Belton on Counterculture (2)

8/11/2019 Belton on Counterculture (2)

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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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Belton on Counterculture (2)