13. The baby boomer generation
During the 1950s and 1960s, the first of the generation known as the baby boomers came of age. Films capture their behaviors, tastes, and fads, providing a living record for people interested in the era. Films made contemporaneously depict the fears of the Cold War era, the growing exasperation of the preceding generation with their rambunctious children, and the manner in which America changed. The malt shop of the 1940s found itself replaced by the drive-in, later itself replaced by fast-food restaurants. Breakfast at Tiffany’s, released in 1961, presented a portrait of New York life, now long gone. Before the end of the decade, in 1968, a vision of the future depicted America’s faith in its technology and a belief in its future.
2001: A Space Odyssey, envisioned a future in which space planes flew passengers to huge orbiting space stations. The planes, operated by Pan American and referred to as Space Clippers, visited a space station which contained a Hilton Hotel and Bell Picture Phones. IBM’s corporate logo appeared in the station, as does a Howard Johnson’s. In reality, Pan American World Airways collapsed a decade before 2001, and Bell Telephone’s picture phones never made it to the market. Television also predicted extensive space travel by the end of the 20th century, the original Lost in Space television series predicted the launch of the Space Family Robinson in 1997.