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American History in the Decade of 1970

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Institution Affiliated
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Introduction and the Background of 1970 Decade

According to American history 1970s, in the decade of 1970, several events took place

that marked American history. There were profound changes in cultural aspects, political

environment, and technological innovations. Among the most notable events was the resigning

of President Nixon, who was forced to resign due to the Watergate case. The decade also saw

profound improvements in healthcare, especially on prenatal testing and prenatal care, which

became popular in America, as well as in family planning. There were changes in the cultural

system, where individuals shifted to socially and politically based communities into individuals

who minded about their well-being. Besides, there was the publication of many books and

casting of films. Notably, many of the papers within this decade had a similar theme of humans'

alienation from their spiritual roots; thus, marking a change of the religious aspect of American

culture. In addition, many changes occurred in the entertainment element of culture, both in

music and in films. Roll and Rock music became more popular. To understand the decade and

the many changes that occurred, the essay will analyze one movie, a book, and a song.

Analyzing The Bluest Eye

The novel Bluest Eye focuses on describing the racial segregation against African-

Americans. The book's setting took place in the 1940s when beauty was closely related to

wealth, physical traits, and racism was high against African Americans (Biju, 2018).

Throughout the novel, one can notice that Morrison displays the concept of beauty, through the

characters, and in the setting. At the time, there was a big gap between the middle social class

and the lower class, which was composed of Black Americans. Notably, black was considered

ugly as stated book 'you ugly! Black and ugly" (pg. 73). This indicated that the color aspect used

to judge beauty.
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A notable character, Pecola, who had a dark color, perceives that she would be

profoundly loved and accepted if only she had blue eyes. This shows how white perceptions had

brainwashed members of black society. In addition, Morris states, "All of the worlds had agreed

that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, ink skinned doll, was what every child treasured" (pg. 20). The

nature in which Pecola is determined to experience love and acceptance is a clear indication of

the desire the Africans had to acquire equality and acceptance in America. Notably, one can

identify a pop-cultural aspect in the nature in which social class meant a lot. Besides, one can

notice that Morris indicates how beauty is crucial in culture. The racial segregation is one aspect

that reminds me of the decade of 1970, which was highly marked with racism. In the decade,

racial discrimination was rampant in America, and many African-Americans envied the whites

and were determined to get acceptability and love.

The Conversation 1974 Film

The conversation is an American Mystery Thriller movie, produced in 1974. The film

was directed and written by Francis Ford Coppola and starred by Gene Hackman (Tobin, 2017).

The plot of the film revolves around a surveillance professional and the moral dilemma that

occurs when the expert realizes potential murder in his recordings. The movies were good, but

the timing of the happened at a time after the Watergate crises, which later led to the forceful

resignation of Richard Nixon. Consequently, the more substantial portion of the audience

interpreted the film as one produced to react to the Watergate scandal. What makes me think

about the decade in the movie is the resignation of Richard Nixon.

Another notable aspect is improving in technology. The movie's characters heavily

depend on electronic surveillance, which is a markable cultural aspect in the decade. This

indicates a technology that is not dependent on computers. The fashion used in the movie also
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highlights the dress code used in the decade. For instance, at some point, the characters wore

bellbottoms. Besides, the music in the film, marks piano compositions, a common type in the

decade. The film has a good sound that is touching, and which creates more eagerness to

continue watching the movie. I enjoyed the music part of the film.

Dancing Queen

The song Dancing Queen is a Euro-pop type of song that belonged to ABBA, a Swedish

group featured in their fourth Album called Arrival (Bischoff et al., 2009). The song is writing

by Stig Anderson, Benny Andersson, and  Björn Ulvaeus. The release of the song occurred in

1976, as a single in Sweden. The song is a Europop, which is typically an American version of

disco music. The song's alternation occurs between "dramatic chorus that ascends to heart-

tugging high notes." and "languid yet seductive verses." Notably, the music uses keyboard lines

of Andersons, which was a common feature in the decade of 1970. Besides, the vocals of

Agnetha Fältskog's and Anni-Frid Lyngstad are so dynamic, making the song adorable. The song

is influential and has motivated many youths, as indicated by Bischoff et al. (2009). The type of

song reminds me of the decade, as it uses a keyboard, and the nature of the music, which is a

disco that became very popular in the decade of 1970. These aspects highlight pop culture in the

decade.

Conclusion

The decade of 1970 American way of life considerably changed. Notably, the

publications printed in the decade addressed much-heated topics in society. There was an

immense change in fashion where bell-bottoms, and hot pants, became common in movies.

Besides, there were changes in the political environment. Therefore, Americans adopted new

activities as well as a cultural product.

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References

Tobin, V. (2017). Viewpoint, misdirection, and sound design in film: The Conversation. Journal

of Pragmatics, 122, 24-34.

Biju, V. (2018). Social Barriers Revealed Out in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.

Bischoff, K., Firan, C. S., Nejdl, W., & Paiu, R. (2009, June). How do you feel about" dancing

queen"? deriving mood & theme annotations from user tags. In Proceedings of the 9th

ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital libraries (pp. 285-294).

American history 1970s. (2016, April 16). History of the United States of

America. https://theamericanhistory.org/american-history-1970s.html