History 120

Post #11: Politics of Music and Movies in 1970

    The energy crisis, presidential impeachment proceedings, and the Vietnam War, generally overshadow many other trends in the seventies. These major events caused or influenced much of the context of the time period, including social unrest and realignment. The music and entertainment of the decade gave a great deal of insight into the events of the time period. Many themes of the most popular films and music of the 1970’s can be categorized under either love or war. Although there are slight differences among the themes of the movies and music, both have themes heavily influenced by the politics and trends of the era.
          
     Developments in technology attracted many individuals back to the movies. The top movies of the time period based on box office revenue were:

1. Love Story

2. Airport

3. M*A*S*H

4. Patton

5. The AristoCats

                        6. Woodstock

7. Little Big Man

8. Ryan’s Daughter

9. Tora! Tora! Tora!

10. Catch-22 [1]

     Experiences of the Vietnam War and wars in general and the consequences of them played a large role in the themes of several movies. Tora! Tora! Tora!, a large budget movie, focused on the attack of

Pearl Harbor

by the Japanease. The biopic, Patton, was based upon General George. S Patton, a famous figure involved in World War II. Also regarding WWII is Catch-22, a film that focuses on individualism and insanity along with the horrors of war. The number three film, M*A*S*H, is set during the Korean War, despite being widely accepted as truly about the Vietnam War. The comedic film has the characters going to great lengths to distract themselves from what is happening as a result of war. Many of the most profitable movies, like Patton or M*A*S*H, are those founded in the bleak realities of war. An additional profitable genre included films such as Love Story, The Aristocats, and Ryan’s Daughter, which were considered to be old-fashioned, sincere films dealing with love and romance.

    Many events occurred throughout the seventies which altered the music business to a great extent. The ten most popular songs of the decade were,

1. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head (B.J. Thomas)

                        2. I Want You Back ( Jackson Five)

3. Venus (by Shocking Blue)

4. Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (Sly and the Family Stone)

5. Bridge Over Troubled Waters (Simon and Garfunkel)

6. Let it Be (Beatles)

7. ABC (Jackson Five)

8. American Woman (Guess Who)

9. Everything is Beautiful (Ray Stevens)

10. Long and Winding Road (Beatles)

 Turmoil between groups such as Simon and Garfunkel as well as the Beatles influenced the content of the music. The lyrical content of the songs by these artists dealt with struggles and troubled times. These troubled times were affected by both personal conflicts and issues related to the Vietnam War. Other songs pertain to the frustrations present in America at the time, for example Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) is about racial harmony and American Woman, which was written about Canada’s frustration with America at the time.[2] Contradicting these hits were upbeat songs of optimism such as Everything is Beautiful, which made religious references and dealt with peace, love and understanding, ABC, a song that simplified love in an upbeat way, and Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head, which supports perseverance in the presence of trouble. These songs could be possible attempts to raise the country’s morale after the hard times of war.

    Although many of the songs and movies related to the overall topics of war or love, they did so in their own unique ways. Nation of Nations states, “The impact of the war fell hardest on the baby-boom generation of the 1950s. As these young people were coming of age, draft calls for the armed services were rising.”[3] Many of the movies dealing with war were portrayed to audiences of people directly involved in the war and the repercussions felt by them. The film portrayals of war at the time were more explanatory or informative of what many Americans were going through or had gone through. At the same time there was a growing movement of heightening concern about American goals causing the social turmoil among the country’s population. The songs dealt greatly with the public’s backlash to the aspirations of the American government. This contributes to the tones of frustration and cynicism throughout many of them.

The top ten movies and songs of 1970 and the way they relate to the current events and morale of the country during that year is only an example of why certain songs top the charts. It is common for

America

’s population to determine which songs and movies will be hits based on their emotions and views concerning the happenings of the time period. People like to interpret their feelings through lyrics and fictional characters because it gives them something to compare and relate to without actually facing the dilemma themselves. When an entire country is concerned with war, racism, and a low morale, the majority will automatically be drawn to forms of entertainment that connect to these issues.

[1] http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1970.shtml

[2] http://www.songfacts.com

[3] Nation of Nations, Pg. 892

Post #10: The Fifties Photo Album

http://history120sm.typepad.com/photos/automobile_advertisements/index.html

Post #9: Commenting

I commented on:

1.) Kathryn Swenson's "We the Jury..." post:

Comment 1

2.) Zane Farooq's "Barrow's Plantation" post:
Comment 2

3.) Eric Perkins "Photo Essay" post:
Comment 3

Post #7: We the jury..

    In the Montana case State vs. Edward Rehburg, the petit jury of Group 3 found Mr. Rehburg not guilty on one count of murder in the second-degree. According to laws in the United States, one must be proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in order to be found guilty of a crime. A murder in the 19th century was not easily solved, as forensic science was limited at the time. This made jury decisions much more difficult because if no one saw the event occur, it was very hard to put the accused at the scene of the crime. There was not ample evidence to support a conviction in this case; on the contrary, the testimonies in the courtroom, including that of the victim herself, support Mr. Rehburg verdict as not guilty.

    During this time period, testimonies made by women were not typically taken as seriously as those made by men. Despite this fact, both Emma and Bertha Rehburg proposed evidence placing Edward away from any possible opportunity to beat his daughter during the day, making it less likely for him to commit the crime. Additionally, Joe Tiebow, a worker for Mr. Rehburg, also supported the statements made by the girls. The prosecutor questioned Mr.Tiebow with simple queries. This might suggest a discrimination against his social classification. First, he states that Clara came out of the house when she first appeared hurt, which helps the defense as he was supposedly on the haystack all day. He also mentions that as soon as Mr. Rehburg saw his daughter’s condition, he asked her about her wounds and took her into town to see a doctor 10 minutes later. This particular deposition shifts a huge amount of blame away from the accused, and also places the inside of the house as the most probable crime scene.

     The majority of the doctor’s statements simply mentioned Clara’s physical condition as being poor. However, those of Dr. Weed and Dr. Steele bring to light the declaration made by the victim on her deathbed. There is a hearsay rule in the procedure of law, which states that a testimony from what one heard will be discounted from the case and will not be used by the jury to apply in their decided verdict. There is an exception to this and that is the death bed declaration, this can be used in the case as concrete evidence. Clara stated that her step mother abused her, and not her father. This clearly shuts out any verdict of Mr. Rehburg being the guilty suspect.

   

The statements made by the three Rehburg daughters, Joe Tiebow, and the doctors provide plenty of evidence for a 19th or 20th century jury to find Mr. Rehburg not guilty, despite any generational differences between the two time periods. Clara’s deathbed declaration was particularly important to the defense because not only did she state the abuser was not her father, but she specifically mentioned that it was her step-mother, Louisa. Along with the depositions from the others involved, it would not be plausible for a panel to find Edward Rehburg guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.