The mom in the beginning says they're class of 56 in Princeton so they would've been 21-22 when they graduated. Yet the characters and the rebellious music like Jazz seem more like something an older generation born between 1920-30 would be into I'd imagine. This film was clearly set in the 50s.
How old are they supposed to be? Because by the 50s rock n roll was the music of rebellion of the young, those born in the 30s and older.
For people from Dickie's background, though, listening to jazz would still be rebelling because his parents, and maybe most of his peers too, would be part of the classical crowd, going to operas etc. This is evidenced when Tom's at the opera in Rome - not only is Meredith there with her parents, Peter and Marj are there too.
Actually, Dickie and Freddy (if the record store scene in Rome is anything to go by) seem to be the only rich Americans who are into jazz - Marj doesn't accompany him when he takes Tom to that jazz club and everyone else there seems to be local, even getting excited that another American is present.
It's also worth noting that Dickie would have been entering his teenage years in the late 1940s, before rock n roll was popular, so listening to jazz would have been his way of sticking it to his parents and everyone else. He is, after all, an overgrown teenager so is just carrying that on by still listening to jazz.
Lastly, it's quite possible that people were into both as a form of rebellion or being modern. Daniel Stern's character in Diner is a rock n roll buff, but also has a number of jazz records in his collection, his wife even asking "who's Charlie Parker" just to see his reaction! That's set at the very end of the 1950s
This is set a year earlier I think. If Dickie's been in Europe for a while, it's possible that he's been shielded from the rock n roll revolution in the USA - I'm not sure how quickly it would have caught on in mainland Europe. Maybe if he lived in Rome, but I imagine it was slower to spread to the fairly rural coastal areas. And if he's always been in to jazz he'd just carry on going to the same stores and buying jazz records.
Sorry, this has become an essay ha ha!
Nah you're post was very informative actually. Even today people can like different genres whatever is popular today and just the one before it. RnR was popular in the south by 1955 (though it began earlier) but didn't hit the rest of the US and Europe I think by 1956. And you pointed out that Dickie is older too and I think college and older kids tended to look down on rnr at that time. So you're right.
shareDickie, Marge, and Ripley are probably in their mid-late twenties, young enough that Marge wasn't desperate to get Dickie to the altar, and old enough that Ripley considers himself a failure.
As far as Jazz vs. rock-and-roll, Dickie seems to be into jazz because that was the popular music in the part of Italy where he lived. Rock-and-roll was a teen thing and an American thing in the 1950s, and even American beatniks still preferred jazz to rock at that time, because it was considered to be more sophisticated. And Dickie preferred whatever was on at the smoky nightclubs in his area, as long as it was something his parents wouldn't like.
just to add, I'm about halfway through the book and there's no mention of any kind of music at all. Dickie's a wannabe painter, Freddie's a self-styled playwrite. They only go to bars/clubs to get drunk. They do go to San Remo but not for any kind of special jazz festival. There's also no mention of Tom being a amateur pianist or liking classical music either. Peter's not made an appearance yet though so maybe that will change.
Marge is still a wannabe novelist.
It's interesting the the film makers chose to bring the music element into it. Maybe they felt it would be more relatable, or maybe they figured a few musical numbers (especially My Funny Valentine and Americano - oh, and how could i forget May I?!) would make the movie flow better and add a bit of fun to what is a pretty dark story.