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The 196 s: The Counterculture
Strikes Back
Article By: John Belton
Presentation by: Anne Potteiger
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Aims of Discussion
To be familiar with the social and politicalevents of the 1960s and how they influencedfilm
To identify how film portrayed women, youth,and race in the 1960s
To explain how the morality of film changed inthe mid-1960s
To distinguish between the two 1960s andidentify the products of them
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Outline of Discussion
Discussion of Aims/Introduction (1 minute)
The Kennedy Era (3 minutes)
Portrayal of Women, Youth, Race (5 minutes) Film Clip: The Graduate(2 minutes)
Changing Morality (5 minutes)
Blaxploitation (5 minutes)
The Two 1960s (2 minutes) Wrap-Up/Review (2 minutes)
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Introduction: Youth and Challenge
During the 1960s, there was anideological battle between youth(those under 30) and age (the older
generation). They differed with each other over the
Vietnam War, sexual issues, racerelations, and lifestyle.
The two generations formed twodifferent cultures.
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Events During the Kennedy Era
The Civil Rights Movement
Focus of Kennedys domesticpolicy
Became the cornerstone of1960s activism
Student Protests
The Womens Movement
The Feminine Mystique,NOW, more women incollege/workplace
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Projections: Women on Screen
1960s films turned thewomens movement into asexual revolution. Class Activity: Barbarella
Also in many films thefemale characters werestereotyped. madonnas vs. whores
governesses vs. prostitutes
For the most part, white-and blue-collar workingwomen didnt make it backto the screen until the late70s/early 80s.
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Youth Films: Activism as Lifestyle
Many films portrayed the youthswar resistance as angst.
The student movement was oftenreduced to just confused college
kids who are only attracted to theidea of political activism andprotests for sex and cheapthrills.
Serious independent films such asBlack Panther (1968) and Medium
Cool(1969) attempted to showthe perspectives of minoritygroups and student radicals.
Youth cult films: The Graduateand Easy Rider(towards the endof the decade).
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The Graduate s a Youth Cult Film
Became an influential film for the under-30market because they felt they could relate toDustin Hoffmans character (Benjamin) and
his situation.
Benjamin feels confused and alienated, whichthe adults in the film cannot understand oridentify with.
The adults try to manipulate him and shapehis future.
Video Clip
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Solving the Race Problem
1960s films exposed racism, but did sowithout exposing the sources of it;ignored the politics of racism.
They viewed racism as a human problem,
so it could be solved through dramaticmeans.
Problem-solvers:
Mere acknowledgement of theproblem (example: Guess Whos
Coming to Dinner) White paternalism
Both blacks and whites workingtogether onscreen against a commonenemy
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Changing Morality
In the 1960s, the film industry wasstill making films for a generalaudience and was reluctant to tacklepolitically controversial subjectmatter; they were economically
driven to play it safe. Big money-makers of the 60s:
War films (The Longest Day-1962)
Widescreen historical epics
(Lawrence of Arabia-1962) Disney family films (One Hundredand One Dalmatians-1961)
Musicals (The Sound of Music-1965)
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Changing Morality continued
For the most part, films containingsex did very well. Cleopatra(1963)
James Bond movies (especiallyGoldfinger, Thunderball, and YouOnly Live Twice)
However, they were theexceptions; other forms of socialcontroversy (i.e., violence, drugs,the rebellion of the youth againstthe older generation) maintainedthe status of exploitation films
and rarely made it to majortheaters.
No showings meant no profit(which as we already know wasthe main concern of the film
industry!).
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Blaxploitation
Films such as In the Heat of the Night, GuessWhos Coming to Dinner, and To Sir, WithLoveindicated to Hollywood that black was
not only beautiful but box office as well. One-quarter of all moviegoers in the late
1960s and 1970s were black; this statistic plusthe success of films starring black actors led toa period of blaxploitation films.
Between 1970 and 1972, over 50 feature filmswere specifically made for a black audience.
Examples: Cotton Comes to Harlem, Shaft, BlackCaesar
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Blaxploitation continued
Blaxploitation films were
inexpensively made exploitationfilms that were made primarily withmiddle- and lower-class blacks inmind.
However, white audiences were
drawn to them as well because of thefilms large doses of sex, violence,and gritty realism.
Critics complained that the heros ofblaxploitation films were not
represented in a positive manner (themajority of them were criminals).
Most revolutionaries of the blackpower movement enjoyed theoutlaw status because it allowedthem to strike back against theconservative mainstream.
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The Two 196 s
For moviegoers, there were two 1960s:
One for the conservative, middle-aged, middle-classmainstream
Historical epics, musicals, Disney family movies
One for the younger, more liberal, middle- and lower-class audience
The Graduate, Bonnie and Clyde, Easy Rider
Eventually, the film style preferred by the youthbecame more popular.
By the late 1960s, movies aimed toward the oldergeneration became failures, and films for the collegecrowd were very successful.
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Rejuvenation: Products of the 196 s
The majority of those who produced, wrote,and directed movies in the 1960s wereproducts of much earlier eras.
During the early 1970s, a new generation of
filmmakers emerged who belonged to thegeneration of 1960s filmgoers. Examples: George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, Martin
Scorsese
Cinema became stylistically youthful and
inventive but politically conservative. They were more conservative because
exploitation films cost much more to make inthe 70s, so their potential for revolutionarystatements was limited.
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Review Questions
1. During the 1960s, there was an ideologicalbattle between the ______ and the ______.
2. How were women portrayed in 1960s film?
3. Give an example of a blaxploitation film.
4. T/F: By the late 1960s, movies preferred by
the older generation were more successfulthan those preferred by the youngergeneration.
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