Refried Elvis: Rise of the Mexican Counterculture - Essay Example

The existence of many practices and traditions that many people were familiar with were under threat. The rise of the rock and roll culture made the youth try out something new and different. The dispensation of their traditions by the younger people to try new and seemingly better lifestyles became the norm. What it meant to be Mexican could be expressed in the form of other forms of media, and music. These responses triggered the political classes that existed to try and censor the prevalence of rock and roll.

The youth culture was also under threat under the existing familial roles. At the time, the Beatles and Elvis Presley were the main influence in the way rock and roll grew and developed. However, to try and destroy the culture that was growing among the youth, questions about the Beatles’, or Presley’s masculinity would come into play. This was a clear move aimed at censoring the growth of the culture. This culture was largely accepted by the younger people in the country. This paper will review some of the manners in which the growth of the rock and roll culture influenced the post-revolutionary period in Mexico.

1st Section In the first chapter of the text, the author tries to make the reader understand that socially, the rise of the rock and roll culture did not stand for the Mexican values. The rising number of divorces and the forceful working of women were related to the rise of rock and roll. . As seen earlier, to rebuild the culture that existed before rock and roll, the political classes tried to censor the growth of rock and roll. They wanted to do this before the culture grew and developed to something that they could not manage.

As the counterculture started to emerge, some of the ideologies that the political class stood for were beginning to be questioned (Zolov 9). The political class sought to elevate the cost of purchasing records and films. This was an attempt to contain rock and roll and its “adverse” effects. They did not want Mexico to have a “rebeldismo sin causa” (Zolov 39). In the second chapter, the book talks of how the youth would play loud rock and roll music. This is mostly when a chance would present itself.

This they would do it at parties and festivities. They did these mostly in the upper and middle class homes (Zolov 84-85). They played this music loudly as a show of rebellion as often seen with people who are taking a stand against something. The rock gesture, it seemed, was only contained among lower classes of Mexican families. In the third chapter, Zolov talks of how the working class continued to play their rock and roll music. Also, how they continued to support their bands. This is despite the disbanding of clubs that were present.

These clubs were used to playing dancehall and rock music. The political class thought that by disbanding them, they would be curbing the rise in the rock culture. “La Onda”, as the author describes, was a trend among the youth that was seemingly becoming widespread. Hairstyles among the youth were changed. Their clothes, the Mexican reading material, and attitude toward social matters also changed. This attitude change was toward issues