(Above: Jim Morrison a controversial musician)
The definition of revolution in the dictionary is a “dramatic change in ideas or practice” this is repeated throughout history. When a certain amount of people feel the same way about a certain thing, they try to make a change. Much like women oppression in the 1920s, a woman was faced with double standards. Soon liberation was underway, today women and men both can vote. The Beat Generation was similar to this. This social circle broke boundaries, with ideas so radical that it took only three influential people to form a generation. Some issues that were focused on were spiritual liberation, sexual "revolution" for instance gay/women's/and black liberation, freedom from censorship, decriminalization of some laws against marijuana and other drugs, development of rhythm and blues into rock and roll which influenced musicians in the later fifties and sixties, spreading ecological consciousness, resistance to the military-industrial machine civilization, gratitude towards peculiarity, and respect for the earth. Many of these ideas were viewed at the time as crazy and looked down upon by a generation that only knew so much. “…all in darkness now as we fumed and screamed in our mountain nook, mad drunken Americans in the mighty land. We were on the roof of America and all we could do was yell, I guess-across the night, eastward over the Plains, where somewhere an old man with white hair was probably walking towards us with the Word, and would arrive any minuet and make us silent.” (p55) How does this quotation describe the Beatniks, as they were called, views? Notice how the W is capitalized on “Word” and who does this white haired old man represent? The Great Depression was just finishing, and the fifties were becoming a time of freedom for self expression.
1 comment:
YO ALEX, THAT PICTURE IS CREEPY! =O and hope you had a nice weekend =)
Anyways...
Throughout history, anything that was new to the society had always been challenged, because people are just not used to them. Those people are just too clingy to their old customs and culture, and with conformity in play, it was even harder for them to accept the Beats. Like science for example, scientists make discoveries and they have to convey the public that whatever they found is true. And let’s say it is true, there will always be ones to challenge it, proving the truth wrong. Like the quote, the Beatniks were trying to “yell” across America and tried to make them accept who they are (the new culture). They old man with white hair, or the older generations of that time, however, will come and decline their existence.
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