Chapter 20
Counterculture and Cinema
Objectives: The chapter aims to make students understand the period commonly known as the
counterculture period; to understand the factors that fostered this movement; and the major
cinematic works and names associated with it.
Key words: anti-authoritarian, anti-bourgeoisie,subversive, Woodstock
Background
Counter culture is a subculture that opposes, challenges and rejects significant elements of the prevalent and
dominant culture of a land, usually that which is in line with accepted norms and conditions. It gives voice to
the ethos, aspirations of a specific population during a specific time period. Often dubbed ‘dropping out of the
mainstream’, counter culture movements are in opposition to one or more aspects of prevalent social norms and
cultural mores.
Apart from the various socio-political factors, the literary environment of the time too fostered the winds of
change and rebellion. America saw the rise of the Beat generation in literature, with writers like Allen
Ginsberg and William Burroughs coming together to specialize in a certain new and radical style of writing that
rejected received standards, placed an emphasis on narrating not just ‘the plot’ but portraying, in great detail,
the emotional and personal experiences of the narrator/protagonist/author. The counter culture movement led to
a rise in experimentation with drugs, alternative sexualities, a rejection of materialism, an interest in religion,
spirituality and philosophy, and most importantly, representations of human experiences and emotions in
books, music and films.
Junkie (William Burroughs, 1953), which came on the heels of Catcher in the Rye (Salinger, 1951), is
considered one of the earliest literature of protest/anti-establishment. Howl (Allen Ginsberg, 1956) is a protest
against the tyrannical tendencies of postwar America; commercialism/intolerance where the poet says, “I saw
the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.”
On the Road (Jack Kerouac, 1957), which is an account of a journey across America by Dean Moriarty and Sal
Paradise in 1947 became the definitive text for quest, exploring new territories and on the whole becoming
more inclusive.
Beat writers
Beat writers had a profound impact on popular culture, particularly through
psychedelic art, rock music and the Hippie movement. ‘This is the Beat generation’
John Holmes wrote in 1952, in New York Times, heralding freedom from the cultural
stasis, expression of individualism and self and bemoaning the decline of
masculinity.
A seminal film of this period was The Wild One (1953) starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin. This was a
trendsetter for the biker films and introduced the drifter, rootless hero in cinema. It was also the first film to
glamourize the young, anti-social, sullen, maladjusted and anti-authoritarianism. The film’s line “All the
Beetles have missed you” (beetles for girls), proved as an inspiration for the Beatles for naming their group.
One of the most influential films of the 60s was Blow-Up (1966), Antonioni’s film about the swinging 60s
in London where Beats, hippies, existential cool and colorful fashion ruled. The core philosophy was that
one cannot always trust what one sees and Antonioni explores the possibilities and limitations of images.
The film’s opaque narrative structure, ellipsis and morally ambiguous characters leave us with no clues,
and sets the stage for the kinds of film that were about to come.
Politically, it was an age of turmoil. From the Paris riots at University of Sorbonne in May 1968 to the
assassination of Robert FKennedy, there was an unrest waiting to be articulated. In US, students’
protests against the Vietnam War and the 1969 Stonewall riots in NYC were the defining features of the
changing times.
The Stonewall riots were a series of violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place, at the
Stonewall Inn, a gay bar. This was the first instance of its kind in American history, a defining event that
marked the start of the Gay Rights Movement.
Woodstock
A significant part of the counter culture movement was the Woodstock Music and Art Fair that was organized
outside New York in 1969. The three day Woodstock Festival that happened over a weekend, from between the
15th and 18th of August, was an outdoor event with 32 acts performed for an audience of about 4,000,000
youngsters, and came to define the music and lifestyle of that generation. Estimating that the audience would
not cross 50,000, the festival was originally scheduled to take place on a 120 ha piece of land in the town of
Wallkill, NY. The stage would be set up at the bottom of the hill with Filippini Pond forming a backdrop. Over
the three days preceding the event, large crowds started arriving, earlier and greater in number than had been
anticipated by the organizers. Traffic jams and unexpected weather had exposed the gaps in arrangements,
despite which over 4,000,000 people had gathered for the festival. Despite the potential for rioting, looting,
disaster and catastrophe, given the nature of the gathering, the event saw not more than two casualties, making
it a ‘victory for love and peace’. The success of the peaceful music festival instilled faith in a generation of
young post war Americans, that those adversities that were considered obstacles could be transformed into the
potential and hope for a peaceful future.
The 32 performances over the three days saw a variety of musicians from across the globe coming together to
perform at a festival that would go on to become associated with the counter culture generation. Notable
performances include those by Richie Havens, Tim Hardin, Ravi Shankar, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Niel
Young, and Jimi Hendrix, whose performance got pushed to the morning of that Monday, because of inclement
weather. Apart from Richie Havens and other folk artistes, the invocation for the festival was by Swami
Satchidananda, an Indian spiritual and yoga teacher.
Conspicuous misses include Bob Dylan, who was not asked to perform despite the festival being held very
close to where he lived. John Lennon and the Beatles were also among the major artistes who were not invited
to perform. Led Zeppelin, despite being invited, chose not to perform because they believed they would be
looked at as just another band. Similarly, invitations were turned down by several other iconic bands and
artistes like Frank Zappa and The Moody Blues.
In 1984, a plaque was placed at the original site in the farm, to commemorate the festival of peace and music.
In 2009, on the 40th anniversary of the festival, there was renewed interest among worldwide media, with
several commemorative performances organized everywhere. As a landmark event and culture that came to
represent an entire generation, the Woodstock festival has been referenced extensively in pop culture, with that
generation being commonly referred to as the Woodstock generation.
Major films
Now let us look at the major films that have come to define the counterculture cinema.

Easy Rider (1968)
The film was advertised as: Hippies on motorcycles in search of “America.” Significantly, the characters were
named Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid after the two Western outlaws, and rode their bikes from West to East.
The philosophy was that to be on the move was freedom and anti-bourgeois. The philosophy was that anyone
who was on the move and has a sense of adventure was free.
The film’s theme was escapism through sex, drugs and rock & roll (as heralded by the title track “Born to be
Wild” by the band Steppenwolf) and this is presented in the form of a road movie. It tells us that drug dealing is
not regarded as more deviant or corrupt than the activities of mainstream institutions like businesses. Billy’s
“dope peddling” is no worse “than the Wall Street tycoon spending eighty percent of his time cheating the
government.”
The writers and actors Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda used the motif of journey to affirm an alternative
lifestyle to expose the stifling repression of conservative America. They buy cocaine in Mexico, hide it in their
motorbikes, smuggle it across the border, and head towards New Orleans for Mardi Gras, the annual festival
also known as Carnival. The hippies’ adventures include crossing the Colorado Bridge, crossing the desert of
Monument Valley, reaching New Orleans, and getting killed while leaving new Orleans.
At one point, the film dwells on life in a commune and settlements of people trying to escape. It seems to imply
that individualism not a solution, and points out the problems of communes as alternative lifestyles to white,
middle-class culture and patriarchal nuclear family
An integral part of the film’s cult status is the Harley-Davidson mtorcyle which is a brand legend. The
protagonists of Easy Rider use the models known as Choppers (or Cruisers), with raised handlebars. A cult
vehicle, people love the vehicle because of its associations, such as to the Hell’s Angels, Marlon Brando in The
Wild One, and the cult book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974). Harley-Davidson inspires a
deep devotion among its customers, and creates a sense of belonging. Again this is one of the most masculine
of all brands, particularly because of its association with the Hell’s Angels.
Easy Rider marks the beginning of New Hollywood. Like Bonnie and Clyde (1967), the film celebrated rebels,
outlaws, and misfits of the American society. When Captain America or Wyatt (Peter Fonda) says, “We blew
it,” it was read by many as the death of the American Dream. The film gave voice to those filmmakers who
reacted against the standard fare, experimented with a new style, new actors and new materials. Prominent
among the new breed of filmmakers were George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford
Coppola. The film was mostly shot on locations, and has great sequences of Route 66 that was seen as the great
highway of freedom.
Easy Rider’s success led to Alice’s Restaurant (1969). Directed by Arthur Penn, this film was released soon
after the Woodstock festival, and is an adaptation of a folk song “Alice’s Restaurant”, a 23 minutes song
by Arlo Guthrie. It starred musician Arlo Guthrie as himself and in the film he rebels against everything
that is perceived as traditional. The plot concerns a road trip taken by Guthrie, making new friends,
meeting old friends, hitchhiking, playing his guitar, and making a case for a life in a commune.

Five Easy Pieces (1970)
“He rode the fast lane on the road to nowhere.”
The film directed by Bob Rafelson was produced by BBS (we have discussed this in the chapter on New Wave
in Hollywood). Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson) is a scion of a distinguished family where his father and brother
are concert pianists.
The story begins in a small Californian town where Jack is living with his girlfriend Rayette, a waitress. Jack
works in an oil field, spends his evenings in the bowling alley , and watches TV. He and his girlfriend have
nothing in common. Rayette gets pregnant, but Jack has mixed feelings about their relationship. Meanwhile, he
learns that his father has suffered a stroke and Bobby takes his girlfriend along for a trip to home. They travel
through California, Oregon and Washington. On the way they pick a pair of hippie girls and squabble with a
waitress in a famous diner scene.
Once they reach Jack’s family home, his growing discomfort with his girlfriend becomes more obvious. At a
get together, he asks a middle-aged intellectual to shut up, and ends up having a brief affair with his brother’s
fiancée.
The film ends as Jack hitchhikes in a truck to Canada, while Rayette is left waiting for him agitatedly at the gas
station diner. This moral ambiguity, and a sense of restlessness was an important part of the counterculture
movement. The film was a success, and David Thomson comments, “Deep down in this film there’s an ear for
the nagging call of getaway and escape, of not doing the obvious or the sensible thing, of being American and
unknown.” (293).
Five Easy Pieces: The Diner Scene
Bobby Dupea and three companions sit at a table in a diner. He politely gives his order to the waitress: "I'd like
a plain omelet. No potatoes. Tomatoes, instead. Cup of coffee and wheat toast."
"No substitutions," the waitress responds, pointing to a notice on the menu.
He then tries unsuccessfully to order a side of toast. The pair jostle, each getting more frustrated by the
moment.
"Okay, I'll make it as easy for you as I can," Dupea says. "I'd like an omelet - plain - and a chicken salad
sandwich on wheat toast. No mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee."
"A No. 2. Chicken salad sand (wich)," the waitress repeats, exasperated, through clenched teeth. "Hold the
butter, the lettuce, the mayonnaise. And a cup of coffee. Anything else?"
"Yeah. Now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a cheque for the chicken salad
sandwich and you haven't broken any rules."
"You want me to hold the chicken, huh?"
"I want you to hold it between your knees," he says.
"You see that sign, sir. Yes, you'll all have to leave. I'm not taking any more of your smartness and sarcasm."
"You see this sign," he snarls, sweeping four glasses off the table with his right arm.

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Milos Forman’s political allegory One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nestis an adaptation of Ken Kesey’s,1962 novel
and dwells on the notion that by mechanisms and machines, society gains control of and suppresses
individuality and natural impulses. The story is set in a mental asylum where we meet the protagonist Randle
McMurphy. McMurphy has pretended to be slightly mad in order to escape a long imprisonment.
Once the happy-go-lucky McMurphy arrives on the scene, the peaceful environment of the hospital is shattered,
as he urges the inmates to rebel against the oppressive hospital staff, who are led by the sadistic head Mildred
Ratched. In one scene, McMurphy breaks out with his fellow inmates for a few hours which does a world of
good for the patients. Nurse Ratched however punishes McMurphy by taking him to the brink of madness with
electric shock treatment. At the end, McMurphy commits the final act of subversion by strangling the tyrannical
head nurse, however, the orderlies overpower him. McMurphy is forced to have a brain operation that renders
him subservient, and the hospital becomes a microcosm of a society where every act of non-conformity is
severely punished.
The film’s director Milos Forman drew on from his own experiences of life in the oppressive climate of his
home country Czechoslovakia.
The other important films of this time were Performance (1970) Zebriskie Point (1970)and The Passenger
(1975).
The legacy of counterculture continues as cinema remembers the literary and rock moments of that
period in films such as Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). The film captures the spirit
of Hunter S Thompson’s book with its emphasis on profuse drug use in escaping the coarse realities of
American life. The nostalgic turns of Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine (1998), Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock
(2009) and Jeffrey Friedman’s Howl (2010) demonstrate the abiding interest in a period when
experimentation, and not playing it safe, was the hallmark of American popular culture.
References
1. Thomson, David. Have you Seen. NY: Allen Lane, 2008.
Selected readings
1. Altman, Robert. The Sixties. Santa Monica: Santa Monica Press, 2007.
2. Gair, Christopher. The American Counterculture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007.
3. Hodgson, Godfrey. America in Our Time. New York: Vintage Books, 1976.
4. Perry, Charles. The Haight-Ashbury. NY: Wenner, 2005.
5. Turner, Fred. From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the
Rise of Digital. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008.
Selected websites
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterculture_of_the_1960s
2. http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054767514/
3. http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Independent-Film-Road-Movies/Road-MoviesFROM-CLASSICAL-HOLLYWOOD-TO-COUNTERCULTURE.html
4. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/alices-restaurant-1969
Quiz
1.Answer the following
i. Explain counterculture in 2-3 sentences.
ii. What was Woodstock Festival?
iii. What is the cultural significance of Harley-Davidson?
2. State whether the following are true or false:
i. The term ‘Beat’ generation was coined by Jack Kerouac.
ii. The film Alice’s Restaurant is based on a folk song.
iii. A key feature of the counterculture films was the spirit of adventure and travel.
Answer key
2. i-False (John Holmes);ii.-True;iii.-True