Entry 70: Social Influences – Entertainment

For most people in the 1930’s entertainment was limited to listening to the radio and going to the movies once a week. Considering the information text on p.638 of your book, reflect on the role popular entertainment then and now - what did it do for people? - and how it has changed in the last eighty years?

• The popular entertainment then was basically just something that people enjoyed when they were given the chance to, if they had the time as well as the money. Popular entertainment today is very different - it exists everywhere and every second. Most people enjoy entertainment through the medium of music. If you are able to afford for any more entertainment, then people may have books such as novels and comics, and even more advanced ways of entertainment through electronics such as radio, television, cellphones, and computers. How has popular entertainment changed through the last eight years? Well, the popular form of entertainment has improved through the new innovations and inventions of technology. It has become more sophisticated, and has become more widespread. For example, media in the form of television as well as newspapers and magazines can now be found in one place even though the place of production is somewhere else, maybe on the other side of the planet. Also, present day popular entertainment is more open minded, meaning that there are not as many restrictions as there were in the past. For example, girls may now be able to appear in media in "very revealing clothing" compared to the past, and there may be, for example, more fashion shows in the present day.