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Questions

Political Science Question: How did the Watergate scandal lead to the loss of innocence that permeated the 70’s?

Literary Question: What characteristics of New Journalism make it different from traditional journalism?

Musicology Question: What musical signifiers of traditional African music can be found in funk music?

Questions

1) What political occurrences caused the general sense of disillusionment that was present in the early Seventies?

2) How did the newer styles of television, journalism, and New Hollywood film reflect the changing nature of American society during the time?

3) How did funk music play into black politics of the time, and what has this genre become or influenced today?

questions

1. Was the white ethnic movement a reaction to the civil rights movement earlier in the decade or do you think it was more independently generated?

2. What were some of the major characteristics of new journalism and where was New Journalism most likely to be published?

3. Who were some of the major funk artists during the late 1960's and how did their music relate to the Black Power Movement?

Final Questions

1) (Poli Sci) How did 'Deep Throat' know that President Nixon was behind the break in at Watergate? Did he also work for the government?

2) (Literature) When (if ever) did white ethnics stop being considered a separate group from WASPs? How were they discriminated against?

3) (Music) How popular was psychedelic music really considering that most people in alive in the 60s weren't really part of the counterculture? How do you explain this difference?

Q

1. What specific social conditions helped to catalyze the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley and other student protest movements across the country?
2. What do the development of the Bakersfield sound and the rise of other country musicians reveal of the social climate of the 60s?
3. What was "new" about New Hollywood?

Questions by Holly Di Maggio

1) How does group identity play a role in political elections?

2) How and when did the term new journalism begin to emerge as a new writing style?

3) When did psychedelic music become less popular and why?

Questions

1. Is there such a thing as insincere psychedelic music? Or is psychedelic music a state of being as opposed to a set of signifiers?

2. How was New Journalism a response to the changing media of the decade?

3. How did George Wallace get away with drastically changing his platform? Why didn't people notice and/or question his legitimacy?

Questions

1) How did the Weatherman Underground Organization affect America's view of the protest movement?

2) How did the media differ from the 1950's, 1960's and early 1970's?

3) What signifiers contribute to Funk music and why was this genre significant?

Questions

1.War World I and World War II were followed by a post war era where the economy either experienced recessions as well as prosperity. Did a post war era proceed after the Vietnam War as well?

2.How did history gave an impact to fictional films and they way they treated sex and violence? Do you think the way violence was depicted changed?

3.What was jazz/blues artist’s response to psychedelic music since they were a large influence to the genre. Did they approve of this “noise”?

Review Questions

1. What did Nixon accomplish with an administrative presidency? What effect did this type of structure in the White House have on the other branches and the American Public?
2. What was the effect of the TV in the 1950s? Did producers know how to use this medium wisely?
3. How did "black" and "white" music interact?

Questions:

1. Describe the strategies of protest music--were any of these actually used to bring about significant change in the 1960s?

2. What caused Americans to favor Kennedy over Nixon in the 1960 election when they later favored him over Humphrey in 1969?How did American society change in between these two election years?

3. What are some examples of "New Journalism"?

Questions

1. I wrote in my notes from discussion last week that group based identity is more important than person based identity. Why is this?

2. How did the Black Panther Party use music to illustrate their pride in Black Power and Afro-funk?

3. How was New Journalism/Hippie Lit received by the general public? How was it received by those associated with the Conservative Backlash?

Questions

1.What exactly is the connection between New Journalism and the Psychedelic experience? As I re-read my notes I'm a little confused.

2. Do students still hold the same kind of power today that they did in the 1960s? Or has the protesting power shifted somewhat? If so to who and why?

3.Was there any affect on music as drug-used declined. Obviously there was, but I mean was there a specific sort of rebellion against the drug age seen in music?

Questions

1. How was George Wallace able to extend his appeal beyond segregationists and racists when running for president?

2. Are the obscenity trials concerning Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" more responsible for change in society than the poem itself?

3. Does Bob Dylan's manner of singing in "Highway 61 Revisited" demonstrate authenticity?

Questions

Poli-sci- By the 1970s, was the south still primarily Republican or how far had the shift towards a Democratic south come?

Musicology- How do gospel music, soul, and funk all relate? Do they have any similar signifiers?

Literature- What was the effect of hippie literature? Did the masses get ahold of it? Or were things like the "ULTRA Research Project" and "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" just read by members of the counterculture?

Operation Abolition

I forgot to post this last week while I was working on my paper, but I found something I thought the class might find interesting. I don't know if you guys remember from the Berkeley in the Sixties movie that we watched segments of in class, but they mentioned a video created by HUAC called "Operation Abolition", which took the footage from some of the first 60s protests in Berkeley and said that they were the work of the Communist party. In the video they showed a clip of the film in which the student all stood up and sang the national anthem in solidarity with the students. Anyway, I found the entire video through Google videos and its actually a really interesting depiction of the HUAC-early student protest clash that started off the free speech movement. The video says its an hour long but after 45 minutes its actually just some cartoon (random I know).

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2501072550238174626#

Soul Music

I know the soul music lecture was from a while ago, but I came across this when searching for music for my paper and I thought it was really interesting.
I like how Gil Scott Heron is just speaking the words to "The Revolution will not be Televised" over a drumbeat. His ideas are expressed so eloquently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGaRtqrlGy8

Evaluating Nixon and Presidents

Because he is so often criticized for things like the Watergate scandal and his corrupt nature, people tend to overlook the accomplishments that the fatally paranoid Richard Nixon had, like improving relations with China and the Soviet Union and his environmental policies, for example. He was far from a saint, but that is not to say that he didn't achieve anything beneficial at all. This leads into the question, how are we to ultimately judge Nixon? And furthermore, how are we to judge our presidents in general? Should they be scrutinized more in their personal actions (consider also, for instance, Bill Clinton), or for their political ability?

Hypocrisy in Government?

After reading and watching the documentary on the Nixon Administration, my reaction was "WOW, government is corrupted!" Nixon and his administration passed many boundaries to prevent the publication of the "Pentagon Papers" in the New York Times. Similarly, police forces arrested about 7,000 people during the May 8 Protests. These actions got me wondering about our freedoms documented in the first amendment.How much freedom to the people actually have in terms of freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of assembly?

Furthermore, the Declaration of Independence says "...that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. However, if you think about it, if one did try to "overthrow" the government, government would most likely jail/sentence the people with treason. So, who has the ultimate power? and to what extent are our freedoms as the American people restricted?

Administrative Presidencies

I thought that Aberbach's lecture on Nixon's Administrative strategy was really interesting. I though it was very surprising how much Nixon had changed: he had started by letting his secretaries make their own appointments, and then in his second term tried to root out all that opposed him, even several levels down in the bureaucracy, by coercion.
What caused this shift in Nixon's policy? Should the president really be able to run the entire bureaucracy, as it is in his branch of government?

On a side note, Aberbach also talked about signing statements, where presidents will sign laws and then not enforce them, or not enforce parts of them. I think this is completely ridiculous, because it is a way to have an unlawful line-item veto. The constitution gave congress the power to write laws for a reason. Do you think that presidents should hold such a large amount of power in this sense?

Musical Signifiers in Funk

I found it really interesting how African Americans used traditional African drums as a signifier of Black pride and separatism in funk music. Do you believe that any artists today use musical signifiers in this way to make certain social or political statements? If so, what artists?

White ethnics is New Hollywood

Let me preface this by saying that the Godfather Part 1 and 2 are hands down my favorite movies of all time. That said, I found some of the points Professor Decker made in his lecture today to be really interesting although I don't necessarily agree with all of them. I thought it was particularly notable that there was such a dichotomy between what those films represented to Italian Americans and the general American public. On the one hand, many thought that the sympathetic portrayal of the Italian American mafia in the films romanticized that segment of society and actually made ethnic Italian culture more palatable to the masses. However the Italian American community saw just the opposite and felt that the films portrayed their culture as thuggish and criminal. How do you guys think the Godfather movies actually portrayed Italian American culture? Can you think of any other prominent examples of white ethnic representations in film back then or up until today? And are do you think the issue of white ethnic groups being portrayed in a controversial manner by the media today (Jersey Shore anyone?) has as much of an effect on the perception of those groups by the general public as it did during the New Hollywood era?

New and Newer Hollywood

Today in lecture Decker discussed how Hollywood in the 60s became somewhat racier. He discussed how the family structure was portrayed differently in movies such as the Godfather, and how uncensored violence appeared. Do you think that this shift toward more sex, violence, and dysfunctional relationships in movies and TV is having a negative impact on society, or do you guys think that its simply acknowledging what already exists? And that maybe acknowledging it makes all those "bad things" less hidden, and secretive, which no doubt gives them an appeal.

Going with the trends

Although I am not surprised that the aura of a more chaotic society during the 1970s affected the film world, it is interesting to hear Pauline Kael write that "One can't just take the new cult movies head on and relax, because they're too confused." I think what she is talking about is that movies became so rich with meaning, symbols, and intense topics that people could not simply go to the movies to "get away" and relax anymore. So while it is to be expected that the influences of the counterculture (the way they dress, the way they act, drugs, etc.) would be translated into film, I guess I never realized that it came to a point where, as Pauline describes, the movies became too intense to the point where movies in general became an alienating and cynical experience. Can the opposite be said of today? Are there too many "light" films that lack critical topics and just pride themselves on how humorous they are?

Bob Dylan at the Grammy's

In case you missed it, this is a video of the 2011 Grammy performance by Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers, and Bob Dylan. I thought it was very interesting to see these newer artists, which are considered folk or folk rock, play with Bob Dylan, who was there at since the beginning of the folk movement.

Dylan comes in around 6:00 to start off Maggie's Farm while the other bands play the instrumentals. Overall, I really just liked the performance so I wanted to share it.

Perception of Movies Then & Now

I'm not sure if its just me or my family's opinion of this film, but I was personally shocked by the article that talks about the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" in such a negative light ("The Current Cinema: The Bottom of the Pit, from the New Yorker).

Growing up, I always heard about this movie as a classic piece of American filmography, a great, timeless movie that would be watched for years to come. I'm not sure if the opinion held by Pauline Kael, the author, was widespread at the time, but it still surprised me to read that in 1969, the year the movie was released, someone wrote something like the following about a movie that we now view as classic.

"'Butch Cassidy' will probably be a hit; it has a great title, and it has star appeal for a wide audience...Yet, hit or no, I think what this picture represents is finished. Butch and Sundance will probably be fine for a TV series, which is what I mean by finished."

Obviously comparing something to a TV series or insinuating that it could be a made for TV movie is not a complement. So what I wonder is how movies that are being produced now are going to be perceived in the future. Are the some of really bad ones going to be seen as classic later? Will people insist that their children watch "Step Up: 3D" ? Or did no one else grow up hearing that "Butch Cassidy" was a great movie?

The Angry American

We talked a lot on Friday about country music and patriotism, which was exemplified by the song Zach played at the end of class, Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue". This song was off one of my favorite country albums from elementary school so I thought I'd post it here. I'd actually never watched the video before, but it ended up being perfect for this discussion. You can see Toby himself mingling and playing music for the soldiers among with a LOT of other patriotic themes and images. Safe to say country musicians are still connected to patriotism?

Americans

We talked a lot about what being white meant, and what being a "white ethnic" meant, on Tuesday. In today's lecture, Professor Fink talked about the country music movement and its strong ties to white Southern culture. This got me thinking–it's interesting that cultural differences among what people consider established "white Americans" exist as well. The disparities among WASPs, even, are fairly evident if you compare the cultures of those from Alabama with those from New York City. More disparities emerge, of course, with the incorporation of different ethnicities into the patchwork of American culture and values. It just made me think how slippery the term "American" was, and how there really was no set of values that you can ever use to determine whether someone was truly an American or not. What the heck is, exactly, an American?

No Dogs. No Greeks.

When Professor Decker showed the class the New Yorker cartoon, I asked the person sitting next to me if I was considered a white ethnic. Ironically, the next thing we learned was that, yes, Greeks were considered white ethnics. Almost immediately I began to remember my grandfather's famous immigration story:

After arriving in New York and taking the train to Chicago, my grandfather was alone, poor and hungry. He had nothing to his name but $20 and a Greek-English dictionary. He tried to go to a restaurant, but in the window there was a sign that said "No Dogs. No Greeks."

When I first heard this story I didn't understand why Greeks were discriminated against. I didn't think Greeks ever made up a significant population in the United States. Tuesday's lecture was an unexpected affirmation of my family history. Furthermore, my grandfather knows more about United States history than many people I know — not unlike the message of the second cartoon in which the white ethnic shows national pride.

And now I'm wondering, again, if I'm a white ethnic, or if the times have changed. To a certain extent, I don't think the term has died off entirely, or at least not the concept. I still have my Greek folk dancing outfit somewhere...

1952 to 1970s? Has Much Changed?

In the concluding remarks of Professor Fink's lecture today, he explained that country music became associated with backlash politics and the silent majority. As I thought about how Merle Haggard and other "hard core" country musicians helped associate the country sound with that of the good old days before the influence of the counterculture, I was amazed by the genius of politicians like Richard Nixon. Then, I remembered that this was not the first time that promoting politics had been mixed with a form of entertainment. Basically, Merle's "Okie from Muskogee" reminded me of the 1952 political cartoon/ad for Eisenhower that we watched at the beginning of the year. It showed an elephant, donkey, other animals, and a farmer walking in a parade-like scene. The farmer was supposed to relate to everyday Americans and suggest that they were voting for Eisenhower. This ad and Eisenhower's strategy of appealing to the common folk won him the election. The way "Okie from Muskogee" and other country music was used to suggest that an easier way of life could be attained through voting for Nixon is hardly different from Eisenhower's tactic through that particular ad in 1952.

Here is the link for the 1952 Eisenhower ad: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1952

Grand Ole' Opry

As a country music fan, I found today's lecture really interesting, particularly the part on the Grand Ole' Opry. I know that Professor Fink said that the Opry closed in 1974, but the Country XM station I listen to plays music from the "Grand Ole' Opry" almost every day. So I decided to look a little bit further into it.

Even after music was no longer played at the Ryman Theater, the Grand Ole' Opry lived on as a country music show and radio program.

You can see this week's lineup (filled with current country music stars) here: http://www.opry.com/shows/ThisWeek.html

I have always been fascinated by how country music continues on without ever really making any massive changes in style. I always say that if you stop listening to country radio for a few years, when you come back you will still recognize like 60% of the music being played.

Here is a video of the Charlie Daniels Band playing "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" at the (modern) Grand Ole' Opry. This song was first released in 1979, but you it is still played on many current radio stations regularly, which is how I heard it in the first time, probably like 7 years ago.

Also, you can recognize many of the same cues that we talked about in class today that signify country music, specifically, the playing of the fiddle.

White Ethnics

I found the idea of white ethnics extremely interesting. I have always wondered why the classification of "white" is so widespread, while a lot of white people do not have that common of ancestry. What is interesting to me is that people throughout history who are not completely white have been considered to be the race that is not "white." The outlash of the white ethnics of the 60s is very interesting, because it seems to have been very difficult to obtain that "white" status.
Does this still have an effect today? Are people still scrounging to be some sort of ethnic? Why?

The Marginalization of Country Music

In the intro to "Creating Country Music", I thought it was interesting that it said many whites already established in the music industry looked down upon country initially, on account of their desire to distance themselves from the cultural background associated with country. Do you think this fact has any connection to the contemporary marginalization of country music outside of it's traditional fan-base?

"Walk the Line"- Portrayal of 1960s country

By: Holly Di Maggio

After today's lecture when Professor Fink showed us the image of Johnny Cash, I instantly thought of the movie "Walk the Line" starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny Cash and June Carter. The movie is based on the life of Johnny Cash and is an excellent portrayal of "outlaw country." A major portion of the film shows Johnny Cash's journey as he tries to get his music produced while dealing with drugs, alcohol, and family issues. The movie captures the life of one of the major country artists during this time period and gives the audience a realistic sense of the music industry during the 1960s.

1968 Democratic Convention Chaos-Inevitable?

Both "The Chicago Convention: Furies in the Street" and "Continuity and Change In American Politics" do a good job of setting the stage for the 1968 Democratic Convention. They describe the candidates at the convention, the political decisions leading up to the convention, and what actually happened at the convention. It is mentioned that in addition to the issues of "law and order," the Vietnam War, and race issues that there were major changes to the structure of the Democratic Convention occurring in 1968. For example, the very nature of the Rules Committee was being challenged. It is important to remember that conventions in the political process are relatively new and not included in the Constitution. Therefore, aside from the important political and social issues that would unfold at the convention, the readings made me think that it was about time for the structure of the convention to be called into question. No wonder there was so much chaos! Thus, I believe that a combination of structural changes in the convention process when matched with the splintering of opinions within the Democratic party caused this inevitable "explosion" at the 1968 Democratic Convention. What do you think? Was this explosion of chaos inevitable or Mayor Daley and the Chicago police have taken precautions to prevent it?

Random Fun Fact

In the movie Forrest Gump, the character takes part in many historical moments, one being the George Wallace assassination attempt. The footage shown in the film is actually real footage that was taken by CBS photographer Laurens Pierce, who caught part of the shooting on film.

Chicago, 1968

I was always fascinated by the violent riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention because it is such a departure from what we think of American politics to be like. It's as if our whole democratic process broke down in this violent event. Here is a video with some good footage of rioters and the troops trying to keep them in line, followed by reactions to the violence by the politicians at the convention. (There are longer pieces of footage also on YouTube if you want to check it out, but this one was a better quality and in color!)

George Wallace, Also

Watching the documentary, I couldn't help but think that George Wallace embodied all the things that make people resent politicians. What does the success of George Wallace say about Americans? Can the phenomena of George Wallace happen again today via a different candidate and/or different issue? How would his story have ended if he didn't get shot, and how would it have affected America? I suppose there isn't an answer to this.

I also feel compelled to say that his life was strangely like a novel. The plot diagram of his life is almost unbelievable.

George Wallace

In your own opinion, do you believe that George Wallace was truthful in his remorse displayed to black southerners after the assassination attempt? He was firmly against civil rights and, years later, seemed to have a complete change of heart. Do you believe Wallace was being genuine in his apologies, or was his sincerity to African Americans just another ploy to attain votes?

Wallace Documentary

The documentary did a really good job of showing Wallace's transformation into only a politician and back. I was really shocked at his transformation from someone who spoke for black southerners to a man who was staunchly against civil rights. Wallace was willing to put his ideas and compassion aside for votes. What kind of politicians do this? Do you think that a lot of politicians still do this today?

Elitist Protesters

Just wondering–why do you guys think that the wealthier students at elite universities led the student protest movements? Professor Aberbach mentioned a while ago that these were the students that could most readily avoid the draft. Why was it that those more affected by the war didn't protest as prominently? Was it the level of education and awareness? Was it the fact that those who enlisted didn't have that many better options to choose from? I think it was a combination of both, but maybe there was something else...

30 year old revolutionary?

I thought that one of the most interesting parts of the "Weather Underground" documentary was when Mark Rudd turns himself in after years of hiding out and his father comments on this by saying something along the lines of "at 30, you get too old to be a revolutionary". As soon as he said this I immediately agreed. I mean wouldn't it be odd to see an over 30 year old revolutionary preaching to young adults, most of them would probably question themselves as to why this old guy is even approaching them. This brings up another question/idea, it seems as though revolutionary ideals are only passionately carried out by the young. I mean look at those revolutionaries now, Mark Rudd is a community college professor and the others just look like normal aged Americans. Does that kind of passion die with the increase of age? I know the situation is different now from what it was in the 60s and 70s, but those same revolutionaries seem conformist now.

The Weather Underground Organization

By: Holly Di Maggio

After watching the documentary on Monday, I found that the actions of the people in the Weather Underground Organization were very hypocritical. Before they broke away from the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), they believed in peaceful protests and wanted to end the war in Vietnam. Once they realized their strategies were not making progress, the people of the Weather Underground started causing violence against society by planting bombs and destructive protests. It was hypocritical for them to fight for peace in Vietnam by creating violence in America.

Do you think that their actions were acceptable in order to prove their point to the American government?

The Evolution of Psychedelia

As we have discussed in lecture and previous readings, musical styles are neither born nor killed—music evolves and grows as a result of a dialogue between past and present. Baring this in mind, I’d like to evaluate the evolution of the psychedelic musical style. Modern bands still use the psychedelic techniques The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, The Beatles and Quicksilver Messenger Service pioneered in the 1960s. Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, The Apples in Stereo, The Flaming Lips, and The Shins come to mind as possible examples, but there are tons more! As well as elements of psychedelic rock in virtually all musical styles—I’ve included a link to a psychedelic-influenced rap song--"Solo Dolo" by Kid Cudi (this might be a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea) as well as Neutral Milk Hotel's "King of Carrot Flowers Parts 2 and 3".

Why have bands such as these chosen to use pitch-bending, distortion, droning notes, and abstract lyrics and sounds? Are the modern motivations for using these techniques any different from motivations 50 years ago? Think about socio-political driving forces behind music then and now. Do we still feel the need to warp reality now that we did back then?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Ypi_7jVR0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqI_O3kIFHM

What happened to the others?...

In this week's readings and in professor Decker's lecture, we see that there is an obvious shift in the Media as new TV genres emerge. Professor Decker showed us several clips which depicted the characters of the shows. Yet, something that I noticed was that the characters/actors of these famous shows were all white. Is this a coincidence? Or was there still a racial barrier? How do you think people of color as well as other cultures were portrayed by television shows? Do you think they played the stereotypical roles of their race? If you can, give examples of specific shows you may know of.

Student Protests

Berkeley is famous for being the center of student protests during the 1960's. Do you believe that in today's society, such student protest movements would still occur? Are there any issues we face today that are worthy of such student activism and do you believe students today would be willing to fight to solve those issues while facing such consequences?

Subterranean Homesick Songs

With all the small side-mentions this week on Bob Dylan's 1965 piece "Subterranean Homesick Blues," I was thinking about Radiohead's 1996 song "Subterranean Homesick Alien," whose title is very likely a reference to the former.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of Dylan's piece, but there is certainly much instrumentation and interesting bluesy riffs. I do also see in it artistic poetry, with short phrases but read with flow. I wonder if he is commemorating art itself, and perhaps those on the outskirts or underground of society. This would be supported by Radiohead's song, in which "alien," on a literal level, refers to extraterrestrials, but perhaps could be a metaphor for the misunderstood, autonomous artist ("I'd show [my friends] the stars and the meaning of life / They'd shut me away"). Another notable and rather relevant aspect of Radiohead's piece is the unnatural, almost psychedelic effects, like some reverb and bending. I'd be interested in hearing more interpretations of the two songs.

Here is Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues":

Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Bob Dylan

Here is Radiohead's "Subterranean Homesick Alien":

Issues That Still Affect Us Today

While I was reading the course reader for this week I found a couple connections between issues that the readings were talking about and issues we still have today, which I thought was interesting.

The first was in the Port Huron Statement, in which the education system is critiqued, saying that much attention "too, is paid to academic status (grades, honors, the med school rat race). But neglected generally is the real intellectual status, the person cultivation of the mind" (158). This greatly reminded me of the way high school seems to be focused these days. High school students care less about actually learning and more about whether they get good grades, they care less about feeling connected to activities than they do having a list of extracurriculars with which to pad their college applications. So too, it seems, was the case in the public school system of the 1960s.

Also on the topic of education, the statement complains about "the administrative bureaucracy" and "under-financed colleges" (159). As students at UCLA, we surely know that these are issues today, when our university depends on the greater UC system in order to receive funding for our education.

The second area in which I found similarity was in "The Vast Wasteland", in which the Chairman of the FCC bemoaned "Why is so much of television so bad?" (53). In the MTV/VH1 dominated era, we have all seen our fair share of consuming, but ultimately worthless television programming. When I saw this question in the reading, it made me wonder, was there ever an era in which television wasn't bad? What happened to good TV? Evidently, both us and TV-watchers of the 60s have the same question.

Psychedelic Scene from Charly

In middle school, I read a short story called "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, about a mentally challenged man who undergoes a surgical procedure to become a genius. In 1967, it was adapted for the big screen under the title "Charly". As with most adaptions, a number of changes were made, but the most apparent one is the inclusion of the psychedelic scene below. It has no equivalent scene in the original story, so it would seem it's inclusion was merely a way for the filmmakers to take advantage of the countercultural zeitgeist.

The rest of the film is available on Youtube, so you can see how abrupt and out-of-place the scene feels compared to the rest of the movie.

Violent Imagery

In both of the documentaries that we have seen now, a lot of what is described is also very graphic. Both had the same clip, which featured the brutal murder of a man with a shot through the head. Many other violent images were shown throughout both of these documentaries.

What purpose do you think having these images serves? The Weather Underground said that they had wanted to wake up America to the atrocities that had been happening around the world and especially in Vietnam. Do you think these clips served the same purpose for us when we watched these documentaries? What would have been the impact without them?

Let the Sunshine In

For those of you who didn't go see Hair last night I decided to post one of the songs,

"Let the Sunshine In" which is from the very moving last scene. This video is from the 1979 version of the film.

The Velvet Underground

In the "Rock and the Politics of Memory" reading, Simon Frith discusses several different bands that contributed to not only his own musical experiences in the 1960s but the bands that contributed to the sound of the 1960s. Towards the end of this reading, he said, "The Velvets' sound was harsh, loud, unpleasant in its use of feedback and screeching; the Velvet's music was made not out of melodies, hooks and choruses but out of riffs, repeated phrases that built up their effects in layers, made their rhythmic and harmonic impact simultaneously." I found this interesting because The Velvet Underground is one of my favorite bands. I thought the following song illustrated this quote very well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkbpmFOuKrc

And just for fun, this is a video of a concert I went to last year of another one of my favorite bands covering the same Velvet Underground song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5znTz1MnKF0

The Signifiers

I know we're probably all sick of the signifier/signified ideas from last quarter, but while reading an excerpt from the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Wolfe is describing a conversation he has with a young man in the counter culture and how to these people "Everything in everybody's life is...significant" (17). The anecdote involves the young man trying to open a writing surface and is saying that the fact that they make it open out is an invasion into his life by the people who produced it.

This reminded me of our conversations last year about the 'hip' people who signified on others, who lived beyond the straight and narrow, bland meanings of things in the world and were a level above, and thus hip. This story is similar in that now the hippies, the counterculture, appear to be signified meanings onto objects, things, and events that occur, seeing them as more than what they are, of being significant "symbols" with deeper meaning.

I thought this was especially interesting considering what Professor Decker was saying today in lecture about the Beats (the 'hip'sters of the 50s) influencing and even, in certain individuals, becoming the Hippies of the 1960s. Here is at least one piece of evidence for this idea, both the hipsters and the hippies apparently think in the same way, by signifying meaning.

Literacy and Didion

“I am still committed to the idea that the ability to think for oneself depends on one’s mastery of the language, and I am not optimistic about…an army of children waiting to be given the words.” - Didion

There is something almost noble about this statement, but I'm conflicted as to whether or not I agree. A part of me agrees because the high school newspaper was my life for three years, and I have come to appreciate a person's ability to convey his or her ideas effectively. But I disagree with Didion's statement...because I believe that might have be one of the most pretentious sentences I have ever written.

So basically, I agree in the sense that literacy adds legitimacy, but simply being literate does not necessarily mean an argument is justified.

I guess I'm just wondering what others think about this.

Psychedelic Music and LSD

In the Michael Hicks article "Getting Psyched," he explains that scholars analyze how LSD and the psychedelic music "genre" influenced each other. Professor Fink made a good point when he said that it would be very challenging for musicians to play a live show while on LSD. This leads to Hicks point that some scholars question LSD's influence on music. For instance, "'Drugs may have had a lot to do with the periphery...but not really a lot to do with the music itself.'" I think the answer is that the psychedelic rock movement could not have been as profound of a cultural transformation without LSD; however, there is an important misunderstanding in that psychedelic musicians weren't necessarily always high while performing. Instead, they signified on musical techniques in order to associate a constant connection between their music and the experience of LSD. Essentially, psychedelic rock music was "LSD session without the use of drugs." This tool that musicians have: to use music as a signifier for a cultural phenomenon is a powerful one. Are there other examples of this in the history of music? What are some instances where musicians have created new musical techniques that could be so powerful as to make someone feel like they are not just listening to music, but actually doing something else or transformed into a different place, mindset, era?

The Influence of the Beatles

The Beatles are notoriously known for being the band of the 60's as they had a great deal of influence over the American population. However, do you believe their music was the only influence on Americans, or did the fact that they consumed drugs help contribute to the elevated drug use in America during the 1960's?

Howl

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix; angel-headed hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dyn."

This is a trailer for the new movie Howl based on the Allen Ginsberg poem and the following obscenity trials. I am kind of fascinated with Allen Ginsberg and the whole Beat Generation; in my eyes, it shakes the glorified, mythologized view of the 60's as fun acid trips and all psycadelic grooviness; behind the glamour, the generation was generally lost and wandering around intoxicated trying to make semblance of their broken lives. At least, that's what the literature says to me. I haven't seen this movie yet, but I think it looks promising.

Buffalo Springfield - "For What It's Worth"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5M_Ttstbgs

This song was written during Vietnam. You can hear, like in some of the other early protest songs, a kind of folksy sound.
I liked the lyrics:
"There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind"

Sincerety v. Irony

So I felt that today's lecture was fairly intriguing and that there was a lot of insight to be gained about music or at least the way we personally perceive it. When I look back on what the professor spoke to us about (ie. the misconception or overlooking of sincerity and irony in music) its pretty obvious all the signifiers and signifieds in songs back in the 60s and even those of today. Nevertheless... how easily we go without registering or paying attention to those song details and implications.
Which leads to me to asking, why?

Perhaps we take things too easily for face value?
(ie. Barry McGuire willingly recorded a traditional folk protest song [looks like a duck, must be a duck scenario])

Or is it as the professor demonstrated, we too often over generalize?
(ie. because PF Sloan was 19 when he wrote Eve of Destruction he was therefore sincere when writing the lyrics [youth = sincerety])

I am currently of the opinion that listeners are under the influence of laziness and therefore neglect the obvious sings and signals in songs.I believe that most listeners willingly concede to taking things at face value in order to avoid putting out effort. And when listeners (driven by man's innate instinct to want to categorize/make order of things) do attempt to decipher songs, it is often in a hurried manner that results in a very basic, generic categorization.

So in other words, laziness affects our perception of music?
And if that true, whose to say that this is only limited to the realm of song?

In more ways than one, I'd like to debate that perception directly correlates with laziness.

From Jan 11 (tuesday reading)

Misadventure Revisited by Richard K. Betts

No Optimism page 6

"For a quarter century no U.S President was willing to let Vietnamese Communists conquer South Vietnam - not even Gerald Ford at the end (Congress forced him to accede to the Fall of Saigon)."

Apocalypse Now Introduction

Lisa, it appears great minds think alike!

For some reason the blog will not let me link the video, so here is the url:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4WJlLNIsyY

In AP Literature, during our Heart of Darkness unit, my teacher showed us the movie “Apocalypse Now.” The movie, which takes place during the Vietnam War, mimics the plot of Conrad’s novella, which takes place in the Congo. Both in the Vietnam War and in Conrad’s novella, the intensity of the foreign setting and the disillusionment with the cause inspire “othering” — discriminating and distinguishing between “us” and “them,” or “Americans” and “gooks.”

The introduction of the movie highlights the contradictions and frustrations of the War. The movie is introduced by a song called “The End,” the visuals are violent and a soldier is lying expressionless in bed. The camera shows his head upside down.

Was Vietnam our Congo? Did we as Americans lose not only lives and money and pride, but our morality? Kurtz, the ivory collector’s last words were, “The horror! The horror!” As far as Vietnam was concerned, what were America’s last words?

Scene from Lecture

As our government began to escalate the war in Vietnam, drug use became more prevalent as a response to the violence abroad. Is the Vietnam War primarily responsible for the rise of the counterculture during the mid 1960's-70's?

"The Times They Are a-Changin'' in Watchmen's opening sequence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-T5Yv2Xb4E

This link leads to a video of the opening credits of Zack Snyder's 2009 motion picture Watchmen, in which occurs a sort of downfall of superheroes, the last of whom are living among civilians in an alternate history, set in 1985. The intro depicts a summary of the past decades and back-story leading up to the alternate history's present time, aided by a recording of Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'." Relevant events include, in the intro, coverage of the Vietnam War and hints of tension concerning Russia. But most notably, Dylan's song, very appropriately chosen, beautifully accentuates the narrative of the opening sequence and sets a tone to lead into the rest of the film.

The intro interprets "The Times They Are a-Changin'" in a fairly straightforward way. It follows the song's titular theme and takes the audience through the history of the characters and heavily acknowledges that America, along with the world, is changing in many ways: socially, culturally, politically, and so forth. With the song's flowing lyrical verses and minimal instrumental accompaniment, though, I feel like it could be arguable that Dylan's main messages are indeed relayed predominately through the lyrics themselves. At any rate, Watchmen's opening sequence is wonderfully made and masterfully incorporates Dylan's song, and, in my personal opinion, could very well be the highlight of the entire film.

Did morality begin to play a role in people's attitude of the war? Or why then, do you think there was a shift in support and propaganda?

Vietnam War Opposition

One of the common themes in this course is perception versus the reality of the past. Certainly, we all have ideas in our heads about what the 1960s was like. I have found that by focusing on the social, literary, musicological, and political history of the 1960s this course has allowed me to gain a more accurate understanding of what actually happened. I noticed that Professor Aberbach’s lecture on the Vietnam War further validated this idea. His lecture pointed out that that there is a difference between our modern-day perceptions, maybe even stereotypes, of the opposition to the Vietnam War and what actually occurred. For instance, when I think of the opposition to the Vietnam War, I think of unruly college students dressed like hippies causing chaos. Drugs, protests, peace signs, and long hair all come to mind. But as Professor Aberbach pointed out, there is more to the story. What about the other side of the opposition? A sizeable portion of the opposition to the war included people who wanted to increase the war in order to win or get out. Increasing the war is certainly not what the “anti-war” youth movement sought. Many even felt that although they disliked the war, they also disliked the “counter-culture” element of the protesting opposition. In addition, our Mueller reading taught us that although the opposition to the Vietnam War was more vocal, it was not more extensive than the opposition to the Korean War. I feel like the anti-war youth movement has been exaggerated. Do you agree or disagree? Why? It seems as if the way most Americans perceive the opposition to the Vietnam War fails to acknowledge other components to the opposition. Why is this?

Hearts and Minds: Manipulative or Truthful?

A certain scene in the documentary struck me as making a very powerful statement. It first shows a Vietnamese funeral where soldiers are burying what seems to be a Vietnamese soldier. The soldier's grandmother, overcome with grief, tries to jump into the hole to prevent the soldiers from burying her grandson. It then shows the boy's brother who is staring at his brother's picture crying with desperation in his eyes, wishing his brother wasn't dead. Immediately after, the documentary jumps to an interview with General Westmoreland where he says that the Vietnamese don't place as high a value on life as a Westerner does, that life is cheap and unimportant to them. It seems like this contrast is made to portray Westmoreland as ignorant beyond belief. The placement of the two scenes makes the viewer angry at Westmoreland and shines an incredibly bad light on his character. But on the other hand, maybe the documentary's main goal was not to depict Westmoreland like that, but rather to portray America's ignorance and detachment as a whole to what was happening in Vietnam. Maybe this was truly how most Americans viewed the Vietnamese at the time, as savages that didn't care whether a loved one lived or died. What do you think the overall purpose was, and was it achieved?

Vietnam War

The Things They Carried

After watching Hearts and Minds, I wanted to share this novel. I'm sure many of you have read it in high school, since I read it in my senior year for AP English.
The Things They Carried is a fictional account of the Vietnam war by author and narrator Tim O'Brien. The novel speaks on the horrors of the war and the guilt suffered by American youth wounded from the death and dirty nature of a war. O'Brien is one of those that considered fleeing to Canada but due to his "cowardice" decided to face the war rather than be exiled from American society. The book tell on the attidudes of American youth at the time, of the title of man forced on young boys coming right out of high school and sent off to fight a war. This novel is by no means gloried and gives a straightforward account by a war veteran, despite the title of fiction. If you haven't read it before, I definitely recommend this book; I wanted to share it on Friday but I left my copy at home.

"Hair" RSVP

Rather that trying to coordinate this thing via dozens of back-and-forth emails, if you're interested in attending the performance of "Hair" on Sunday, 1/23 (6:30), please leave a comment to this post. I should have a final price in the next couple days.

"Let the sun shine in!"

QMS Song Download

I've hosted the six parts of QMS's "Who Do You Love" on mediafire. Follow the links below to download:

Who Do You Love (Part 1)
When Do You Love
Where Do You Love
How Do You Love
Which Do You Love
Who Do You Love (Part 2)

Class Blog

Welcome to the 1H discussion section blog! Use this space to post your questions and thoughts relating to course content (weekly readings, lectures, music, etc.), or anything else that you'd like to share with the group (links to interesting articles, websites, videos, etc.). Every week, I ask that you engage in some way with the blog, either through posting or through comments to your classmates' posts.

Happy blogging.