History Main / TheNewRockAndRoll

* Psychiatrist Frederic Wertham wrote a book in 1954, luridly titled ''Seduction Of The Innocent''. It blamed comics, especially the crime and horror genres popular at the time, for juvenile delinquency, as well as corrupting sexual themes. He appeared before the Senate subcommittee on juvenile delinquency, which led to veiled threats of censorship; in the end, the industry adopted the self-regulating [[UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode Comics Code]]. Ironically, this may have helped the SuperHero genre, since it was easy enough for it to produce simple tales of good versus evil that even the harshest censor would pass.\\

* Ever since [[TheNineties the early 90s]], the moral panic surrounding ElectronicMusic, raves, and the drug use admittedly common in the scene (which has led to more than a few deaths by overdoses) has often left the genre and its fandom OvershadowedByControversy. Even after electronic dance music started gaining significant American crossover success and began adopting a more pop-friendly image starting in the [[TheNew10s early 2010s]], the association with heavy drug use unfortunately remains strong to this day.

* When snowboarding first became popular in the '70s and '80s, it met fierce backlash from skiers, who believed that its roots in surfing and skateboarding culture were causing a bunch of [[DontTryThisAtHome reckless daredevils]] and [[LowerClassLout trashy bums]] to pour into ski resorts and threaten the safety of everyone around them. Snowboarders reacted to being banned from various mountains by proudly embracing a countercultural image rooted in PunkRock, HipHop, [[TheStoner stoner culture]], and everything that skiers found scary about them, while dismissing skiers trying to ban snowboarding as [[UpperClassTwit elitist jerks]]. By the '00s, though, these stereotypes had mostly died out, with snowboarding becoming a proper sport with a mainstream pop culture presence (especially with the rise of the Winter X Games) while skiers learned to embrace the tricks and showmanship of snowboarding and put their own spin on it, the tipping point coming in 1998 when snowboarding became an UsefulNotes/{{Olympic|Games}} sport. Today, only three ski resorts in the US still ban snowboarding, Alta and Deer Valley in UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} and Mad River Glen in UsefulNotes/{{Vermont}}.

* When snowboarding first became popular in the '70s and '80s, it met fierce backlash from skiers, who believed that its roots in surfing and skateboarding culture were causing a bunch of reckless daredevils and [[LowerClassLout Lower-Class Louts]] to pour into ski resorts and threaten the safety of everyone around them. Snowboarders reacted to being banned from various mountains by proudly embracing a countercultural image rooted in PunkRock, HipHop, [[TheStoner stoner culture]], and everything that skiers found scary about them, while dismissing skiers trying to ban snowboarding as [[UpperClassTwit Upper-Class Twits]]. By the '00s, though, these stereotypes had mostly died out, with snowboarding becoming a proper sport with a mainstream pop culture presence (especially with the rise of the Winter X Games) while skiers learned to embrace the tricks and showmanship of snowboarding and put their own spin on it, the tipping point coming in 1998 when snowboarding became an UsefulNotes/{{Olympic|Games}} sport. Today, only three ski resorts in the US still ban snowboarding, Alta and Deer Valley in UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} and Mad River Glen in UsefulNotes/{{Vermont}}.

* When snowboarding first became popular in the '70s and '80s, it met fierce backlash from skiers, who believed that its roots in surfing and skateboarding culture were causing a bunch of reckless daredevils and [[LowerClassLout Lower-Class Louts]] to pour into ski resorts and threaten the safety of everyone around them. Snowboarders reacted to being banned from various mountains by proudly embracing a countercultural image rooted in PunkRock, HipHop, [[TheStoner stoner culture]], and everything that skiers found scary about them. By the '00s, though, these stereotypes had mostly died out, the tipping point coming in 1998 when snowboarding became an UsefulNotes/{{Olympic|Games}} sport. Today, only three ski resorts in the US still ban snowboarding, Alta and Deer Valley in UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} and Mad River Glen in UsefulNotes/{{Vermont}}.

[[caption-width-right:224:{{Satan}} explains the plan behind rock music.[[note]](Strangely, he seems to misremember that he founded Music/MotleyCrue in 1981.)[[/note]]]]

[[WindmillCrusader So they do]]; they make [[MediaScaremongering great warnings]] about how it's corrupting the moral fiber of [[ThinkOfTheChildren poor, helpless children]] with [[TVNeverLies inexorable]] [[{{Brainwashed}} brainwashing]]; they claim it increases juvenile delinquency, decreases attention span, and [[Film/DrStrangelove pollutes their bodily fluids]]. If they actually bother to back these assertions up, they'll pull out a few rare examples of it "corrupting" people, that when you examine carefully, usually [[AstroTurf turn out to be exaggerated (or flat-out fabricated) anyway]] (or the lowlifes in question were pretty messed up to begin with). And people listen; not everyone, not even a majority, but [[VocalMinority enough to cause a stir]]. Often, this causes [[BannedInChina bannings]], [[RippedFromTheHeadlines panicky newspaper articles]], and {{Very Special Episode}}s about the subject.

[[caption-width-right:224:[-{{Satan}} explains the plan behind rock music.[[note]](Strangely, he seems to misremember that he founded Music/MotleyCrue in 1981.)[[/note]]-] ]]

%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=ju8ngqwd

[[quoteright:221:[[ComicBook/ChickTracts https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/satan_rock.gif]]]]
[[caption-width-right:221:[-{{Satan}} explains the plan behind rock music. [[note]](Strangely, he seems to misremember that he founded Music/MotleyCrue in 1981.)[[/note]]-] ]]

* The page image is from "Angels?", a [[ComicBook/ChickTracts Chick Tract]] where a ChristianRock group hooks up with an agent named [[LouisCypher Lew Siffer]], who explains to them how he developed rock as a way to foment decadence among young people. Jack Chick previously explored the topic in an issue of his full-color comic ''The Crusaders'', with some extremely bizarre claims: rock is based on ancient {{Druid}} beats[[note]]Usually anti-rock moral guardians rant about rock's "African beat" or "jungle Negro rhythms."[[/note]] and melodies used to summon demons (with Music/TheBeatles as the ones who exported them into the mainstream), and before they're released, all rock albums get blessed by naked witches at a ceremony, where they summon one of Satan's chief demons. He places a curse on the music that leads all listeners to get possessed by evil spirits. Yes, really.

* A Christian talk show from Canada complained about Music/BillieEilish for being a bad role model for her target audience of teenage girls because of some of her lyrics (especially the pre-chorus of "Bad Guy," where she describes herself as the "might seduce your Dad type") and the fact that she put a tarantula in her mouth in a music video.[[note]][[NoAnimalsWereHarmed Gently]]. It was her pet Green Bottle Blue (an easygoing type) an elderly fellow at the time, named Cool. He is seen coming out of her mouth in "You Should See Me In A Crown."[[/note]] The same talk show complained about Music/{{Marshmello}} simply for cross-promoting his music through ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}''.

* WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse contains numerous covert and overt discussions of gender conformity, gay relationships, and female empowerment. In particular, the Russian Government and many Russian citizens (especially those in the older demographics) heavily disproved of the relationship between characters Ruby and Sapphire. Due to prevailing homophobia and transphobia, the moral guardians in charge felt it necessary to censor the relationship (which resulted in Ruby being given an obvious beard to gender flip the character). Eventually, the show was canceled entirely in its Russian dub due to the continuous gay theming and laws against depicting such things to minors. This, of course, did not stop fans from finding Russian fansubs of the original English dub and just watching it wholly unedited.

** Let's not forget the ''non-''Japanese attitude towards anime. When anime started becoming popular in places like the US, a few people attacked it for being violent and inappropriate (leading to [[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles a trope summarizing this misconception]]). Some people even claimed that ''children's'' anime like ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' [[EveryoneIsSatanInHell was the work of Japanese Satanists]]. This can mostly be based on [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer not doing the research]], though. (It doesn't help that the AnimationAgeGhetto was definitely prevalent during times like this. Or that recent economic trends had led to more general worries about [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japanese dominance of American society.]]) Much of this notion has slowly waned over time as anime and manga have been normalized into niche western circles, but still can be seen as a questionable activity. Because of the unfortunate implications of terms like "lolicon" and the focus on sexual humor (a taboo subject in many western countries, especially America), not to mention the plethora of anime focused on young adults in high school, perceptions by the public have remained "questionable" at best despite the readily available outlets that now carry translated manga in major bookstores or DVD's and Blu-Ray collections of anime in many video stores. This has led to certain normalized insults such as "weaboo", which are often used as a badge of acceptance between other western anime lovers to denote their acceptance of their hobby, but as a derogatory insult by those outside these circles as an alternative to the term "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanophilia Japanophile]]" or "Otaku", both of which are rarely used in a positive light.

* Anime in Chile met a lot of controversies during its peak in popularity, especially with the most popular series. ''Franchise/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/SaintSeiya'' were accused of promoting violence, ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' was said to be too sexualized for minors, and ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' was blamed for creating obsessive fanaticism (not to mention that some MoralGuardians [[ConfirmationBias "found"]] evidence of it having [[EveryoneIsSatanInHell diabolical]] [[SubliminalSeduction messages]]). To fix this, a new rating system was designed, with children's series given one of three possible ratings: "I" for everyone, "I 7" for kids seven and older, "I 12" for kids over 12, and "A" for adults only (anime films like ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' got this). However, that didn't work very well, since all those shows were broadcast at the same time (after school) and parents didn't bother to check the rating of the anime their children were watching, so it fell out of use quickly. Most anime that hit public TV nowadays tend to be very child-friendly series, as otakus looking for more serious shows download them from the internet or buy them at specialized stores.

* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' is also no stranger to controversy as a card game with various themes across its monsters. From fiends to dragons, Egyptian iconography and angelic depictions, the cards drew ire from various Christian sources during its initial release. Thanks to its heavy theming of Egypt in the anime, the card game was demonized during the first year of its run, but thankfully felt significantly shorter and less extreme backlash due to the Pokemon TCG having been out much longer and already having gone through this debacle. While there are still Christian organizations that denounce it for its themes of sorcery and occultism, most have, over time, simply spoke of it as any other vice: dangerous if overindulged and harmful if you cannot recognize that it is just a game.

* A rather shocking [[AvertedTrope aversion]] of this is the Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei series. Despite its blatant use of GodIsEvil and demon summoning (some have described the series as "everything the pastors thought ''Pokemon'' was in the 90s"), with American marketing of ''[[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne Nocturne]]'' even attempting to use the game's more controversial themes as a selling point, the games have attracted very little if any controversy. This is probably because the series is almost unheard of in the West, even among gamers. As for Japan (where it is one of the most popular franchises, right alongside ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'', the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'', and ''VideoGame/DragonQuest''), they are much more laid-back, religiously speaking. It helps that many western gamers had their start with SMT through the ''Persona'' spin-offs, which don't refer to demons as such, but as... well, 'personas'. Even the personas that are ''demons'' in the main series. This most probably helped it slide in under the radar. Wonderful, what a simple renaming will do. That said, while it managed to fly under the radar of Christians, the depiction of Lord Krishna in ''IV Apocalypse'' [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2016-02-04/lord-krishna-in-shin-megami-tensei-iv-final-gets-negative-reception-from-hindu-statesman/.98302 did receive some criticism from Hindus]].

** Let's not forget the ''non-''Japanese attitude towards anime. When anime started becoming popular in places like the US, a few people attacked it for being violent and inappropriate (leading to [[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles a trope summarizing this misconception]]). Some people even claimed that ''children's'' anime like ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' [[EveryoneIsSatanInHell was the work of Japanese Satanists]]. This can mostly be based on [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer not doing the research]], though. (It doesn't help that the AnimationAgeGhetto was definitely prevalent during times like this. Or that recent economic trends led to more general worries about [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japanese dominance of American society.]]) Much of this notion has slowly waned over time as anime and manga have been normalized into niche western circles, but still can be seen as a questionable activity. Because of the unfortunate implications of terms like "lolicon" and the focus on sexual humor (a taboo subject in many western countries, especially America), not to mention the plethora of anime focused on young adults in high school, perceptions by the public have remained "questionable" at best despite the readily available outlets that now carry translated manga in major bookstores or DVD's and Blu-Ray collections of anime in many video stores. This has led to certain normalized insults such as "weaboo", which are often used as a badge of acceptance between other western anime lovers to denote their acceptance of their hobby, but as a derogatory insult by those outside these circles as an alternative to the term "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanophilia Japanophile]]" or "Otaku", both of which are rarely used in a positive light.

** Let's not forget the ''non-''Japanese attitude towards anime. When anime started becoming popular in places like the US, a few people attacked it for being violent and inappropriate (leading to [[AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles a trope summarizing this misconception]]). Some people even claimed that ''children's'' anime like ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' [[EveryoneIsSatanInHell was the work of Japanese Satanists]]. This can mostly be based on [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer not doing the research]], though. (It doesn't help that the AnimationAgeGhetto was definitely prevalent during times like this.) Much of this notion has slowly waned over time as anime and manga have been normalized into niche western circles, but still can be seen as a questionable activity. Because of the unfortunate implications of terms like "lolicon" and the focus on sexual humor (a taboo subject in many western countries, especially America), not to mention the plethora of anime focused on young adults in high school, perceptions by the public have remained "questionable" at best despite the readily available outlets that now carry translated manga in major bookstores or DVD's and Blu-Ray collections of anime in many video stores. This has led to certain normalized insults such as "weaboo", which are often used as a badge of acceptance between other western anime lovers to denote their acceptance of their hobby, but as a derogatory insult by those outside these circles as an alternative to the term "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanophilia Japanophile]]" or "Otaku", both of which are rarely used in a positive light.

* In late January 2008 there was an uproar over a lesbian sex scene in the game ''Franchise/MassEffect''. Cybercast News Service blogger Kevin [=McCullough=] claimed that ''Mass Effect'' had a full-frontal sex scene which took place with the player character volunteering information on how to make the act proceed. [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer Yeah]]. This article would have fallen into the abyss of stupid blog articles never to be mentioned again -- except that Creator/{{Fox News|Channel}}, for reasons unknown, took everything the article said at face value and actually ran a story on the whole affair in cable prime time.

* Ever since [[TheNineties the early 90s]], the moral panic surrounding ElectronicMusic, raves, and the drug use admittedly common in the scene (which has led to more than a few deaths by overdoses) has often left the genre and its fandom OvershadowedByControversy. It's become even worse as EDM has made a huge splash in America as of TheNewTens.

[[folder:New Media]]
* The Internet catches a lot of this; whether it's porn sites or pedophiles trolling chat rooms and Website/MySpace, the media are constantly trying to find new things to scare people about being online. This also extends to anything that can access the Internet. Big overlap with NewMediaAreEvil, here. Another infamous newscast dealt with the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, and how child molesters were allegedly using its [=PictoChat=] function to contact kids. Never mind that around the time of the article's writing, hardly anyone ever '''used''' [=PictoChat=] and that the function's range was considerably less than what the newscast said...
** There was a story where they said that LeetLingo is a language designed to hide secrets from parents, and they actually have ''a translator for leet speak'' despite the fact that the numbers in leet are supposed to look like the original letters. Leet did originate, at least in part, as a way to hide email from keyword-based filtering/eavesdropping software, so it's not entirely wrong, just blown way out of proportion.
** It, of course, does not help that there's plenty of places on the Internet that practically ''revel'' in this behavior (Website/SomethingAwful, [[Website/FourChan /b/]], Encyclopedia Dramatica, any given ShockSite) because they think it's funny to act like how every [[MoralGuardians Moral Guardian]] thinks the Internet behaves. [[PoesLaw The subtlety is inevitably lost]] on said MoralGuardians.
** The Daily Mail seemed to be fixated on the internet during 2012, with porn sites, Facebook, Twitter and general bad behavior (trolls) on the internet featuring in headlines. The so-called 'sidebar of shame,' images of dead bodies and articles of a particularly adult nature on the Mail's own website caused some to call them hypocrites. In 2017, the Irish branch petitioned for the ban of youngsters having mobile phones after a widely-publicized criminal case was finished.
* Subverted to hell and back in early 2009 with Website/{{Twitter}}, the bandwagon that every traditional media outlet seems desperate to jump onto. Until they got bored with it and/or remembered the media's proper role in society is to make everyone paranoid. [[http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/012610-facebook-twitter.html?ts FACEBOOK AND TWITTER WILL DESTROY YOUR LIFE]].
** Before he was forced to resign, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak shut down the '''whole''' country's Internet, in order to quell street protests against his rule. It backfired on him.
** In Britain, there are proposals to impose blackouts on social media, after it was heavily used in the 2011 London riots.
*** Several U.S. communities have attempted to pass legislation against using social media to organize flash mobs, not seeming to understand the whole "freedom of assembly" clause in the Constitution.
*** On the one hand, the right enshrined in the Constitution is specifically the right to ''peacefully'' assemble, which disqualifies anything you'd care to call a "riot". On the other hand, this suggests the smart move would be to "infiltrate" the would-be mob during the planning stages, learn the times, and greet them with riot cops when they get there. (It's illegal to arrest the participants before they start anything -- unless you have evidence of conspiracy charges -- but it's not illegal to be sitting there waiting.) On the gripping hand, there's evidence to suggest that in the past, the FBI infiltrated certain organizations, such as CORE (responsible for the antisegregation Freedom Rides)... and tried to ''incite'' them to mayhem so they could be arrested and tried.
*** It should be noted, however, that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob flash mobs]], despite having the word "mob" in the name, are completely harmless; they're just fun ways to do unusual things on a large scale and weird out bystanders. I mean, come on, Website/TheOtherWiki has a separate page for ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillow_fight_flash_mob pillow fight flash mobs]]''. Attempting to ban them would, indeed, be an infringement of the right to peaceably assemble.
*** That depends on the flash mob. In Philadelphia, for example, flash mobs have a history of either starting out or becoming violent and destructive.
** Mid-2015 saw a rise in more headlines warning the public about social media. Instead of pedophiles and stalkers, the new bogeyman is ''terrorists''. ('Could YOUR child be talking to an ISIS recruiter???') While it's true that recruitment over the internet is an actual thing, the number gained through such a way is ''paltry'' (150 at ''most''.) This still managed to produce the same reaction with old media you'd expect with something like pornography- many reminders for parents to make sure their kids aren't talking to strangers or looking at the wrong things (common sense, really).
* In terms of new media technology, there's some overlap with this and TheyChangedItNowItSucks. If the new media has some drawbacks that the old didn't have for instance (you can't tape on [=DVDs=] very easily, making them more difficult for recording without a DVR or something). For that matter, DVR is useless as a replacement for VCR anyway, if you can't afford cable.
* With the rise in popularity of 3D printers, it was only a matter of time before someone made a 3D-printed gun. The online group "Defense Distributed" hosts CAD files for a fully functional plastic gun as well as lower receivers and mags for AR-15 rifles (the lower receiver being the part of the rifle that is legally regulated and serial numbered, and in some American states mags are regulated). Despite improvised firearms having existed since the 1900s (and at much cheaper up-front costs), and that a superior metal AR-15 lower receiver can legally and easily be milled from an 80% finished "paperweight," DIY guns went largely unnoticed by the media and politicians until it became associated with the rapidly growing world of 3D printing. Add a public who is all too easily sent into a panic over guns, and suddenly you have a wonderful new headline to remind everyone that they should be [[MediaScaremongering scared of new technology]] and that NewMediaAreEvil.
* Smartphones are the latest threat. Youngsters have access to pornography and, because of their superior knowledge of the Net access to strange websites that their parents don't know about (though there are predators- mostly older- out there). Even the drop in crime and sexual activity among teenagers is taken as a bad sign that they're too busy on their phones to indulge.
* Pepe the Frog was initially a meme used by a wide variety of people online, but in 2016 several news media outlets seized on inflammatory troll edits of Pepe to paint the meme as a white supremacist symbol. Which only led to Pepe actually being adopted as a symbol by white supremacists and Neo-Nazis. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice going, news media]]. Thankfully, the symbol has continued to have prominent usage among people who aren't racist, with one of the most notable examples being when it was used by pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* After a school shooting incident in Finland, the largest newspaper of the country published articles concerning the corrupting influence of Creator/{{Plato}} and Creator/FriedrichNietzsche, as the shooter was an avid reader of philosophical texts. Under the headline "Plato can mess you up."
* {{Pinball}} corrupts the youth, doncha know:
** There was a fairly large moral panic regarding pinball in the USA in the earlier part of the twentieth century when people (mistakenly) believed that it was a game of chance and winning was [[LuckBasedMission entirely due to luck.]] Many cities banned pinball for several decades until Creator/RogerSharpe demonstrated [[ImprobableAimingSkills precise pinball skills]] in court. Even so, some pinball machines still sport "entertainment use only" warnings to allay nervous communities.
** This isn't quite as nonsensical as it sounds. When gambling was outlawed in most of the US, makers of slot machines and other gambling devices tried every method they could think of to circumvent the ban. The most popular method was via flipper-less pinball machines, which were set so you could win multiple free games. If you didn't want to use the free games, the owner of the bar/parlor/whatever would give you back the cash equivalent.
** Of course, a modified version of the original pinball is still incredibly popular in Japan, where it's given the name ''pachinko''...which uses the aforementioned circumvention strategy to get around gambling bans; you can win "prizes" which can be sold to a stall conveniently right next to the exit.
* Culinary example: In the 1600s, some French bakers started making a bread called mollet for the peasantry. This being France, riots ensued. Why? Because the bread required little to no work kneading (and didn't need to be cut with an ax) and thusly it encouraged idleness! It also used ingredients from Belgium. If you eat it, you hate the nation! Debates about what French bread was acceptable went on until well after the revolution when a standardized bread recipe was proposed. Unable to find a compromise that would appease everyone about how wheat vs. rye bread, the new government eventually threw its hands up and told everyone to plant potatoes.
* The fork. No, really. It's decadent! It's a symbol of Satan! If God wanted us to use forks, would we have these wonderful fingers? ''Hmm?!''
** It's commonly said that China and its historical sphere of influence use chopsticks because Creator/{{Confucius}} thought forks and knives were too violent for use at a civilized table. However, while knives seem to have been used as eating utensils for as long as we have records, the first people to use forks as dining utensils seem to have been the aristocrats of the Byzantine Empire, some eight hundred years after Confucius. That said, chopstick-using countries definitely regarded using both forks and knives for eating as barbaric, at least at times, and still regard it as wrongheaded for eating their native cuisines. Even in the West, using forks to eat East Asian cuisines is a mark of lack of sophistication.
* A large chunk of the premise behind parody series ''Jimmy Macdonald's Canada'' was watching the character label '''everything''' either decadent or dangerous. The show even featured a segment called Outrage of the Week, where "I show you three things, and then I tell you which one outrages me the most!" Winners included robots, [[SexyStewardess Air Canada stewardess uniforms]], Swedish drill teams, hamburger speed-eating, Zambonis, and psychedelic body painting. Other things that he hated included [=ATMs=], push-button phones, vending machines, Italian food, dancing shoes, ''Series/AmericanBandstand''-type programs, honeymoons, and children wearing protective equipment while playing hockey. Oh, and rock and roll.
* "That capital T that rhymes with P that stands for Pool" in ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'', and all the other dangers that Professor Harold Hill calls out: beer, pinchback suits, galloping in horse races ("Not a wholesome trottin' race, no, but a race where they sit up ''right on the horse!''"), smoking, ragtime music, knickerbockers rebuckled below the knee, dime novels, ''Captain Billy's Whiz Bang,'' and words like "swell" and "so's your old man". This one [[ValuesResonance works especially well]] because a modern audience might not even know what half of this stuff '''is''', which just emphasizes the ridiculousness of the hysteria. Harold Hill could go after the evils of pool because a pool table was being placed in a billiards parlor. '''Billiards was okay!''' (For anyone curious, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carom_billiards billiards]] is somewhat like pool, but it has no pockets.) Let's not forget though... pockets make the difference between a Gentleman and a Bum! That's Bum with a capital B that rhymes with P that stands for POOL!
** In addition, one of the evils that Hill rails against is Bevo a (now long defunct) product of Anheuser-Busch which was a non-alcoholic Near-Beer, further highlighting the ridiculous nature of the hysteria.
* Any "people trend," in chronological order: [[TheFlapper Flappers]], Swingers, Teddy Boys, {{Beatnik}}s, [[GreaserDelinquents Greasers]], [[NewAgeRetroHippie Hippies]], Mods, UsefulNotes/{{Punk}}s, {{Goth}}s, [[GangBangers Gangstas]], [[EmoTeen Emos]], {{Hipster}}s, {{atheist}}s. In general, any subculture that focuses on disaffected youth will likely draw the scorn of the MoralGuardians. Sure, we've all seen it for hippies, punks, and goths, but as ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' proves, there were actually movies about the moral scourge posed by... '''beatniks'''.
** A central tenet of the beat movement was chemical experimentation, and they introduced or popularized essentially every modern "hard" drug except for LSD[[note]]which was legal in TheFifties, but rare and used mainly in clinical settings[[/note]] for recreational rather than practical use. Unprotected sex with many partners was also a big part of the movement, though they didn't give it the catchy "free love" moniker the hippies came up with. In retrospect, the guardians might have had a point for once on that one... though of course, the Beatniksploitation movies didn't really show any of that.
* German politicians wanted to ban paintball [[HitlerAteSugar since a school shooter happened to like the game]]. It wasn't until some paintballers were brought into parliament that some of them realised that it wasn't a video game. Nothing about that last bit in the news though. Now that a few years have passed, most people don't even remember that there was another public scare.
* For modern examples, see Mormonism and Scientology, both of which are AcceptableTargets in the USA (or, in the latter case, almost everywhere). [=LaVeyan=] Satanism, being as GenreSavvy as it is, goes out of its way to invoke this; Anton [=LaVey=] himself admitted that The Satanic Bible is essentially an [[AuthorFilibuster Objectivist screed]] under a layer of Crowley-esque mysticism and anti-Christian theatrics.
** The conservative Christian attacks on Mormonism are ironic since Mormon culture is very conservative and prone to the same moral panics involving young people that Christians specialize in. The infamous "standards" sections of Brigham Young University's Honor Code (forbidding alcohol, drugs, non-marital sex, immodest clothing, and men wearing long hair or facial hair) were formalized in TheSixties in response to the hippie movement. In 1975, there was a major controversy on campus over plans for a concert at the university's arena. The performer: Music/NeilDiamond. The reason: his hair didn't fit BYU's grooming standards (the concert happened as scheduled).
* In architecture:
** The Eiffel Tower. Yes, '''THAT''' Eiffel Tower. The French version of Website/TheOtherWiki even has a whole section dedicated to all the backlash it received from publications at the time, including a petition under the name ''Protestation des artistes contre la tour de M. Eiffel'' signed by high-profile artists of the time such as Creator/AlexandreDumasFils, Creator/GuyDeMaupassant and so forth. This didn't stop it however from being a popular monument depicted by many impressionist painters of the time such as Creator/GeorgesSeurat at the time of its release. The backlash was in fact fierce enough that there existed rumors that the Eiffel Tower was to be destroyed a few years after it was finished, but that it was averted at the final second.
** Modern art and architecture initially received this treatment in the West, partially because of its associations with leftist political movements and, in particular, the Soviet Union. Ironically, under Stalin, the same art and architecture were frequently condemned as "decadent" and "bourgeoise".
** Compare, say, the Bauhaus or the International Style to Stalin-era Socialist Classicism. Much like [[PuttingOnTheReich the Nazis and their snazzy uniforms]], Stalin knew what he was doing when it came to aesthetics.
** Oddly enough, the Italian Fascists were tentatively accepting of the more right-wing strains of Modernism and Futurism, giving semi-formal blessing to a style known as "Rationalist-Fascist", a form of Modernism which emphasized the Classical and Renaissance roots of the style. It's quite odd to see the "right-wing" [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Casa_del_Fascio_Di_Reggio_Calabria.jpg Casa del Fascio]] set against the "left-wing" [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Moskau_Uni.jpg Moscow State University]], but it's actually rather telling; fascism, despite its right-wing associations, considered itself a revolutionary movement, while Stalinist socialism was often culturally regressive.
** This is still very much the case whenever a new, avant-garde building is finished. The Lloyd's "inside out" Building in London was heavily criticised, being at complete odds with the much older structures like, say, St. Paul's Cathedral. Ironically, there was ''much more'' protesting against St. Paul's when that first opened.
* In the 1700s, Marie Camargo, who was one of the first star ballerinas, caused quite a stir when she shortened her skirts a few inches to reveal her ankles. She did it in order to show off her fancy footwork, but the MoralGuardians of the time still pitched a fit.
* Seattle megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll and evangelical leader Al Mohler both [[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013114169_yoga09m.html condemned yoga]] because of its eastern roots, much to the amusement of the rest of Evangelicalism (and the world).
** Not in Alabama, where it's still banned in schools through the influence of Christian groups who are worried about its Hindu roots.
* According to some people in 18th Century England, [[FelonyMisdemeanor rolling a hoop with a stick.]] Yes, hoop and stick, aka ''The Hoop Nuisance''. One of the most staunch opponents was Charles Babbage, grandfather of the computer, who also hated organ grinders. Imagine what he would think of [[UltraSuperDeathGoreFestChainsawer3000 video games.]]
** The madness here lies in the fact that hoop trundling has been around since at least ''Ancient Greece''.
* The film ''Film/ReeferMadness'' and William Randolph Hearst's crusade to ban cannabis in the 1930s due to its supposedly turning its users into crazed psychopaths.
* While {{opera}} in its early days did have the support of Pope Clement IX, who even wrote some librettos (opera scripts) back when he was still Giulio Rospigliosi, several of his successors, along with many others, did their best to suppress public operas, whose oft-unruly theaters they saw as breeding grounds for all sorts of vice.
** By way of contrast, the Puritan government during the English Interregnum outlawed theatre but tolerated (just) musical performances (because at least their performers weren't sex-crazed drunken reprobates). Opera, being classified as music rather than theatre, remained legal.
* In general:
** Broadsheet ballads, from the 16th to 19th C., popular posters printed with songs often glorifying outlaws and criminals, thought to stir up the lower classes
** Pennny Dreadfuls, cheap 19th C. booklets, often lurid descriptions of crime and horror
** 1860s - late 1920s: The theory of evolution and communism, which were forbidden to mention as a teacher in the US during the roaring twenties. In Europe, the art movement known as ''naturalism'' got this as well.
** 1890s- Pantomime in England, vaudeville in America- music hall shows.
** 1900s- Nickelodeons or 'peep shows'.
** 1920s - late 1930s: jazz music and blues music, because they were associated with sleazy bars and brothels. To some racist white audiences, black music in general was degenerate music. The Nazis banned jazz in the 1930s, for instance.
** And movies too.
** late 1950s - early 1960s: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Rock and roll]], comic books, ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}'' magazine and television.
** late 1960s - early 1970s: Anything in any way associated with [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippies]], especially drugs, counter-culture, underground comic strips, and the New Age movement. Glam rock was also feared because it [[HeteronormativeCrusader celebrated homosexuality and transvestism]].
** late 1970s - early 1980s: PunkRock and anything that could be linked to Satanism, including HeavyMetal music and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. Slasher movies and violent Hollywood action movies were also frowned upon.
** late 1980s - mid-1990s: GangstaRap, anything that aired on Creator/{{MTV}}, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'', ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', ''Franchise/PowerRangers'', ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', video games (especially the violent ones),
** late 1990s - early 2000s: [[UltraSuperDeathGoreFestChainsawer3000 Violent video games]] and movies, TheInternet, ProfessionalWrestling, Music/BritneySpears
** Present Day: [[FriendingNetwork Social networking sites]], anything that can be construed in some way as 'sexist' or 'bigoted' and, in today's hyper-partisan environment, anything that can be seen as having [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical political undertones]] ("''Film/ThreeHundred'' is [[PatrioticFervor pro-Iraq War]]!" "''Film/{{Avatar}}'' is [[RedScare socialist]]!", etc.)
* Monster Energy drink for some who interpret the marketing spiel as being sincere and the logo to stand for 666 in the Hebrew alphabet. Hebrew numbers don't work that way, they are added up (6-6-6 would be 18) and the strokes in the logo are tall enough to look more like a Nun Sofit (worth 700) than a Vav (worth 6) anyway.
* Believe it or not, ''silk'' was this to Ancient Rome: the Roman Senate repeatedly tried to ban the importation of Chinese silk as clothes made of silk were almost see-through and thus considered decadent and immoral. (It also didn't help that Romans were paying a lot of money to an outside power for the silk that senators thought would be better kept within the Empire). Of course, the ban never succeeded.
* Also for the Ancient Romans, Christianity was considered this due to their assumptions that it promotes anti-authoritarianism, and cannibalism, something they had misinterpreted about the Eucharist.
* In 1896, the so-called "Women Rescue League" in Washington D.C. denounced bicycles because apparently [[DoubleStandard they promoted immorality in women]], making them unwomanly and immodest, and petitioned "all true women and clergymen to aid in denouncing the bicycle craze by women as indecent and vulgar". The icing on the cake? They added that without countermeasures, [[InsaneTrollLogic 75% of cyclists would have become an army of invalids by 1906]]. Interestingly motorbikes did not get the same kind of backlash as they were considered to be an economic alternative for cars, which were really expensive back in the day. Nowadays, with all the fear of motorcycle gangs, you see an inversion of the backlash.
* Postmodernism, which reacted to Modernism by pointing out how some seemingly-objective truths sometimes turn out to be the product of a perspective influenced by factors such as race, sex, and culture. Detractors claim postmodernists don't believe in any objective truth whatsoever, and that they are intentionally vague to obfuscate this. The moral relativism of postmodernism means they can't even insist that a foreign culture is doing something wrong. Meanwhile, modernist scientists don't want you to confuse their Theories for absolute truth since they could be overturned at any time by new evidence. The average layman is unlikely to be able to understand the average physics paper due to jargon and advanced concepts. And imposing a foreign moral code on other nations has been known to have wonderful long-lasting effects when applied during the Cold War when any Third World nation even smelled of communism. Postmodernism is the modern-day academic bogeyman, no matter what evidence to the contrary says.
* Cars, when used by teenagers, were considered this. Young people could go out without adult supervision; "parking" and drive-ins ("[[AutoErotica passion pits]]") were opportunities for sexual experimentation.
* Political correctness, ironically enough, is seen as a corrupting force by reactionaries. Rather than make people turn to debauchery, however, the drive to not intentionally offend by their logic leads to a slippery slope of censoring everything on the off chance somebody might take offence to it. Any changes made to media, no matter how minor or unnoticeable, is seen as kowtowing to unreasonable {{Moral Guardian}}s and {{Soap Box Sadie}}s, leading to a culturally and socially sterile society. On the other hand, the people who ''do'' see it as leading to debauchery reasons that political correctness heralds a slippery slope of permitting absolutely ''everything'', including obviously harmful lifestyles such as pedophillia, bestiality, and grooming (whether in a sexual or a militaristic context), on the off chance that people get offended by their lack of inclusion.
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