The 1950s in Pop Culture Versus The 1950s in Real Life

The 50s were long ago, so it’s all about nostalgia from those that were alive during it, especially those that were teens or kids. They remember it as some utopia when it wasn’t. This started in the 70s, when the 50s nostalgia hit a high and people started to remember it as some utopia of goodness and pureness and no crimes etc. this reason is why shows like Happy Days were made and films like American Graffiti

That’s always the case. Look at how Millennials are about the 90s.

I like to think that the 50s were more like Pickup on South Street than Leave It to Beaver.

I look back on the 1990s as a fun good time because I was in college and in my 20s, but the 90s wasn't portrayed that way in pop culture. The 1950s, on the other hand, are portrayed as being something much different than it actually was.

R3 I was a kid in the 90s, so I look back on it fondly also.

But I know people that will tell me how hard the 90s were in some cases etc.

Of course, there was probably a lot wrong with the '50s. I was born in 1950 and It was a great time for kids growing up. Parents gave you a lot of freedom. No helicopter parenting.

Actually the 90s was a good decade, like the 50's. Good economy, pre-9/11, start of the internet, etc.

The 50's were whitewashed - but it was also a miraculous time. Good economy, people had time-saving appliances, housing boom, start of TV, etc. It was finally some good years after 20 years of the Depression and war.

In retrospect the 90s was a wonderful oasis sandwiched between the Reagan 80s and 9/11. It's all been grimly downhill since then.

The economy was booming in the 50s. People could work part time jobs back then and have a nice place and car. It’s insane.

In the '50s a family could easily live on one income, own a house and have a couple of cars. All the trappings of middle class and afford to take the family on a vacation every year. Men could work 8 hours a day and not have to bring home work. It was a great time if you were white and middle class.

OP - there is also the disconnect from the original point of view when watching some of this stuff - The Andy Griffith Show was originally written as light, affectionate satire - at the time people got that Mayberry was amusingly absurd - now conservatives offer it up as a lost Shangra-La, and since we're over 50 years away from it, nobody realizes that it wasn't a documentary. Even some of those 50's sit-coms were, at the time, seen as being intentionally over the top - mom's never vacuumed in pearls and heel, and on the show Father often doesn't know best, but now we just think that's the way it was.

^^ ok so I fucked up moms and heels - I'll OhDear myself