Quadrophenia again could show a lack of Authority in the 1960’s when the Mods and Rockers regularly travelled to seaside towns on a bank holiday weekend. This always caused trouble. Riots were regular in Brighton, Margate and Scarborough. Most Mods were in Scooter Clubs who travelled down after Scooter Rallies this meant large groups would go down together at once. During the riots, towns were vandalised, from smashed windows, to chairs being broken on the sea front. The police came in on horseback and were heavy handed. In the film, some of the rioters, from both sides are taken to court to pay for their damages. In this scene the ‘Face’ is told to pay a very hefty fine of £75. He asks if he can pay it their and then whilst taking out his cheque book. This is to the amusement of all parties, he then asks for a pen to the judge. The judge looks at him in disgust and cries for order. This shows the lack of Authority youngsters had towards superiors. However, again this source is limited because it is a film based on some facts, but we have no knowledge if this scene ever did take place. And the bias of The Who would have tried to make the ‘Face’ look as clever and cool as possible.
The article that differs from a lack of Authority is that of the Independent, Source G, from 2006. It is a secondary article looking back on the time of the seaside riots. The headline says’ When bovver came to the seaside on two wheels’. This headline is a pun as it is a double meaning of the Bovver boys, a group associated with the Mods who were into similar music and fashion, a bit like Ska. It is trying to show the riots as a meaningless over exaggerated battle between two youth cultures. In the article it states that a ‘rapid reaction force more than two hours to travel 12 miles’ shows that if the ‘riots’ had been as shocking as some people thought the Police would have gotten to the coast as quickly as possible. Another statement that backs this up is that there was ‘pitched battles in Brighton and Hastings, using pieces of broken deckchairs and throwing stones’. Again, this shows the riots were not that bad in contrast to other opinions of how Authority had disintegrated. The article suggests that the two groups just wanted to enjoy a weekend with disposable income, which was now easier to do for the ‘baby boom’ generation, times were changing. ‘a movement of young, mainly working class Britons with cash to spend enjoying a day out’. I think this source is much more reliable as it is written by a well respected newspaper and it shows a picture of a small feud between a Mod and a Rocker being held back by Policemen. The only bias in this article is that the writer may be biased towards the theory he is supporting, that Authority had not disintegrated.
I believe that Source J is trying to shows how discipline did disintegrate in the 1960’s with a Private Eye cartoon of the Profumo scandal. This involved John Profumo, Minister of War, was caught having an affair with a high class escort. Lord Astor had large sex parties and invited people like Profumo, Stephen Ward, a famous Harley Street Doctor, and even Ivanov a Russian spy to these sex parties. Ward and Profumo were both having affairs with the escort, Keeler, and word got out that the Minister of War had a naked swimming race with Ivanov, who was an enemy of communism as far as Western Europe was concerned. After all of these revelations, this starts off Tabloid papers reporting on Celebrities, who previously had private lives and got away with everything. The source has a picture of all the upper class people running around in a drunken orgy with an innocent bystander looking worried and terrified. The source shows a lack of discipline by showing that people of such high authoritative people could be as they were. This is also a satire poking fun at the idea of people in power. The source could be unreliable as it is a cartoon, and some of the things going on in the picture may not have happened, but the cartoon is from around the time the Scandal happened.
In my opinion Source C shows a disagreement with a lack of Discipline in the 1960’s, by saying in his speech that the youth are the future and that a revolution is taking place, and that without discipline the revolution obviously cannot take place. ‘change…the jet age, streamlining, modernization’. He also adds to the youthful prospect ‘wanting the Youth of Britain’. An authoritative figure made the speech, which makes this source very reliable, and it was from 1964. However, the limitations could be that Wilson put on a Yorkshire accent to be more common.
I believe that the question quoted is over exaggerated as it is trying to say that all morality, authority & discipline had been lost. We also have no idea if this quote was in hindsight or not which lessens the reliability of the question. Yes, morality may have declined by people taking drugs, but not everybody took the drugs and the film exaggerates how many people took the drugs, and it is a movie based on fact. Authority also may have declined but Independent article is a more reliable source and it tries to show that the riots were not as bad as first thought. Again though the scene from Quadrophenia at the Magistrates may have been over exaggerated on real events. However, from Source J I do believe discipline may have declined, partly due to the Profumo scandal, but that was of an upper class nature, and it did not happen to everybody. Working class people wouldn’t have been able to afford or host such big sex parties in the first place. Overall I disagree with the interpretation of the quote.