An Accurate Portrayal of American Life?

The American Way in the 1950s….

How we perceive our past through dozens of mid-century documentaries and their portrayal of American life in the 1950s and ’60s is enlightening. We watch, record them, and reflect fondly upon another time.

Most of these films were “Chamber of Commerce” productions made in an effort to sell “the American way…” or to promote a product or service. Defense contractors have always been big on documentaries. However, what was the “American Way” exactly? I suppose it depends on who you speak with and what they remember.

As boomers in our twilight, we don’t always remember history as it actually was. Times were good for a lot of us—but not all of us.

During the post-war boom, the only way was up. We were rising from rough times, aiming for space dominance and the Moon. With help from our allies, we’d won a world war in two theatres a vast distance apart. We had achieved an impossible task – with thousands of war wounded and dead. It was time to heal.

In retrospect, I have to wonder how we did it.

We did it because we decided to do it. It was a collective undertaking, and it was everything to save the world from tyranny. Life has always been a battle between good and evil. Sometimes, good and evil become blurred.

As boomers growing up in the ‘burbs, we didn’t have to face the issues our parents and mentors did. Our parents had endured the Great Depression and World War II. The post-war years were no picnic either, despite what our world might have looked like through a camera lens and a narrator.

I believe we had more class in those days before travelers started wearing torn blue jeans and tee shirts on airliners and in trains. I credit boomers for making society too casual. This happened during the hippie movement in the 1960s. Formal attire got sidelined for clothing that had been lying on the closet floor for a week.

Maybe I sound really old, but I don’t get young people traveling in pajamas. That’s the latest trend I see everywhere. It implies the absence of motivation. I won’t even get into body piercings and some really tasteless tattoos.

War Vets must look at us and wonder what they were fighting for. Forgotten Vietnam War Vets hear “Thank You for Your Service…” everywhere they go, yet where is the love, man? The most forgotten segment of our society is war Veterans, wondering where they fit in and where true gratitude is.

We are big flag-wavers, but not much on substance. Vets need real action.

I will always tend to wonder who we really are as a nation and a society. The late comedian and satirist, George Carlin, said it best when he said “America is about the marketing and distribution of bullshit…” We have some of the best marketing people in the world who’ve always been good at selling the “American Way” worldwide.

America has become tarnished, narcissistic, and disconnected. Yet, I see hope in some factions genuinely interested in putting us back together. I believe in America. I also believe we are a work in progress, much as we have been for 249 years.