The Effects of Rock Music On Display
The most common generalization applied to rock music by its critics is that it degrades the minds and souls of its listeners. It has been accused of inducing euphoric trances when presented to crowds, and some may point to Woodstock as an example of this effect. People may try to logically decipher the reasoning of standing in a muddy field with half a million strangers, with no apparent plan or control of one’s situation. Many did not have many changes of clothes, and a lot of people slept in the open field. People were running short on food and there were very unsanitary conditions, but they appeared happy and stayed throughout the festival. There was sex, drugs, and other types of debauchery, and critics of rock music can take these observations and hold them as evidence for the damage it affects. Schowalter observes how rock is “targeted as a cause for moral decay in society,� and from the appearance of the festival he could be right. I don’t believe that it was the music, however that caused people to do drugs, or caused any type of slip into debauchery. The townspeople spoke very positively of the kids that attended, and the mood was generally good and peaceful. If rock really is a horrible influence, it is surprising then that half a million people coexisted peacefully. There were no major riots or violence, which could only be expected if young people’s minds were grossly twisted by a deviant media. I think that those who disapprove of rock music will continue to point the finger and assign a corrupting influence. People do morally wrong things in the presence of rock music, but people do morally wrong things without it. Rock music is simply the acting scapegoat of the better half of the century for the desire of young adults to rebel against the “right� social behaviors.
Alex Schreiner