Sexual Component of Rock n' Roll Films

 
 
 
 
The sexual component of rock and roll has been a strong element in films about and featuring rock and roll from the beginning. In the 1950s, when rock music was new, the films featuring rock often were based around parental fears of the rampant sexuality supposed to go with the music. In films like Don't Knock the Rock (1956), the plot revolved around convincing parents that kids listening to rock and roll were not inevitably preparing for an orgy. Ironically, the sexual component of rock became stronger and more overt as initial parental fears were sublimated if not eliminated, and rock on film would become sold for its sexual content rather than in spite of it.

Ehrenstein and Reed (1982) note how rock and roll fit with the rebellious spirit of teenagers in the 1950s, specifically because that generation was experiencing a new sense of autonomy: "With its concerns of sex and speed, instead of the 'June, moon and spoon' of their parents' music, rock as a perfect music for the atomic era - its goading orgiastic sound made all the more poignant the possibility of oblivion's imminence" (p. 15). In truth, this rebellious spirit seems to be part and parcel with being a teenager in the modern world, and to satisfy this need the sense of the forbidden in rock and roll - and especially the forbidden in sexual terms - has had to escalate from heavy petting in the 1950s to overt sexual activity to all manner of abnormal sexual activity hinted at in more recent music. Films i


     
 
 
 
    

 

Related Essays

Rock-and-roll .... Ironically, the sexual component of rock became stronger and more .... it was seen as black, sexual, non-conforming .... A Scholar Takes His Views on Rock 'n' Roll to the .... (2258 9 )

Adolescence and Sexual Attitudes .... One need only listen to the rock 'n roll of hotel .... Sexual attitudes are influenced by a variety of factors .... & Hogg, 1994, p. 4). An important component of social .... (9388 38 )



Category: Film - S
 
 
 
Common Topics
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Click Here to Get Instant Access to over 32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
 
 
 
Join Now  
 
 
 
 
 
Saved Papers  
 
 
Save your essays here so you can locate them quickly!
 
 
 
Testimonials  
 
"Thank you for making such a high quality site! Your papers are the best I have seen around"
Debbie B.
 
"Your site was very helpful and gave me the details I needed in order to complete my essay!!!"
Mike F.
 
"This site is an excellent vehicle for quick referrences. Thanks a bunch!"
Carla T.
 
"Great site, I got a lot of new ideas I would have never thought of before."
Nate A.
 
"I love this site!!!"
Marie H.
 
 
 
 
Copyright © 2007 - 2012 Lots of Essays. All Rights Reserved. DMCA