Rocky and Bullwinkle Affect on Pop Culture in America during the Cold Term Paper

Rocky and Bullwinkle Affect on Pop Culture in America during the Cold War - Term Paper Example Thesis statement: Rocky and Bullwinkle revealed the American attitude on Cold War, acted the role of a rhetorical construction against rhetorical war and political allegory on Cold War sentiment, and influenced Pop culture in America during the Cold War. I. American Popular Culture during the Cold War The multicultural characteristic of the American society is reflected in its popular culture. To be specific, American culture shows acceptance towards all cultures without any partiality. This acceptance deeply influences the amalgamation of different cultural characteristics. Besides, this led to the growth and development of popular culture in America, which reflected the Cold War apprehensions. Within this context, co-operation between USA and Soviet Union, during World War II, did not last much because it eventually led towards mutual suspicion. On the other side, the popular culture in America made use of this continuous tension as its subject matter. From a different angle of vie w, the Cold War era reflected the American influence upon the cultural scenario of the world nations in general. At the same time, the whole world was under the threat of arms race. In short, the American popular culture during the Cold War reflected the fear of communist influence and arms race. Within the scenario of Pop Culture during the Cold War, Rocky and Bullwinkle reflected and molded public opinion on communist influence and arms race. One can identify that Rocky and Bullwinkle are the animated characters in an American Television series, namely The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. ... Both the characters primarily represent the entertainment value of animated characters. For a different angle of view, both the characters represent some inner meaning, related to the disclosure of American attitude towards communism and arms race. Besides, both the characters represent the rhetorical construction and allegory against rhetorical war (say, the Cold War). In short, Rocky and Bullwinkle is symbolic of the political allegory which molded and represented public opinion in America during the Cold War. A. The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show Rocky and Bullwinkle, animated characters are from two different cartoon series, namely Rocky and His Friends (broadcasted at the end of the 1950s) and The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (broadcasted at the beginning of 1960s). Both the cartoon series became popular during 1960s because the plot and the theme suited the taste of children and elders. For instance, the content of the cartoon, especially the inculcation of animals like squirrel and Ca nadian Moose as main characters attracted children. On the other side, the theme and plot with political puns attracted the elders in general. The masterminds behind this cartoon series were Jay Ward and Alex Anderson. They made use of Rocky (Squirrel) and Bullwinkle (Canadian Moose) to entertain children and elders. Besides, the animation work was outsourced to an animation company in Mexico, namely Val-Mar Animation. The first broadcast (twice a week) of the animation series was in the year 1959. Browne makes clear that â€Å"Responding to the groundswell of adult interest and affection for Rocky and Bullwinkle, PBS aired an hour-long special, Of Moose and Man: The