The representation of Rave and Drug culture from the 1980’s and why it has always been associated together and how this sparks Moral Panics
In this essay I will investigate how rave culture caused such a moral panic and why it was (and still is) thought to be so closely linked with drug use, especially the intake of Ecstasy. Techno music (House) and MDMA would both have survived without each other, but their marriage was mutually beneficial; together they gave birth to rave culture. Rave culture started in the 1980’s, with the development of acid house, dance music and clubbing. Although this sub culture has always been seen in a negative way it transformed club culture by turning it into a global force that influences every pop genre. It has …show more content…
The concept is that moral panic is characterized by the reaction of the media, the public and the police/government to the youth disturbances. If it is a threat to social order and dominant ideologies and the media are used to inform society that the person or persons involved are deviant (folk devils) and are behaving in a way that is wrong, compared to dominant society values. This theory was formed as a response to the seaside fights between the Mods and Rockers in 1960s Britain, which had excessive and exaggerated media coverage. Amplification and distortion is essential to the creation of a moral panic, this is done by the media ‘over reporting’. A key example of this is the Mods and Rockers on Brighton beach in 1964. In Cohen’s theory he highlights the emotive language used with regular use of phrases ‘riot’, ‘orgy of destruction’, ‘battle’, ‘attack’ and ‘screaming mob’. Leaving the reader/viewer of this reporting with an image of a harassed town and innocent holiday makers fleeing to escape folk devils. By exaggerating the numbers involved and the amount of damage caused the media coverage alone created a moral …show more content…
It talks about how it’s an “epidemic of drugs, dancing and general debauchery”. It features the music video by “D Mob - We call it Acieed!” and how the BBC banded it as they figure it as an advertisement for drugs and only fuelled the Acid House explosion. This association with drugs and dance music started in Ibiza, which was a common holiday destination for blue collar British vacationers (C2 on the demographic profile). They discovered the drug Ecstasy (MDMA) when clubbing out there and they noticed they would dance the night away and British DJ’s working in Ibiza brought it back with them and introduced it into the already flourishing disco scene. House music got mixed with this ‘love drug’ and gave it a psychedelic tinge which flourished into Acid House. Another reason this culture came into the public eye is because of the causalities following the intake of Ecstasy, this caused Police to crack down and they were raiding warehouse parties constantly and this resulted in London’s Radio 1 and Top of the Pops banning Acid House music and department stores refusing to sell the iconic smiley face which became an arbitrary symbol of Acid House.
As this rave scene continued to grow the government proposed the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill. Clause 63 of the bill is designed specifically to stop
In this essay I will investigate how rave culture caused such a moral panic and why it was (and still is) thought to be so closely linked with drug use, especially the intake of Ecstasy. Techno music (House) and MDMA would both have survived without each other, but their marriage was mutually beneficial; together they gave birth to rave culture. Rave culture started in the 1980’s, with the development of acid house, dance music and clubbing. Although this sub culture has always been seen in a negative way it transformed club culture by turning it into a global force that influences every pop genre. It has …show more content…
The concept is that moral panic is characterized by the reaction of the media, the public and the police/government to the youth disturbances. If it is a threat to social order and dominant ideologies and the media are used to inform society that the person or persons involved are deviant (folk devils) and are behaving in a way that is wrong, compared to dominant society values. This theory was formed as a response to the seaside fights between the Mods and Rockers in 1960s Britain, which had excessive and exaggerated media coverage. Amplification and distortion is essential to the creation of a moral panic, this is done by the media ‘over reporting’. A key example of this is the Mods and Rockers on Brighton beach in 1964. In Cohen’s theory he highlights the emotive language used with regular use of phrases ‘riot’, ‘orgy of destruction’, ‘battle’, ‘attack’ and ‘screaming mob’. Leaving the reader/viewer of this reporting with an image of a harassed town and innocent holiday makers fleeing to escape folk devils. By exaggerating the numbers involved and the amount of damage caused the media coverage alone created a moral …show more content…
It talks about how it’s an “epidemic of drugs, dancing and general debauchery”. It features the music video by “D Mob - We call it Acieed!” and how the BBC banded it as they figure it as an advertisement for drugs and only fuelled the Acid House explosion. This association with drugs and dance music started in Ibiza, which was a common holiday destination for blue collar British vacationers (C2 on the demographic profile). They discovered the drug Ecstasy (MDMA) when clubbing out there and they noticed they would dance the night away and British DJ’s working in Ibiza brought it back with them and introduced it into the already flourishing disco scene. House music got mixed with this ‘love drug’ and gave it a psychedelic tinge which flourished into Acid House. Another reason this culture came into the public eye is because of the causalities following the intake of Ecstasy, this caused Police to crack down and they were raiding warehouse parties constantly and this resulted in London’s Radio 1 and Top of the Pops banning Acid House music and department stores refusing to sell the iconic smiley face which became an arbitrary symbol of Acid House.
As this rave scene continued to grow the government proposed the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill. Clause 63 of the bill is designed specifically to stop