Some thoughts on “The 60s”, second part

On this latter half of the movie, the situations presented at the start were continued. Things like the anti-war protest, of which Michael was part of, were getting more active and more intense. He, as well as a huge group of protesters, were at Washington, D. C. The tension grew, up to the point that a military police force were pushing against the crowd, but had to stop upon the intensified pacific resistance. “We are not against the soldiers, we are against the war!” was their protest slogan. In accordance with hippie tradition, Michael made a gesture of peace: he placed a flower on the barrel of the rifle of one of the military police officers. Despite this, it is still clear that the protests are far from over. This did have other meanings as well, as Michael was trying to get the attention of Samantha, a radical protest activist, as she has cheated on him in favor of Kenny, a protest leader who was daring (he almost got killed by getting on a railroad track to stop a train with soldiers for the Vietnam War). At the end, it didn’t work. Later on, Michael and the other activists were endorsing an anti-war presidential candidate, and he did convince his mother of supporting the cause. A moment later, Michael’s father came, and brought news about Bryan, the older son, apparently being OK at the war front; he also ranted and mocked about his ideas. This also has to do with the feminine empowerment of the time, as his mother did stand up for her ideals and freedom when her husband heard and acted with resentment to her initial decision.

Continuing with the gender roles, Katie did get into the hippie movement to a significant extent, and ended up marrying a hippie singer. This didn’t turn out well, as he didn’t care for her nor her newborn son. Due to this, she had to resort to desperate measures: she became a stripper in order to earn money to feed her baby. At the end of the movie, we see her at a maternity room of a hospital, being a sign that she got pregnant again. This still means that the social ideas were still hostile to aiding the needy, which is worsened by being from a vulnerable group (women and racial minorities getting less aid when they need it the most).

In the case of the racial equality movement, the campaigns were becoming more intense as well, with figures such as Martin Luther King intensifying their speeches, and thus stirring up the crowds. Emmet also joins the heated situation, up to the point he steals a gun to use in the riots that were forming. Despite this, his father gets him to go back home, which later cost him (the father) his life, as he was shot dead, apparently by a police officer. These are signs of extremization of the movement, as the violent actions from both sides have accumulated to a saturation point for both frustration and resentment.

All of these situations represent the main social changes of the 1960s on the United States, but the story doesn’t end here. The revolutionary situation did not end with the 1960s, as it continued intensified during the 1970s. For instance, the Vietnam War did not end until the mid 1970s, there were many further racial conflict riots, even as late as the 1990s. In the case of the gender roles liberalization, it was also a slow process, and is still is yet to reach completion. There has also been some progress with the social aid, although it hasn’t been used properly by many.