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Rereading america introduction
Rereading america introduction
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Is there a place in America where the true meaning of life and authentic freedom are available for people to discover? The movie, In Search of America, directed by Paul Bogart in 1971, really captures the spirit of younger people at that time. More specifically, it vividly portrays the younger generation with extensive characteristics of hippie culture. Mike, the main character played by Jeff Bridges in the movie, drops out of college and persuades his whole family to take on a cultural pilgrimage to search for a new American soul. What they have encountered during the trip is a high drama of hippie ethos in play: a magic bus, a Woodstock-type festival, a bunch of hippies who can be identified with their long hair and unconventional dresses, …show more content…
Starting from 60’s, the hippie movement among younger people is initially regarded as totally against everything their parents believe, such as established societal norms, traditional values, and political perspectives. As a result, an awkward generation gap between younger generation and their parents appears and persists. Apparently, the movie makes a serious implication that both generations need to learn from each other in order to bridge the generation gap. Mike’s parents, initially outraged with Mike’s dropout, eventually endorse his decision and join him to an expedition in search of a new meaning in life. And all of those Hippies, whom Mike’s family meets and bump into, such as Cathy, Anne, J.J. and Bodhi, are decent, charismatic, free-spirited, and thoughtful. So, our society should be tolerable for whatever they have faith and practice, in a way of hoping to gradually assimilate the respectable portion of their ideologies into our social mainstream. For sure, hippies have a strong will of opposing to social and political orthodox. That said, if the grandma Rose is able find a lot in common with hippies and the family can reconcile the differences between the generations, why should our society do the
The 1960’s were a time of going against the norm, breaking the rules, acting against authority. Kenneth Walsh describes the decade as “a decade of extremes, of transformational change and bizarre contrasts: flower children and assassins, idealism and alienation, rebellion and backlash.”(Walsh) Rebelling against conformity was exactly how the character of Lucas Jackson is portrayed.“The film 's protagonist is not a recognizable figure of the era 's counterculture; he 's no free-love hippie or dedicated anti-war activist, yet younger audiences were drawn to his rebellious nature” (Nixon). Although Luke is far from a hippie, he still relates to the way the hippies were in the 1960’s. “The hippies” primary tenet was that life was about being happy, not about what others told them they should be. Their “if it feels good, do it” attitudes included little forethought nor concern for the consequences of their actions” (Haddock). Luke relates
Clearly the hippies have good intentions, but they do not have any concept as to how living freely can be accomplished. What it really boils down to is structure vs freedom to me. Billy and Wyatt see this firsthand. They identify more with the hippies, but the farmer was the one who really seemed to have thing figured out. If the farmer were to see what the hippies were trying to do on their commune, he would stand there, head pointed down, and either laugh quietly to himself or shake his head (maybe even both).
Alexis de Tocqueville and Langston Hughes both have their own ideas about what America is, was, and should be. Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America praises American democracy in which everyone is included. This inclusion allows for democracy that everyone can be a part of and feel like they are contributing. On the contrary, Langston Hughes’s “Let America Be America Again” depicts an excluding America that does not treat everyone equivalently. Hughes portrays America as a misrepresentation that does not uphold the ideals that it is so famous for. The two works contrast in many ways but do have some similarities. Although their ideas are different, politics is still a choice. Tocqueville describes politics as a choice that everyone should make as it benefits them all while Hughes describes politics as a choice that some do not have the power to take part in. The differing sentiments between Democracy in America and “Let America Be America Again” stem
America is not the illustrated land of opportunity to all. The statement provided that, a land giving opportunity to all is judgmental for many concerning reasons. For one, America is known as a country where people of various races are informed of great dreams that seem reachable, but the chances of an immigrant moving to America and starting a new life are slim. Throughout American history, the opportunity to create something has always been difficult and will sincerely remain that way no matter the sacrifices a person must give up on in their life.
The purpose of this paper is to describe how an underground youth culture emerged into a social “hippie “movement and what led them to Haight-Ashbury, the Summer of Love in San Francisco and the aftermath in 1967. The Summer of Love was a social movement that consisted of a wide range of ages from teenagers to college students even middle-class vacationers, inspired by The Beats, who gathered in Haight-Ashbury in 1967 that rejected the conformist values of Cold War America. The main event was held in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco, where rent was low, Victorian homes and little trendy shops those who flocked here wanted to amongst their peers. Many just wanted to make peace with the world, but ended in October 1967, The Death of a Hippie, when the town became over populated with homeless runaways, the shops closing down and the overuse of drugs no one wanted to be there anymore. “According to Steve Watson, the Beatniks had a certain stereotypical look that you could tell belongs to the counterculture.
the hippies solely believed in peace, love, and freedom and they stood up for their beliefs.The hippies dressed to show that materialism was not important and that money did not create any more meaning or value to one’s life. The hippies also spread their ideas wherever they went and were proud of their beliefs also. They made their point almost in everything they did. They did not agree with the violence of the Vietnam War and tried to spread their beliefs of “peace not war” with the world, and if they hadn’t, there could have been a complete other outcome to the war. The hippies had major influential effects on their societies and helped shaped each community they came
More than any other countercultural group, hippies reflected a deep discontent with technocracy- society’s reliance on scientific experts who ruled coldly and dispassionately and who wielded enormous power. Hippies said good-bye to that and hello to the mystical spirit, oneness with the universe- life as passion, passion as life, harmony, and understanding. The...
During the summer of love, the diggers helped out and spread the trend of being a hippie. Hippies are always so recognizable then and now with their “long flowing hair, bright clothes, and flowy dresses.” (The Sixties Chronicles 2004) With their noticeable look the hippies believed strongly in individualism. Again shown with their clothes, but also something else. “...where the hippie cry, "Do your own thing!" served to incubate a new cornucopia of causes…” (Stein pg.1) There are all sorts of causes that they fought for then that we have now that is better than what it was before. Some of the causes they fought for were gay rights, the environment, women's liberation, saving the whales, saving the forests and so much more. It had a, “...widespread impact in fashion, art, in the use of illicit drugs…” (Ventre pg.1) They also helped out creating a counterculture movement. During the summer of love there was also bad things happening during this time, Vietnam war was going on. The Summer of Love was a backlash to the war. Most of the people there wanted progress and there were tons of anti-war protests. Although there were still some who resisted and didn’t care that thousands of people were being drafted into the war. “Some methods of change proved healthy, others were damaging, depending on which social observers are to be believed.” (Summer of Love That Changed Music and Culture 2007) While the hippies were out and trying to change the world, some did it while doing
The term hippie is derived from "hip" or "hipster" used by the beats to describe someone who was part of their scene. It literally means to know, so someone who's "hip" is wise. Hippies never adopted this term for themselves. They preferred to be called the "beautiful people". However the media played up "hippy" as the catch-all phrase to describe the masses of young people growing their hair long, listening to rock music, doing drugs, practising free love, going to various gatherings and concerts, demonstrating and rejecting the popular culture of the early 60's. Hippies were the adults of the baby boom post-World War II. They wanted to test and enjoy the limits of life adopting a motto of - “Being alive should be Ecstasy”.
...them. The hippie counterculture was a fun time for everyone who experienced it, but they now had families to support and had to survive in the business world. The hippies tried to create a foundation of love and peace around the world, but essentially failed. They did contribute to black civil rights, the end of the Vietnam War, women’s and homosexual rights in America. Even though the Hippie Movement is over, it is still remembered through its music and stories that were passed down from parents to their children. A little peace of the Hippie Era still survives inside the spirit of America today, and will continue to live as long as the music is still played and people have a hope for peace and love throughout the world.
The government and the older generations could not understand their way of life. Hippies were often portrayed as criminals, subversive to the morals and best interest of the public. Although misunderstood, the hippie had a great impact throughout the country, still surviving today in American culture. The term “hippie” itself became a universal term in the late sixties. It originated in a 1967 article in Ramparts, entitled “The Social History of the Hippies.” Afterward, the name was captured by the mass media as a label for the people of the new movement. (Yablonsky 28) Even before this, the word “hip” described someone who was “in” and “down”, wise to what was going on around him. By the 1960s, some of America’s youth created a gap between themselves and their parents. They grew their hair long because it was natural and therefore considered beautiful.
Hippies’ lifestyle certainly has some interesting advantages and also some drawbacks. Nature loving and peace loving are surely ethical characters that people nowadays have forgotten. However, looking at the drawbacks, the abusive sex and drug use reflect that Hippies tend to be more immoralists. People engaged in free sex means they could change their sex partner anytime – meaning they would easily share sexual transmitted diseases such as HIV and AIDS, which unbeneficial for any party. In contrary, the habitual way of using drugs might only caused illusions, which make brain does not functioned properly. This was misconception of drugs that hippies originally thought to have opened their minds. Lastly, having no house as a hippie means they will be faced to uncertainty of the future. Eventually, they will grow old and stop become a hippie, they would not be able to travel a lot as their body weakening and vulnerable to sickness. When that time comes, hippie will not have any place to shelter and to spend the rest of their life. Being an environmentalist and a pacifist is a graceful thing to do, but engaging in unrestricted sexual contact, as well as having insecurity of the upcoming days is even more
When people hear the term hippie, they think of men and woman in loose clothing with flowers weaved in their hair. Although these men and women did in fact wear these things, they left a significant impact on society. Hippies were a part of the Counterculture movement, which basic ideals were to reject the ideas of mainstream society. The movement itself began with the protesting of the Vietnam War. Eventually, the movement was more than just protesting the war. Hippies promoted the use of recreational drugs, religious tolerance; they also changed society’s views and attitudes about lifestyle and social behavior. The Counterculture movement was the most influential era in the 20th century because the people of this time changed society’s outlook, and broached the topics of drugs, fashion, and sexual freedom.
Appearance and clothing was also one of the immediate legacies of hippies. Since that time, a wide range of personal appearance options and clothing styles, including nudity, have become more widely acceptable, all of which was uncommon before the hippie era. Along with their bold clothing choices, hippies, along with many others, took advantage of a new form of contraception that was being offered known as “The Pill.” Sex no longer meant having children, so it became more casual. Free love was a common concept at the time and hippies believed that one was free to love whomever they pleased, however and whenever they pleased.
...evolution was the change of thinking in society. They challenged the established authorities and conventions which resulted in transforming the lives of thousands. The hippies created an ongoing social movement and continue fighting for the freedom that “ordinary” people are afraid to question.