Gun Control + and -'s

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Here's something to ponder: 60 odd years ago when I was a lad in grammar school there was no such things as school shootings. There were plenty of guns around and you could even mail order them. So maybe, just maybe the problem lies somewhere else...

Back in those days, self-destructive adolescent malaise in suburban Middle Class America was quite apparent, as dramatized and epitomized in the film (circa 1955) Rebel Without A Cause. That movie became a cultural icon for many obvious reasons, most of them obvious to all of us.

What happened since then?

Maybe the majority of adolescents are still actually like the characters portrayed by Mineo, Dean, and Ms. Wood, but the really odd characters in real-life, these days, certainly do get the attention thru their acts of horrendous violence. Even the "worst" teens, back then, like Brando in his motorcycle movie, just roared around town with his pack of faux-hoodies, but NOBODY pulled out guns to vent their frustrations.

As a boy (50's) I had a "cowboy's" cap-gun, complete with its little paper roll of "caps" that went "CRack!" when the "trigger" hit them one at a time. I wasn't encouraged to buy more of those "caps" when the first roll was exhausted, nor was I much interested in getting more. I had better things to do, like hiking the surrounding neighborhood and woods, and ride my new Schwinn Black Phantom bicycle. And I didn't start shooting up the place once my case of acne pimples appeared, and just hoped for the best that my newest tube of Clearasil would do the trick so girls would notice me for good reasons and approve.

I simply don't entirely "get" what happened to the youth of this country since then. However, I suspect it has a whole lot to do with the world of the youth of today having been opened up, literally, to the whole world, not just confined to the distances kids could travel on bikes or afoot.

Attached, below, is a view of most of my whole world as a boy, where everybody, literally, knew each other and looked -out for each other, or, at the very least, stuck their noses up the crack of everybody else's business, much to our communal benefit, I believe. WE felt protected and prepared for what lay ahead.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I simply don't entirely "get" what happened to the youth of this country since then. However, I suspect it has a whole lot to do with the world of the youth of today having been opened up, literally, to the whole world, not just confined to the distances kids could travel on bikes or afoot.

Maybe it's more than a taste of disillusionment, that things are not improving, that life is not getting better every generation and that there's a loss of purpose, direction, and that the success that one's parents might have reached or had within reach is now far out of reach.

Attached, below, is a view of most of my whole world as a boy, where everybody, literally, knew each other and looked -out for each other, or, at the very least, stuck their noses up the crack of everybody else's business, much to our communal benefit, I believe. WE felt protected and prepared for what lay ahead.

That reaches back to my prior response regarding parenting and/or the lack of the it.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

And I would add to that (bleak?) picture, the theory that a heavy does of hedonism has been replacing religion - organized , or simply beliefs held quietly and privately in the heart - in communities and in individual motivations, personal standards of conduct, and basic morals.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

And I would add to that (bleak?) picture, the theory that a heavy does of hedonism has been replacing religion - organized , or simply beliefs held quietly and privately in the heart - in communities and in individual motivations, personal standards of conduct, and basic morals.

Maybe. I'd still place all of that under the umbrella of parenting; I don't see religion as a surrogate or an augmentation for quality parenting.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

And I would add to that (bleak?) picture, the theory that a heavy does of hedonism has been replacing religion - organized , or simply beliefs held quietly and privately in the heart - in communities and in individual motivations, personal standards of conduct, and basic morals.

Maybe. I'd still place all of that under the umbrella of parenting; I don't see religion as a surrogate or an augmentation for quality parenting.

True.
And indispensable.

[HONDO74]

The movie I remember most from the 50s (1955) is Blackboard Jungle that had an influence on teenager. Rock and Roll music. Bill Halley and the Comets. Rock Around the Clock. After the movie was released the song went to 1st place and stayed there for 8 weeks.

Living in California at the time most of us could not comprehend how schools could be like this depicted in the movie.

Glen Ford played the teacher who's name was Richard Dadier. But they called him Daddy-O in the movie and that became a big word back then.

Question... Was it really this violent back in those days with the in-city schools. ??

The music led to a large teenage audience for the film, and their exuberant response to it sometimes overflowed into violence and vandalism at screenings. In this sense, the film has been seen as marking the start of a period of visible teenage rebellion in the latter half of the 20th century.

The Blackboard Jungle - Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amyo9HNLSgI

Blackboard Jungle - First Day of Class!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw8X_WQUsIM

[Rufus T. Firefly]

In this sense, the film has been seen as marking the start of a period of visible teenage rebellion in the latter half of the 20th century.

Or was it Brando in The Wild One?

Or was it Dean in Rebel Without a Cause?

[HONDO74]

In this sense, the film has been seen as marking the start of a period of visible teenage rebellion in the latter half of the 20th century.

Or was it Brando in The Wild One?
Or was it Dean in Rebel Without a Cause?


Rebel Without a Cause
The film was supposedly a groundbreaking attempt to portray the moral decay of American youth, critique parental style, and explore the differences and conflicts between generations.

The most I remember about it was the "Chickie Run" at a seaside cliff.

The Wild One is more of an outlaw biker film,
Maybe the Hell's Angels patterned themselves after this one

[Rufus T. Firefly]

The Wild One is more of an outlaw biker film,
Maybe the Hell's Angels patterned themselves after this one

Yes, but it also glorified the bad boy image and rebellion

Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?
Whadda you got?

[HONDO74]

The Wild One is more of an outlaw biker film,
Maybe the Hell's Angels patterned themselves after this one

Yes, but it also glorified the bad boy image and rebellion

Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?
Whadda you got?

So are these movies just Hollywood hype or was this the way it actually was.??

Do these movies have the influences to cause people to act out what the see depicted.??

[rogruth]

All of the above .
Dean got credit for the turned up jacket collar but our group ( OK, gang) had been wearing turned up jacket collars since 1946.
As stated earlier, our neighborhood was mostly Italian. Parents would not have put up with what happened in the Jungle.
Brando was thought of mostly as just being an off beat hood.

IMHO the breakdown came when it took workers in the family to make a living. Family life changed to not any.
Not meaning to be racist but those of different ethnicity were often more influential than we like to admit.
West coast pre WW II "Zoot Suiters" affected the dress of teen age and young adult gangs into the 1950s.
Style of dress, vocal expression of all types that came from the Latinos and Afro-Americans (I don't know what
term to use anymore) are still a huge influence today.

[HONDO74]

I went to the same junior high in Santa Anna ( Lathrop Junior high ) that Marlon Brando had attended.

"Zoot Suiters" Being that I lived in Santa Anna I am quite familiar with them. They thought they owned Santa Anna. Nearby is the El Toro Marine base and the marines would come to town to have fun. One night a couple of marines got beat up pretty bad by some Zoot Suiters. The following weekend the commander of the base brought all the marines to town with instruction to beat the crap out of any Zoot Suiters they could find. The marines never had any problems with any Zoot Suiters after that.

When I lived in Alhambra you had to watch out for the Pachuco's. They are similar to the Zoot Suiters

[Mitch]

Wanna see what crept into our schools that has a big influence on the youth of today, watch the movies "Lean On Me" with Morgan Freeman, and "The Principal" with Jim Belushi. Both are true to form and both point out how druggies, bullies, hoodies, and gang bangers can destroy the education of other students, but today, nothing seems to get done about it.

[rogruth]

It seems as though all of the persons that do "bad","not right" things in our society today do them because of some type of medical or psychological problem and are therefore innocent of blame. The rest of us caused their problems so it is our fault.

[Tom Dempsey]

Obviously, I grew up in an alternate universe, I sure don't remember any Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver moments during my formative years.