SOCIOLOGY-I

Integrated Programme in Management/Law

Maxim Gatskov, Dipl.-Ped., M.A.

Session 3

SOCIETY AND CULTURE

“BACK TO THE FUTURE”
6 September 2022
Agenda

1. Background lecturer/students

2. The concept of society / Discussion

3. Sociology in film: Back to the Future

4. Sociology vs. Common sense/conventional wisdom

06.09.2022 Introduction to the course 2

Sociology in Film
BACK TO THE FUTURE (Zemekis, 1985)

Teenager Marty travels 30 years back in time to 1955.

Life, in general, is familiar to him: he lives in the same town,

goes to the same school, etc., but there are so many things which
are different in the past…

→ In the movie scene that we will watch together, Marty suggests

to the music band that plays during the school party “to try out
something new”. Let’s see what happens ☺

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1i5coU-0_Q

06.09.2022 Back to the Future 3

Johnny B. Goode
“It’s an oldie... where I come from.”
➢ Marty refers to a certain social experience that he has made in a
different social environment.

“All right, listen, this is a blues riff in B.”

➢ Marty assumes that the musicians know what he is talking about, i.e.
that they share the same knowledge about music.

Students start to dance.

➢ They know how to move in pairs – they use social skills which they
have attained through social learning. The way they dance is
different to the current ways of dancing at a party.

06.09.2022 Back to the Future 4

Johnny B. Goode
“George, you ever think of running for class president?”
➢ In the preceding scene, George has beaten up a bully boy Biff.
Therefore, George moves up in the social hierarchy, while Biff shifts
down. “President” is a social institution, “running” is a social
procedure, a certain way of acting.

One of the musicians calls his cousin Chuck (Chuck Berry). He

says: “You know that new sound you’re looking for? Listen to
this!”
➢ Chuck Berry (1926-2017) was an American singer and songwriter, and
one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. While in 1985 his song is
already considered to be an “oldie”, in 1955 this kind of music was
revolutionary. Society changes through actions of (many) individuals.

06.09.2022 Back to the Future 5

Chuck Berry (1926-2017)
The song Johnny B Goode was released in 1958
and became very popular in the same year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKCt8ssC7cs
Elvis Presley, “King of Rock’n’Roll”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7-Klg8ca10
Chuck Berry in John Lennon (The Beatles)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YcPtitpLkk
There is an article on this song in Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_B._Goode
You won’t be able to understand the joke in the film (loop in time)
without this background knowledge!
→ And you could have acquired this knowledge only if you grew up in
the second half of the 20th century in the United States/other Western
countries. (Or after this introductory course to Sociology;)
06.09.2022 Back to the Future 6
Chuck Berry (1926-2017)
Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans
Way back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood a log cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode
Who never ever learned to read or write so well
But he could play a guitar just like a-ringin’ a bell
Go, go
Go Johnny, go, go

Berry acknowledged that the song is partly autobiographical and that

the original lyrics referred to Johnny as a “colored boy”, but he changed
it to “country boy” to ensure radio play.
→ Racial discrimination

06.09.2022 Back to the Future 7

Chuck Berry (1926-2017)
His mother told him “someday you will be a man
And you will be the leader of a big old band
Many people coming from miles around
To hear you play your music when the sun go down
Maybe someday your name will be in lights
Saying Johnny B. Goode tonight”
Go, go
Go Johnny, go, go

→ Upward mobility: the capacity or facility for rising to a higher

social or economic position (“American dream”)

06.09.2022 Back to the Future 8

American Dream
The “American Dream” is a national ethos of the United States, the set
of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity, and equality) in
which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as
well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved
through hard work in a society with few barriers.
The term “American Dream” was coined by James Truslow Adams in
1931, saying that “life should be better and richer and fuller for
everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or
achievement” regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.
The American Dream is rooted in the Declaration of Independence,
which proclaims that “all men are created equal” with the right to “life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
→ Evidence indicates that upward economic mobility has declined and
income inequality has risen in the United States in recent decades.

06.09.2022 Source: Wikipedia, 2022 9

Johnny B. Goode
Musicians are increasingly perplexed, as Marty starts to play and
perform „heavy metal”.
➢ Musicians and the students don’t understand what is going on!

Marty realizes that he is out of place.

➢ “Normal” (expected) social activities (dancing, playing music etc.)
stop completely. Everybody is just shocked. Marty is not a part of this
social setting/situation any more. In the next scene, he leaves the
party

“I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are
going to love it”
➢ Generation gap
06.09.2022 Back to the Future 10
Johnny B. Goode
Society/culture is everywhere.

➢ What we know comes from

society and is being acquired
through the ongoing process of
socialization (and education as a
part of it).

➢ What we do (how we
behave/act) is for the most part
determined, preshaped by our
social environment. If you do
not “behave properly”, society
can impose sanctions on you.

06.09.2022 What is sociology about 11

 12

https://prezi.com/yi3r_ns9atpr/the-
sociology-of-back-to-the-future/
What is sociology about
Johnny B. Goode

06.09.2022
Johnny B. Goode
Society/culture is everywhere.

➢ Our environment, our living

space consists mainly of
social/cultural artifacts.
Nowadays, you hardly find
untouched nature around you.

➢ Throughout our life course, we

chose between options that
have a certain social meaning
and significance (karate, chess,
debating, MBA, marriage, etc.).

06.09.2022 What is sociology about 13

Culture shock & cultural lag
Society/culture is everywhere.

Culture shock — confusion,

disorientation, or anxiety that
accompanies exposure to an
unfamiliar way of life: differences
of food, clothes, etiquette, values,
language, the general pace of life,
and a lack of privacy.

Creates confusion, ambiguity about Cultural lag occurs when material

what is right and wrong, conflict, culture changes faster than
and a feeling of helplessness. nonmaterial culture.

06.09.2022 What kind of science is Sociology? 14

Motivation
Sociology is about connection between individual life and social
environment.

✓ Sociology studies patterns of thinking and behavior, explains

how they occur and change.

Sociology enables us to better understand our social environment,

the society.

We say “better”, because we definitely understand society in one

way or another without studying sociology → common sense!

Sociological reasoning is (1) scientific, (2) holistic, and (3)

critical.

06.09.2022 What kind of science is Sociology? 15

Importance of studying Sociology

• Helps make informed decisions

• Aids in understanding diversity
• Shapes social and public policies and practices
• Develops critical thinking
• Expands career opportunities

06.09.2022 What kind of science is Sociology? 16

Conventional Wisdom vs Sociology
Conventional Wisdom
• Also called common sense
• Subjective
• Ignores facts
• Varies across groups and cultures
• Often based on myths (biases) and misconceptions

Sociology
• Examines claims and beliefs critically
• Considers many points of view
• Enables us to move beyond established ways of thinking
• Analyzes how social context influences people’s lives

06.09.2022 What kind of science is Sociology? 17

Importance of studying Sociology

Critical sociological thinking requires a combination of skills.

Some of the basic elements include the ability to:
➢ rely on reason rather than emotion
➢ ask questions, avoid snap judgments, and examine popular and
unpopular beliefs
➢ recognize one’s own and other’s assumptions, prejudices, and
points of view
➢ remain open to alternative explanations and theories
➢ require and examine competing evidence
➢ understand how public issues affect private troubles

06.09.2022 What kind of science is Sociology? 18

“Survey”: students’ choices
Which choices are most relevant for you currently? Which do bother
you from time to time? Should I…

a. …invest more in social networks (chatting and hanging out with friends,
keeping ties to my family, etc.) OR spend more time investing in my personal
development (reading, doing sports, learn to play a music instrument)
b. …be learning hard (for my future career) OR have more leisure time (all kinds
of hobbies)
c. …buy (rather expensive) ecological OR affordable common food
d. …save some money (for whatever purpose later) OR spend it at the next
opportunity (be it a better smartphone, branded clothing, etc.)
e. There are other important choice dilemmas in my life that are not mentioned
above
f. Nothing bothers me, I just live, never really have to think hard when I make a
decision/choice

06.09.2022 Introduction to the course 19

Choice dilemmas (N=177)

a. social networks vs. personal

98
development
b. learning hard vs. more leisure
110
time

c. ecological vs. common food 4

d. save vs. spend money 43

e. other important choice

39
dilemmas

f. nothing bothers me 10
0 20 40 60 80 100 120

06.09.2022 What kind of science is Sociology? 20

Sources for follow-up learning
YOUTUBE: Crash Course Sociology #11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylXVn-
wh9eQ&list=PLH2l6uzC4UEX9UzR1bVkK128tLSlzGkt0
#11 Cultures, Subcultures, and Countercultures
→ Reduce the playback speed to 0.75, switch on subtitles

TEXTBOOK: OpenStax. Introduction to Sociology. 3rd Ed. 2021

https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/3-
introduction
Chapter 3, Section 3.1 & 3.3
3.1. What is Culture?
3.3. High, low, pop, sub, counter-culture and cultural change

06.09.2022 Back to the Future 21

Recommended for you

WEB: The Sociology of Back to the Future

https://prezi.com/yi3r_ns9atpr/the-sociology-of-back-to-the-future/

WEB: Analysis of 5 films using sociological concepts

https://www.sociologygroup.com/analysis-movies-example-
sociologically/
Parasite (2019), Pariyerum Perumal (2018), PK (2014),
The Great Indian Kitchen (2021), The Hate U Give (2018)

06.09.2022 Introduction to the course 22