"A Hard Day's Night" (1964)

One of my favorite scenes in “A Hard Day’s Night” involves George being approached by producers of a teen television show. They think he is just a typical teen, or even better, an actor hired to play one for them. They are the trend setters. They are the fashionistas that dictate the fads and create the looks and styles that the young people will buy into.

In the film, the irony is that Beatlemania had taken off, and the movie was being made to capitalize on/feed that trend. So even as the Beatles mock such fashions and the companies that create them and make a living off of them, they were an example of that very teen culture. Maybe the joke was on the entertainment industry, to think they could control such trends and dictate what was considered popular. Here the Beatles were doing their own thing and inspiring a whole generation!

Then again, here we are 50 years later and they may have been laughing too soon. Popular culture today does indeed seem to be dictated and controlled by corporations and entertainment elites. Clothing trends, stylistic choices, culinary tastes and even ethical and philosophical beliefs change and flux following the direction of the entertainment industry.