Week 8: Elvis on Ed Sullivan in '56

1 Between 1955 and 1965 public opinion of television began to turn a bit negative. Chose one event during this time in history and blog about how it contributed to the thinking that television negatively impacted individuals and society?


When Elvis appeared on Ed Sullivan's show in September of 1956, there was much concern, especially by Ed, himself, that Elvis' provocative dancing/movements would outrage some television viewers.

For his first performance, the cameras stayed mostly above Elvis' waist. But, during his second performance, the camera zoomed out and tv audiences throughout the United States were able to see Elvis' provocative hip swinging.

This offended many parents, as they did not want their children to be able to see such displays on television. And, at the time, there were no sort of tv-parental controls or ratings, so parents had no way of stopping their kids from watching shows like this if they weren't home to physically stop them. So, parents had every right to be worried that such performances would negatively impact their children.