The 60's

By Susan Varno

Whether you remember the decade or not, the 1960’s made profound changes in America. A few recent movies offer a picture of what was happening 50 years ago. For THIRTEEN DAYS (2000) in October, 1962, President John Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) tried to prevent war with the Soviet Union over its plan to install nuclear missiles in Cuba. The Russians blinked, and the “Cold War” was never quite as hot again. Kennedy also promised to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The animated FLY ME TO THE MOON (2008) tells of three adventures flies who in July, 1969, stowaway on Apollo 11 and land on the moon with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
That decade, African Americans increased their demands for equal rights. THE HELP (2011) is the fictional story of a young writer (Emma Stone) in Jackson, Mississippi. She interviews African American maids who keep house and raise the children of white socialites. The maids describe how badly they are treated and that no one will hire them if they complain or quit. See also THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES (2008). A real life Washington, DC, radio talk show host Petey Green (Don Cheadle) invited his African American listeners to TALK TO ME (2007) about how they are treated. When Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, Green kept riots from exploding by staying on the air all night.
The war in Viet Nam dominated the last half of the decade. In 1964, Muhammad ALI (2001-Will Smith) won the world heavyweight boxing championship. Three years later, he refused to be inducted into the Army as a conscientious objector. His action inspired many other young men to join him. After President Kennedy was assassinated, his brother BOBBY (2006) vowed to end the war and help those in poverty. Following the events of June 4, 1968, the day before Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel, this movie intertwines stories of hotel workers and guests as they discuss their feelings about their country and the upcoming election. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007) tells of a young Brit (Jim Sturgess). He arrives in the U.S. in 1967 where he gets involved with hippies and the anti-war movement. Throughout the movie, the actors perform Beatles songs.
The phrase “sex, drugs and rock and roll” described the 1960’s. A Vermont librarian (Renee Zellweger) writes a shocking book DOWN WITH LOVE (2003) advising young women to have sex as often as men do but be careful not to fall in love. A “male chauvinist pig” (Ewan McGregor) uses deception to make her fall for the man she thinks he is. In the biopic BLOW (2001), George Jung (Johnny Depp) has a talent for selling illegal drugs. Fleeing arrest in Chicago, he ends up in South America where he hooks up with drug lord Pablo Escobar (Cliff Curtis) and becomes the North American distributor for Columbian cocaine.
In the early 60’s the British banned rock music from government run radio stations, so a PIRATE RADIO (2009) station broadcast from a ship in the English Channel. This is the sort of true story of the rascals and rebels who kept beaming out music even when the Royal Navy threatened to board the ship. In 1969 the biggest event in America wasn’t landing on the moon but TAKING WOODSTOCK (2009). In this true story, a young man (Demetri Martin) tried to attract more tourists to his Catskills community by hosting a rock concert. Half a million people showed up. See also A MIGHTY WIND (2003) about a reunion of folk singers who sang about war, revolution, freedom, justice and other issues.
Other movies that take place in the 1960’s include gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson’s autobiographical novel THE RUM DIARY (2011). A failed novelist (Depp) moves to Puerto Rico in 1960 to write for the “San Juan Sun.” After a lot of drinking and drugs, he finds his heart is in telling the truth about how rich Americans are exploiting the impoverished locals. Truman CAPOTE (2005-Philip Seymour Hoffman) invented the non-fiction novel when he interviewed two men who murdered a Kansas family “In Cold Blood.” INFAMOUS (2006) tells the same story. In 1964, DOUBT (2009) deals with the possibility that a priest (Hoffman) at a Catholic school is a pedophile.