THE WORLD AROUND 1950s
The world population was approximately 2.3 billion;
--- currently estimated to be 6.92 billion!
In 1950 Albert Einstein's General Field Theory;
In 1953 USSR explodes their first Hydrogen Bomb;
In 1953 Cigarettes cause lung cancer, first scientific reports;
In 1956 Transatlantic cable telephone service begins;
In 1958 Stereophonic recordings;
The Soviet "Sputnik 1" satellite got in orbit ahead of the U.S. in 1957;
The period when the first modern credit card was introduced.
http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/timeline1960.html#50sSum
SCIENCE FICTION
AS A FILM GENRE
For science fiction film genre 1950s in America are considered as the “Golden Years”. But before looking at 1950s it is certainly relevant to look at the history of the science fiction film genre formation to understand its characteristics.
As Cornea highlights, for many years there have been extensive debates on what exactly forms – what structures and characteristics form science fiction genre. In her work she defines science fiction as ‘a genre that is demonstrably located in between fantasy and reality.’
King and Krzywinska (2006:10) suggest some of the elements that are in present in science fiction films which are helpful for understanding the genre. They mention the setting in the future or in another galaxy, the presence of objects such as spaceships and the products of new technologies, characters such as scientists and aliens and the use of flashy special effects. Science fiction films very frequently speculate with the latest discoveries in science.…
