10 Most Iconic CounterCulture Movies Of The 70s Ranked
10 Most Iconic Counter-Culture Movies Of The 70s, Ranked
1970s counter-culture movies where people started to push back against the status quo establishment.
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The American counter-culture movement peaked in the 1960s and 1970s as people, typically referred to as “hippies”, started to push back against the status quo establishment during the Vietnam War. The movement was anti-commercialism, anti-war, and sought to discuss topics that were considered taboo for the time like openly discussing sexuality or anti-government dissent.
From the aimless chaotic youths of A Clockwork Orange to Cheech and Chong’s open drug use on screen in Up in Smoke to Travis Bickle’s anti-government plan to save the world in Taxi Driver; these iconic movies of the 1970s portrayed the counter-culture movement on screen.
10 Billy Jack (1971)
Billy Jack followed a man called Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) who decided to defend the students of a progressive freedom school from the townspeople who don’t understand or disapprove of the school. The school has children of different races and also focuses on a young pregnant student. Billy Jack chooses violence to defend the students whenever they are threatened whether for their race or life choices.
Billy Jack certainly portrays the counter-culture movement in the students at the freedom school and covered almost every taboo topic like teen pregnancy and fully integrating schools, which the counter-culture movement were wanting to discuss topics like this, although the movie might not be the best representation. Critics like Roger Ebert believe the movie tried to cover too much and was a bit heavy-handed, but either way Billy Jack represented the counter-culture movement.
9 Woodstock (1970)
Woodstock was a documentary released just a year after the iconic 1969 counter-culture music festival occurred. The documentary was completely immersive and makes its audience feel like they were there from the real-life performances, crowd footage, and interviews with musicians.
The Woodstock music festival was one of the most iconic and recognizable events of the 1960s-1970s counter-culture movement from Jimi Hendrix’s stunning performance to fans dancing carefree in the rain. This in depth documentary is essential viewing for anyone interested in the movement.
8 Up In Smoke (1978)
Up in Smoke was comedy stoner duo Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong’s first movie and saw the two hit the road on their own with various misadventures with marijuana and rock ‘n’ roll. While there were earlier stoner comedies, notably 1969’s more dramatic Easy Rider, Cheech and Chong truly popularized the genre.
There hadn’t been a movie quite like this that showed carefree stoners living outside of the normal expectations of consumerist life that the counter-culture pushed back against. Openly smoking on screen and particularly the story line about Anthony Stoner (Chong) leaving his strict parents in favor of traveling with his newfound friend (Marin) make this epic stoner comedy part of the counter-culture movement.
7 Godspell (1973)
Godspell was a movie musical based on the original Broadway musical and contained several parables from the Gospel of Matthew. The movie saw John the Baptist (David Haskell) gather a diverse group of “hippie” youths to spread the word of Jesus Christ (Victor Garber).
The movie’s depiction of Christian religious figures in a seemingly non serious way made some believe this story was more satirical. It approached the idea of religion in a new way that many didn’t approve of, and discussing religion in more of a satirical way was taboo at the time. This approach made the musical about a group of troubled youths trying to find their way, which was very in line with the counter-culture movement.
6 Hair (1979)
Hair is another counter-culture movie musical based on an original Broadway musical. The movie took place during the Vietnam War and followed innocent farm hand Claude Hooper Bukowski (John Savage) who travels to New York. There he meets a group of “hippies” mainly living in Central Park outside of the system and led by the charismatic George Berger (Treat Williams).
The movie sees the young adults with long, shaggy hair using recreational drugs, involved in interracial relationships, and protesting against the war especially when Claude has to report to an Army base after being drafted. The movie exemplifies the typical “hippie” look and the strong anti-war sentiment amongst those in the counter-culture movement at the time of the Vietnam War.
5 A Clockwork Orange (1971)
A Clockwork Orange follows Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) and his gang of “droogs” who don’t care about anything and spend their nights drinking intoxicating milk and attacking innocent people. The group robs their targets and get along until they turn on their leader. Alex is caught and sentenced to prison and controversial new rehabilitation experiments.
The movie escalated violence and gore that was seen on the screen in the 1970s still shocking viewers today with the controversial display and glorification of gore. The hapless crew either finding their way into prison where they’re rehabilitated to loathe sex and violence or finding their way into law enforcement followed the entire story arc of counter-culture characters. Those in power tried to force those in the counter-culture movement to conform to the status quo, and the same can be said for all of the “droogs” in A Clockwork Orange.
4 Harold And Maude (1971)
Harold and Maude is a cult classic that followed a couple of odd characters making an odd pair. Harold (Bud Cort) is a lost soul at 20 years old and obsessed with death while Maude (Ruth Gordon) is joyous and eccentric at 80 years old. The two begin a romantic relationship after meeting at a funeral and the meaning of life is explored through their relationship.
The taboo topic of age inappropriate relationships with older women and younger peacefully rebellious men was explored within the counter-culture of the 1960s and 1970s. Most notably The Graduate delved into this topic in 1967 and Harold and Maude continued the discussion. The movie also added more introspection on the true meaning of life being about making connections with people instead of buying things, which made the two characters icons in the counter-culture movement.
3 Taxi Driver (1976)
Taxi Driver is both a neo-noir classic and part of the 1970s counter-culture movement. The movie followed Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) who increasingly became disillusioned with his life and reality in general. Bickle first plans to assassinate a presidential candidate and then shifts his focus to helping a young sex worker (Jodie Foster).
The themes in the movie see Bickle being outside of the counter-culture and not understanding it, particularly the scene where he interacts with Iris’ pimp and he doesn’t understand why Iris wouldn’t want him to “save” her. Unlike the rest of these stories, Bickle operates outside of the counter-culture and is instead attempting to save everyone from it by essentially controlling them making the protagonist of this story more like a figure the counter-culture movement would be fighting against.
2 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is transferred from prison to a mental institution for evaluation and finds that it’s just as restrictive as a prison. It’s arguably a worse environment as Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) abuses the patients through electroshock therapy.
McMurphy decides to stand up to the establishment, becoming a hero the audience could root for in one of Nicholson’s most beloved roles, and brings all of the patients together to rebel against Nurse Ratched and the administration. The iconic movie sees the powerless band together to rise against the abusive powerful in a direct connection to the counter-culture movement, which was all about standing up to the unjust powers that be.
1 Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Dog Day Afternoon was a biographical crime drama that began as a typical robbery gone wrong movie. It followed Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino in one of his best rated movies) as he attempts to rob a bank in New York that turns into a hostage situation.
The movie saw Sonny become an anti-authority hero who was robbing a bank to pay for his partner’s gender confirming surgery. These two plot points in particular make the movie an iconic example of the counter-culture movement as both being able to protest authority and talk about topics considered taboo in the open were important. It was made even more powerful by the fact Dog Day Afternoon was based on true events that happened only a few years before the movie’s release.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-most-iconic-counter-culture-movies-70s-ranked/
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