Changes in Australian Pop Culture 1945 to the present
During 1945 to the present there has been many changes in Australian pop culture, these areas of pop culture include Film, television, radio, music, fashion, sport and communication. Popular Culture refers to the beliefs, attitudes and lifestyles shared by a group of people.
Film:
Film in Australia has a large part of the Australian lifestyle and has had many major changes in Popular Culture from 1945 to the present. The first film to be released was the Ned Kelly Gang in 1945. Australia has produced many successful films during this time and has had many influences on Australian pop culture. During the 1940s and 1950s the film industry was lacking from Government policy changes
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The 1990s marked a new era for Australian films. The biggest changes in the Australian film industry in the 1990s was the arrival of the DVD in 1999 and the Internet which enabled people to access films online, causing less people to go to the cinemas which had a huge impact on the film industry. The 2000s marked the start of a new century and an advanced film industry.
Television:
Television has had many changes in pop culture since 1945 and has been an important part of Australia 's national identity. Television was first introduced in Australia in September 1956, which was introduced just before the 1956 Olympics hosted in Melbourne, television was first screened in grainy black and white. For the first few years after television had been released in Australia, television was mainly dominated by American programs, however in a few years it had become the most popular form of entertainment. Television decreased the audience of the radio programs and in 1965 it was around 9 out of 10 Australian families that owned a Television set. By 1959, it was estimated that over 50 percent of families in Sydney owned a television set. Early Australian television broadcast news, quiz programmes, movies, music programmes and sport. There was only a few television studios to produce programs in Australia at the time which meant most local content had to be broadcasted live. In 1966 Australia
1950s After the turmoil and loss that WW2 brought to Australian society, Australians saw the emergence of a more conservative society . Teenagers now were encouraged to attend University, this new pressure to become a successful adult was the driving force for the new teenage subculture that emerged from 1950-1979. 1960s Following the era of the 1950s, when teenagers felt the pressure of obtaining an education and becoming successful adults, the 1960’s brought about great social change. These changes were brought about with a greater influx of immigrants who brought new ideas, customs and foods. American culture also became an overriding influence on Australian teenagers. 1970s The 1970s brought about even more change to the economy, politics, society and technology. The
As one of the largest forms of pop culture, TV shows in Australia have had a massive impact on the things we buy, our job preferences, and hobbies that we could take up. In the 1960’s this was very much the case. It was the beginning decade for Television
The poor distribution of Australian films has made it difficult for the public to view these said films, due to the lack of theatres screening the actual pictures. This contributes to the community of the Australian public to collectively be unaware of these films and leads to the small number of tickets sold in cinemas. With this lack of money being spent on Australian films, the industry suffers due to with no return going into the
The 1950s and 1960s were times of unprecedented change, and Australian society was influenced greatly by American popular culture, through various mediums, such as: music, film, television and fashion. This especially affected teenagers. It will be explained how Australian society was impacted by American popular culture, and also why American popular culture had such an affect. Australian developed its own responses to these influences, and the extent of this will also be explored.
The national spread of American media including; TV, film and music has been the cornerstone of Americanisation in Australia since 1945, the end of world war two. 'Britain's Farm' and 'America's Junior Partner': that is what Australia was labelled as, around the end World War II. Prior to WWII it is argued Australia
To understand why Australian movies are the way they are now, there must be a review of the history of the films produced in Australia, because through out time, the films have had successes as well as some failures.
Australian film and television deal with such themes by accepting the reality of Australian contexts. The Australian demographic are known for their rough humour and approach, hence the depiction of an Australian man, or woman, can be taken lightly and not offensively. At the same time, film and television are careful in representing Indigenous Australian as opposed to stereotypical white Australians. It is these historical, political, socio-economic ideologies that shape Australia’s national ‘type’.
The introduction of television was greeted with great excitement by most Australians in the 1950s, but some of society was opposed against the idea of televisions. This was because some people believed that television would allow “Australia to become over-run by American culture, thus threatening the development of the Australian identity.” (Wiliam, S, 2016). The amount of American shows that were broadcast in Australia at the time would have given people these views about Australian culture. “Eventually, many of our British cultural legacies would give way to new American ideals.” (Wiliam, S. 2016). Some of the people thought that the American influence would impact “Australia's ability to carve out its own national identity.” (Wiliam, S. 2016). Other people of the time that were opposed to the idea of televisions believed that the content on televisions was superficial and unsophisticated and contained no educational or cultural benefits.(Wiliam, S, 2016) This left people concerned that television would encourage people to become less active in the
The statement ‘Developments in popular culture in post-war Australia and their impact on society were influenced in particular by American and British culture’, when taken in reference to the timeline lasting from the 1950’s to the present day, is extremely accurate. Not only did American and British influence affect the Australian lifestyle in the later half of the 20th century, in particular the 1970’s and 80’s; but the rise of developments such as the ‘World Wide Web’ and online ‘Social Networks’ from American origins in the 1990’s and the previous and current decades have had an extremely large influence on the popular culture of the modern nation today. Even before the lifting of the clouds of the Second Great War, Australia had been
Australian popular culture in the 1960s had multiple features, many of which were influenced by the social changes and counter culture at the time. The primary aspects of Australian popular culture in the 1960s were; music, fashion, film, sport and television.
This research will only concentrate on the extent of Americanisation in Australia through the influence on television and the film industry as the aspect of Americanisation covers a wide range from fashion to language. To fully understand the topic of the hypothesis, proper exploration of the definitions of ‘identity’ and ‘culture’ are of relevance. ‘Identity’ and ‘culture’ play an integral role in what an Australian represents as well as how the world views Australians. The meaning of ‘identity’ can be summarized as; ‘The collective aspect of the set of
Pop culture, what does this term even mean? It seems to be a word that contains subjects of media, social structure, and society as a whole. According to the dictionary, pop culture is defined as “cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people”. In the society we live in today, we are constantly surrounded by pop culture, either that is with television, magazines, different sources of social media and/or exposure to others. Due to pop culture being such a dominant contribution into our world today, it has effected many parts of society. The domination of social media has created idealistic views that are stressed upon female adolescents in particular. Upon media’s influence, traditional tactics and work have been modified in order to keep up with our technology oriented society. This alters the schools and education systems. Through the use of television, social media and other means of pop culture, serious study is necessary due to the negative effects it has on the younger generation and the effects it has for their futures.
This new period created the films to become more realistic. The Movie Brats have created biggest blockbusters in American history, from Star Wars, The Godfather and Jaws.
The Australian Music Scene is on of the best and is growing. Even though it is far away from major musical capitals such as America and the UK there is still a thriving live music scene in Australia. There are many different cultures and genres that musicians play in Australia. With so many festivals and gigs throughout the long summers, musicians love to come and play in Australia.
In the 1950s America and Britain influenced Australia’s popular culture in a number of ways. Although Australia’s national identity is evident in every part of popular culture, America and Britain both had a significant impact on the development of Australian culture since World War Two. Throughout out the decade they changed the way people thought about Australian fashion, music and entertainment. Fashion was based around celebrity images and American cinema and television became a big hit.