII, but to define core American values, the way in which WWII re-defined them, and the way in which pieces of popular culture like Star Wars use the lessons, themes, aesthetics, and/or figures from WWII to make contemporary statements on the dangers of conformity. Interesting article the Nazi imagery in Star Wars is pretty obvious, though I always thought (which you hint at) that a major ideological theme of at least the original trilogy was the founding American myth of the good rebels of the Revolution fighting the evil British overlords, though subsequent history made this myth just that a myth. //Transcendentalism in pop culture - Padlet The resurrection of Peter Cushing, along with the casting of the other Imperial leaders, in Rogue One seems to clinch this. Similar echoes are present in the Hunger Games latest movie.. Great analysis. So while one group conforms to their ideologies they are exclusive in their membership unfortunately this type of popular human behavior can be found globally. The different examples you brought in really support the article. Examples of a minor nonconformity for processes are unauthorized change in documentation, missegregation of nonconforming products, and improper machine calibration. These Nazi zombies are a group that the others most definitely have a legitimate fear. the movement or principles of English Protestant dissent. It might not be surprising to the reader that many core American values can be traced to Americas founding. U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy (19091957) of Wisconsin led an anticommunist witchhunt that eventually led to blacklists in the movie industry.