Why did people from the 1920's to the 1950's voices sound funny?

The mass media is having a much faster than natural effect on human evolution, as people more specifically define a standard of beauty. Mate selection will tend to favor those people who are attractive in a kind of Movie/TV star way. People are already undergoing lots of cosmetic surgery to correct "deficiencies" that in the past would not have even been noticed.

And with genetic engineering, people a couple hundred years from now will probably all look like movie stars with perfect features, straight, white teeth.

ok lets look at it like this also

evolution

avergae height of a man was 5'7 then, now average is 5'10 i believe

alot of immigrants then compared to now, different slang and what not


i think alot of people in movies and stars had characeture like voices to let them stand out

look at elder people today, they still talk different than younger generations

i think alot of vocabulary and education is way different also, alot of lazy talkers i think and or fast talkers and uneducated talkers

i dont think its a conspiracy as much as just people are changing in general

i saw a bbc show last night about small breasts and the women in england have jumped up from a 34 b to a 36c average

its just people changing

i believe in creationism but also the aspect of us evolving, we have to

its what life does, it keeps going and changing and moving forward

reply to post by Nohup


That is not evolution. That is a "Mazlow" response to improved standard of living.

Not everyone likes "movie stars". I, for one, prefer a girl who is a little more round, and a lot less blond. As you get older, you devise a different standard of beauty. My first wife was cover girl-model worthy. She sucked. My current wife (of 13 years) is much shorter, much heavier, and WAY more beautiful.

I would also mention that current Eastern Europeans are vastly different in the way they talk and behave.

reply to post by The-Tyrant


What about punk rockers of the late 70's early eighty's, they look different.

It sounds as though a slavish belief in Platonic ideals is taking its toll on the faces, bodies, and mental health of some people.



...but then again, who am I to judge what beautiful means?



...or mental health, for that matter?



But say, friends, I don't want to bad-mouth the Apple Annies for going a little nutsy just trying to stay beddable.

[edit on 18-7-2008 by applebiter]

[edit on 18-7-2008 by applebiter]

ASS
( American Standard Stage ) is the term.
It was a term used to describe the singular vocal and dialogue technique
taught in American drama courses and classes during the late 19th century and early 20th.
Think Katherine Hepburn, Carey Grant, Vincent Price...
These examples are extremes and ideals- most did not take it so far.
This style lingered into the 40's ( as far as being actively taught ).
Before that time, you did not usually get very far without it unless you were a ' gimmick ".
You could even hear young Shirley Temple attempting to master
the technique in her ' child' movies.
It lingers now in only the oldest actors, I think.

reply to post by applebiter


A Pocket Full of Miracles was just boffo, see? Betty Davis played the rag a muffin to a tee, see? Now pipe down before I rub ya out, just like I did ya brudder, see? Yeah.

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Take a look at some civil war photo’s, and you’ll see folks that look very much like people you’ve met. They’ll be thinner and shorter usually, and I can only imagine how they spoke, but people are still people IMO.

editcus

[edit on 18-7-2008 by resistor]

I think people in those movies sound kind of strange is because in the silentt era, no one paid any attention to how they sounded. So when movies finally had sound, it took a little while for actors to take note and speak normally or to pay attention to their tone.

I don't know about V, but the newspapers have really changed. If you ever look at old newspapers, they really explain thing in depth. Articles go on for pages full of extensive detail and observation. Today, newspaper articles are often a small chunk of rewritten press release material.

Originally posted by cbass
If you were able to bring a man from the 20's or 30's
to the present day they would stick out like a turd in a puchbowl.
Women too!
Everthing they said was sooo dramatic! And the men were trying overly
hard to appear macho.

this reminds me of some of the skits on that old show In Living Color where the lady was from an old movie and was in black and white and everyone else was from our time. she would talk and dress like an old time movie and go on dates with people. it was pretty funny.

[edit on 7/18/2008 by homeskillet]

Good God. So, people way back in 1976 had different hairstyles and clothes. Get a grip. They were not mutants or aliens. You youngins' sorta look like freaks to us present day.

Now to the OP's topic, yes, those folks look and sound really freaky to me as well (born in the ANCIENT 60's). It must be either the technology of the day or the lingo and inflections used then.

Originally posted by Seeker Mom
Good God. So, people way back in 1976 had different hairstyles and clothes. Get a grip. They were not mutants or aliens. You youngins' sorta look like freaks to us present day.

Now to the OP's topic, yes, those folks look and sound really freaky to me as well (born in the ANCIENT 60's). It must be either the technology of the day or the lingo and inflections used then.

Quoted for truth Good post. Being born in the ancient 70's, when people were much less evolved than the whippersnappers aournd ATS today (talking about vampires and indigo children), I couldn't agree more.

Which brings up a question. What impact will being able to analyze tone and inflection do to the understanding of how language and society develops? It is unprecedented.

[edit on 18-7-2008 by bigfatfurrytexan]

What freaks me out even more is when I see someone alive today, that looks out of time. They really look like they belong in the 1920's or something, even though they are dressed "normally" enough. It's in their speech sometimes, as well as their physical appearance, especially the facial structure. I have noticed this in women mostly. There was a girl I went to high school with that seemed completely out of time like this. And in her case, it was even in her personality. Weird.

As to people looking "different" back then, I would suggest that it is "us" that look different. Face it, in 1920 the world was a lot less diverse, meaning there wasn't as much mixing of the genetics of various nationalities ie most nations in Europe had only their nationality, there wasn't a large immigrant population. Even in the U.S., we were still not the true melting pot of the world. The blending of physical traits from around the world didn't start in earnest till after WWII.

reply to post by The-Tyrant


It's because a lot of those early stars came from a very specific area and had a pronounced regional accent.

ghee, I was raised in the 80's and today's kids are totally different from my era, by the way I like those nostalgia movies they put me to sleep like a baby, especially "Gone with the Wind"

Frankly my dear I don't give a damn.

Tape record your own voice and play it back and listen to yourself.

you'll be say'in who's that. It's the equipment....then and now.

I laugh at you guys......

I'll agree with anyone stating that some ethnic mixing is a big reason people look different (I think it affects voice a bit too) than say, 40 or more years ago. I'm a total mutt of European (perhaps a tiny bit of Mongolian too) heritage and it shows.

Some of the voice difference is that some older film clips aren't played back at quite the correct speed-- usually faster. Some instances are obviously talking style. My grandmother has a tinge of that in her speech.

One thing I did a side-by-side comparison of my parents' highschool yearbooks and my own. All picture were black and white. The most striking difference of all is the fact that people in my parents' class look much older than people from my class even though they were obviously the same age. I've also watched episodes of the Twilight Zone where they try to pass a character off as in their mid 30's that to me appears mid 40's to early 50's (this one comes to mind just because it was so drastic).

They couldn't have been smarter or we wouldn't be where we're at today. Their foresight may have been changed a few yrs earlier thats led us to this demise. That generation help set us up for failure with the people they produced and now its up to us to and change it all for the good again.