I Answer Your Questions About Hippies (actually they're my questions bu you probably have them) In Another Look at the Sixties

Do we still have hippies today? Like so much about hippies, that’s a matter of opinion and it’s an opinion that people are very divided on. To some the hippies were a phenomenon of the Sixties perhaps extending into the very early Seventies. To others hippies are eternal so surely they exist today. Perhaps exploring the other questions about hippies will help you make up your own mind on the subject.

(For purposes of this exercise the questions will be formed in the past tense in the assumption that hippies are no more. This does not betray my opinion on whether hippies are still around or not.)

Were all hippies unemployed? We have to be careful with absolutes here. Surely most hippies by their very nature did not have jobs and those that did had what we’ll call casual jobs. Examples: selling drugs, especially marijuana; selling pottery they themselves made; selling tie dye clothing, particularly shirts, again of their own making. Many were “into” arts and crafts, pottery being a particular favorite. They might also vend fruits and vegetables. Hippies would not be found working in business aside from perhaps a bookstore, record store, used clothing store or “head shop” which specialized in drug paraphernalia. They also might make a little cash playing  music but if they were really good than they were musicians not hippies.

Did all hippies have long hair? Again not all but certainly the vast majority. This would apply to both men and women. Long hair was one of the main symbols of hippiedom but then some hippies might be bald or have shaved their heads.

How about beards? Hard to estimate but I’ll say somewhere around two-third of hippie men had beards. Hippies did not generally shave body hair, for women this meant armpits and legs could be pretty hairy.

What kind of clothing did hippies wear? Generally loose clothing. Oversized shirts and blouses. Women would wear long skirts or dresses or jeans or cut-offs. Mean wore jeans. Sandals were standard. No bras for women. Underwear was optional as were socks. Indeed if a hippie was not wearing sandals it was likely because they were barefoot which was quite common among hippies. Some wore headbands. Some wore tie dye. Certainly no button down shirts. Tee shirts with slogans on them were common, often promoting a band or a political movement or Native Tribes. A nice jacket might be worn ironically over an otherwise shabby outfit. Hats of all variety might be worn but baseball caps were rare.

Did hippies bathe regularly? I think it’s mostly a myth that hippies were dirty and smelly. Some surely were. Grooming, make up, hair styling were frowned upon but not bathing.

What did hippies eat? Their dining habits were not much different than anyone else’s. That said a hippie was more likely to be vegetarian than a non-hippie (or straight). Many hippies were “into” natural and organic foods before it was faddish.

How about beverages, particularly alcohol? Hippies liked wine, often of the cheaper variety that came in jugs. Red Mountain was popular. They’d also drink beer and hard alcohol, usually straight and often out of the bottle. They were not into mixed drinks.

Did they drink a lot? Most of them did, yeah.

They were heavy drug users, weren’t they? Mostly of marijuana — which contrary to myths is not usually a gateway drug. They were also into psychedelics whether LSD, mescaline or magic mushrooms. Indeed these were integral to the hippie culture. I think it would be rare to encounter a hippie who dabbled in heroin, speed or even cocaine. They were all about new levels of consciousness and higher plains of enlightenment. Psychedelics fit in with the zeitgeist.

Were hippies religious? They eschewed traditional organized religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. I’d say they were more spiritual than religious. Many were big on facets of Eastern religions like Buddhism. A lot of hippies mediated and some followed gurus. But the Bible was definitely not for them.

Were they more sexually active than most other people? Absolutely. Many were monogamous but others had open relationships. If they were single they were generally promiscuous. Again, not all, but most. Hippies were known for not having inhibitions. To that end they weren’t shy about nudity and loved skinny dipping.

What were the political views of the hippies? Way to the left. The hippie heyday was during the U.S. War in Vietnam and the draft both of which they were adamantly opposed to. Hippies could be classified as socialists, communists, anarchists but they tended not to align with political parties. Much to their credit they were for equality and social justice and were anti-racist. 

Did hippies eschew sports? Certainly traditional ones. Although some were baseball fans and some liked basketball or soccer. But they were more about hacky sack. Most abhorred American football, it was too militaristic. They did not avidly follow pro or college teams. Hiking and swimming were chief forms of exercise.

How did hippies get around? Not in new cars. Old ones yes, especially VW Bugs and VW Vans. Vans were common. A few hippies had trucks. Bikes were not uncommon. Hitchhiking was how many hippies got around.

Was rock their preferred music? Pretty much.

What else did hippies have in common? They tended to like incense. They often went in for things like palm reading, tarot cards and astrology. Not that they totally rejected science. They were as likely to have pets as anyone else. Some were readers, some were not. Most kept up with the news but they tried to do it through the alternative press and FM radio. They were not big TV watchers, certainly not of traditional television fare. They had particular tastes in film. Some hippies were really nice and others were horrible people — just like the rest of the population. They tended to be pacifists. 

So do hippies walk among us today? I suppose you could say some people represent a lot of the hippie ethos based on their lifestyle but the hippie of the Sixties (“hippie type” was the common phrase) is no more.

What happened to the hippies of the Sixties? Mostly they got old and died. Many of them found their lifestyles were not sustainable particularly if they wanted a family and/or security. They abandoned their tie-dyes and bought suits and joined the corporate world. Obviously a lot of them eased into a straighter life and maintained a lot of the hippie values and continued to espouse the benefits of alternative lifestyles.

Did hippies have a negative or positive impact on the culture? Mostly positive. They were all about personal freedom, questioning authority and established norms. They helped pave the way for second wave feminism and gay rights. They were integral to what was then called the ecology movement. They helped the push for organic foods. They were a key part of the sexual revolution which was liberating for society. They can also be credited with helping make marijuana legal. They were on the right side of history in many ways.

But weren’t there bad things about the hippies too? They were used as cover by the likes of Charles Manson and drug dealers and sexual predators. This was not necessarily on them. However there was a certain naiveté about hippies. They were too stoned, to off in their own world to properly deal with a society based in rapacious capitalism. But remember at their core the hippies message was: peace and love. Nothing wrong with that.

One last thing: did hippies really say things like, “far out,” and “groovy”? Yup. They’d also frequently flash the peace sign. Other common expressions included: keep on truckin’, right on, dig it, my old lady or my old man (for boyfriend or girlfriend), mellow and bummer.

Welcome to my Blog! Stick Around for a Bit, Browsers Welcome!!!

The Streams of Unconsciousness office is always busy

Never visited my blog before? Welcome!

It’s odd that this is your first visit, I’ve been here since May 2008. That’s seventeen-and-a-half years of blog posts. Close to 1,700 posts. In the early years of the blog I focused on writing about movies and if you look at recent posts you’ll note I still frequently write about films. I am a cinephile. Among my favorite types of motion pictures are those of such directors as Ingmar Bergman, Woody Allen, John Ford, Andrei Tarkovsky, Howard Hawks, Luis Buñuel, Aki Kaurismäki, Preston Sturges, Alfred Hitchcock, Joel and Ethan Coen, Federico Fellini, Stanley Kubrick, Charles Chaplin, Roberto Rossellini, Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Hal Ashby and Louis Malle. That’s to name a few. I also like American films from the 1970s and 1930s and early ‘40s. Many of my favorites movies are foreign films from the 1950s and 1960s. I’m not so keen on recent cinema although there are always good movies coming out. One of the best years in film was as recent as 2023. That’s an exception though. You’ll not see much here about the big blockbusters that blast their way through theaters in the Summer. I abhor “movies” from the Marvel Universe and virtually all fantasy/sci fi/superhero pictures. Not fond of about 99% of the horror movies ever made. The vast majority of recent romcoms do not interest me either. If one were to call me a film snob I’d plead guilty.

What else do I write about here? A fair amount about mental health issues having suffered them most of my life. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction are all topics I explore, usually based on personal experience. I always hope that those posts find an audience that needs it, people who need to know that they are not alone. I often include suggestions on how to cope with various emotional pains. Depression is a tough one, but there are ways to mitigate its pain.

I also share stories from my life. I’ve been around for a long time (long enough to remember the Kennedy assassination) that I have tales to tell. These can include yarns from my youth and college days. I write about friends. I write about my parents. My father was a great Dad. My mother was a paranoid schizophrenic and thus not the greatest of moms, indeed as bad as one can get. I often reference my wife and only in the most glowing of terms. She’s an incredible woman and the fact that she’s my mate is a clear indication of how lucky a man I am. I’ll also make reference to my lovely daughters who I’m enormously proud of. One is getting married next month and I’m quite pleased.

I’ve been a teacher for nearly forty years so inevitably I have much to say about the profession. I’ve written many a post offering advice and words of wisdom to new and aspiring teachers. I’ve heard good things about some of those posts. 

It’s not unusual for me to write about politics. I have strong opinions (seems everyone does these days). I would describe my political views as to the left of Bernie Sanders. I’m an old Sixties radical with little faith in capitalism to offer anything but greed. We are today seeing the very rich compounding their wealth while the very poor continue to suffer. That’s an example of capitalism in it’s purest form. Speaking of the Sixties I write a lot about that time period too, having lived through it, studied it and written a novel set then. Yes, I’ve written novels. Five so far. Two of which I’ve self-published, the third — the one set in the Sixties — I’m currently trying to find an agent for. The other two are waiting their turn. A sixth is in progress.

You’ll also find humor pieces here. Some of them are actually funny. Others maybe not so much but they all serve to amuse me and you might like them too. All my life I’ve been known for my keen wit. Was always the class clown in school.

I also share short fiction on the blog. There isn’t one kind of story I write. Some of them have angels or aliens, many are dramas, slice of life type pieces. Some are unquestionably quite good and others are okay.

A good way to sample the blog is to look at the labels on the right. They’re not one hundred per cent accurate. I often forget to use particular ones but they’re a good guide. Among the labels are “favorite posts” which as you can imagine are what I consider my better writings. Why not sample them? I’ve also labeled some “favorite fiction” these are the stories that I think most people would like.

I’d like to recommend my travel posts which were written on trips to Europe or back east (I live in Berkeley, California). You might learn a bit about a particular place from them.

You’ll also note that among the labels I have one for my top 100 films of all time. That’ll tell you as much as you need to know about my taste in films. 

Also among the labels are many of my favorite directors and a few of my favorite actors/actresses. You might learn a thing or two about movies from my blog. I hope that some of my posts steer people towards particular films, or directors or genres or time periods.

I also write a fair amount about words and language. I get persnickety about the misuse and overuse of certain words — don’t get me started.

So I hope you find something you like and come back. Tell your friends, relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, co-workers, cellmates, customers, clients, patients, care providers, students, teachers, employers, employees, teammates, flatmates, tenants, landlords, congresspeople, higher ups, underlings, proteges, mentors, mentees, tutors, tutees, coaches, therapists, physicians, trainers, babysitters, lovers, fellow gang members, affiliates, associates, bandmates, sponsors, dealers, advisors, professors, lodge brothers and sisters, in-laws, manicurists, hair stylists, tailors, baristas, ITs, milkmen, stalkers, rivals, paramours, officers, elevator operators and alchemists. 

As 'Fairyland' Proves, There's More Than One Way to Raise a Child

Question: How would I most like to be remembered?

Answer: As a good father. Everything else is cherry on top of the cake. It seems I’ve done all right considering how well the two young women I raised are doing. 

I never found parenting terribly difficult though admittedly this is in large part due to my wife who has always been  such an incredibly good mother. To me the first rule of parenting is: do no harm. This is a rule that — sadly — my mother violated in spades due to her mental illness. The second rule is to love your children unconditionally. That should be fairly simple. There are other rules but those first two are far and away the most important and all the others should fall into place if you practice one and two.

Parenting was very much on my mind when I saw the film, Fairyland on Sunday. The film begins in 1974. Steve Abbot finds out that his wife has died in a car crash. Left behind with him is their young daughter, Alysia. Steve and Alysia move from the Midwest to San Francisco into an apartment that they’ll share with others. It is a Bohemian atmosphere that is initially unsettling to the girl. But Steve thrives as he steps out of the closet and finds a lover among his flatmates.

There are trials and tribulations for a single father in the best of circumstances, when the father embraces an alternative lifestyle — midstream — and in doing so prioritizes his own needs, the child can feel left behind. Especially if at times she literally is.

Over the years the two clash over Steve’s unorthodox and lax parenting. Children like structure. But the pair love each other and Steve provides what his daughter needs. The proof is in what a fine young woman she grows up to be, eventually earning a scholarship to NYU and doing a year’s study in Paris.

This is director Andrew Durham’s feature debut and in it he shows great promise. The movie very much captures the feeling of San Francisco in the ‘70s and ‘80s as archival footage is seamlessly mixed in. We see scenes of the then burgeoning gay pride movement and the consequences of the AIDS crisis which devastated the Bay Area’s gay community. It would not be a spoiler to say that AIDS plays a significant role in the movie’s final third.

Alysia takes no issues with her father's sexuality (that she became aware of it at such a young age helps) but naturally has questions. Children questioning their parents' lifestyle is nothing new and practically became de rigueur in the Sixties.

But this more a movie about the many ways two people can love each other. Their's is a love that requires patience, understanding and flexibility (I guess to an extent all love does). The word unconventional keeps coming up in thinking about their relationship. There’s naught wrong with that especially when one considers how badly a lot of conventional parenting goes.

Alysia is a strong, resilient girl who grows into a strong resilient woman. It’s her father who’s a free spirit, vulnerable and often flaky. You might at times wonder who’s raising whom. But, as they say, whatever works and through their love it all works in the end.

There are a lot of ways to raise a child but you can’t do it well without love.

There's Always Another Day -- I Take Another Plunge Into the Murky Waters of Therapy

Did my intake at the Wright Institute. I’m going to be talking to a therapist regularly again. Spent most of the ninety minutes talking about my life. Mentally ill mother, great dad, sports, addiction, happy marriage, children, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, writing, film, books, big mistakes, big laughs, friends who died, pain and joy and confusion and certainty. 

I don’t mind yakking about myself. I’ve been seeing shrinks of various kinds since high school so I’m quite used to it. Good for me. Good for anybody — assuming you’re honest about it. No use bullshitting someone who’s trying to help you. Imagine going to a doctor because of severe pain then omitting information or embellishing. Maybe I’m on the wrong track, maybe 99% of people are perfectly honest with therapists. How the hell would I know? First of all you’ve got to be honest with yourself. Failure to do so will negatively effect the ability of anyone to help you and badly curb your ability to help yourself.

It’s weird recounting my childhood again. I mean the parts about my mother yelling, cursing, stomping her foot, angry at people who aren’t there. Raving like a loon. Okay so weird was the wrong word, it’s exhausting. You live through something like that then you have to spend the rest of your life recounting it. You can never shake the memory and worst of all you can never forget how it made you feel or in some respects how it DIDN’T make you feel. In some ways I was anesthetized to what was going on. It was at once horrifying but also part of the white noise of my misery. It was ever present.

The worst part was coming home. Just before opening the front door Id be wondering if mom was going to be like a regulation mother or a raving lunatic. And if she was doing the whole June Cleaver bit, how long would it last? You never knew when she was going to go off into the deep end again and swim in the murky waters of batshit crazy.

No kid should go through that feeling. For crying out loud this was happening when I was five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, a teenager. 

So I was the ultimate helpless victim. That’s a messed up thing to realize that you had no power in the situation, helpless, like being in the jaws of a huge and powerful beast. 

To my credit I carried on. I made the most of my childhood despite the secret horror that I lived with. Plenty of friends, a loving dad, a vivid imagination (boy did I do a lot of hiding in that) great extended family. Running like hell through fields, being enthralled by books, laughing at stupid TV shows, making up games with my friends. Marveling at sports and the exploits of athletes. Later there were The Beatles and music and girls (what an amazing discovery!). Life was so rich. There was so much to do, so many experiences to have, so much to learn. School actually seemed to get in the way of my education. Feeding me what they wanted me to learn rather than what I craved, what I needed. But school was a great place to meet friends, to get to know people, to understand my fellow travelers. Sometimes teachers would expose us to things worth knowing. They mostly had good hearts. 

But the pain of my childhood followed me when I went off to college. But boy did I have a way to cope. Booze and drugs cured all. The pain was gone and I was sociable and giddy. Yes, of course the cure became nearly as bad as the disease. Problems, complications. My life ended up going in a wide array of destinations all at once. I didn’t know what I had when I had it and I didn’t know where to go, where I’d been or where I was. 

Mental illness, the consequence of my childhood or a nasty combination of both?

Anyway I’ve struggled through. Loving wife, AA, great children. Good friends. Medical professionals. 

Still have nasty scars and horrible reminders of what was but I’ve spent a lifetime drowning that pain in good times, worthy endeavors and exploring the endless variety of fascinating questions and mysteries that make up our world.

Depression is still an unwelcome companion, as are obsessive thoughts that do me no good. I’m hoping another stab at therapy will help me feel better. There’s always the next day.

A Streams Classic: I'm a Teacher and I Take Pride in My Work, Just Don't Call Me "Great" Plus Some Advice

 

Disclaimer: the above teacher is not yours truly

The following post originally appeared on this blog on January 31, 2019. I am re-posting it because....well, I think it was pretty darn good and worth a look for anyone who might have missed it (I'm looking at you Gettysburg Von Richthofen of Sycamore, Illinois). It will become clear that I wrote this post shortly before "retiring." That retirement lasted three months before I returned to teaching on a part time basis. I'm still at it today, teaching a class every morning, Monday through Friday, for higher intermediate learners of the English language. Virtually all of the school's students are visiting the U.S. to learn English or have recently arrived in this country.

My psychiatrist and I got into a long discussion yesterday that went nowhere. Or everywhere. I couldn’t tell which. It stemmed from the fact that I’m retiring in four weeks and I told him that I dread goodbye ceremonies in which my employers and co-workers heap with me praise for being such “a great teacher.” I’m not comfortable with it. I like being thanked for my services or have a student point out something in particular they liked about my class, but having an adjective thrown at me — no matter how laudatory, is useless. What does it mean if you are a “great” teacher? Okay it can mean you’ve got satisfied students, but not only does it not specify anything but it can make you complacent. I need to go out there and teach again tomorrow and I need to prepare and execute the best possible lesson plan that I can, thinking I’m “great” doesn’t help. Realizing I’m capable does. I've had a lot of students say things like "you were a great teacher." But I much prefer praise that begins: "I really liked the way that you...." Or, "I appreciate that you always..."

I have always taken great pride in my efforts as a teacher. I have also derived great satisfaction from the knowledge that I’ve impacted a lot of lives in positive ways through my teaching. This type of understanding can allow one to die a happy person. But as long as I’m still teaching I don’t need or want my ego fed.

Teaching is a humbling experience. You’ve got to perform to the best of your ability day after day. It’s a grind. I’ve loved doing it and found it wonderfully fulfilling. But I don’t need to hear the cheers as I’m doing it.

My philosophy as a teacher is to show up and do my best every damn time. Of course to do one’s best requires not merely effort, but imagination, innovation, professional growth, attention to detail and humor.

Actually maybe on the day I retire people can tell me how “great” I was and I won’t blanch, but I still think I’ll feel a little weird about it. It’s like in AA when you announce it’s your sobriety birthday and people applaud. I hate that. I don’t want applause for staying sober one day at a time. I didn’t do anything but follow the principles of the program.

I’ve gone through the whole “being great” thing. I used to think I was a great soccer player, a great journalist, a great writer. It didn’t help me a wit to think that way, it made me lazy, taking bows rather than trying to achieve actual greatness.

Yesterday when our “time was up” as psychiatrists like to say, I noted that our animated conversation had distracted me from my depression. The doctor wondered aloud if my attitude toward praise was a cause of my depression. This was a clear sign that I’d failed to explain myself. You’d think a teacher would have no problem explaining something. Maybe I’m not so great after all.

I close this with some advice I’m passing on to my current colleagues before I “hang ‘em up” on March 1.

RICHARD RECOMMENDS
Unsolicited advice from a veteran teacher.

Don’t talk too much. It’s far more important for students to talk, in fact it’s essential that they do. Most lessons lend themselves to student interaction through pair or group work. Young people in particular should only be exposed to a limited amount of lecture or teacher-centered instruction. Guided student interaction should not be just a break from the norm but an integral part of lessons.

Students want a teacher not a robot. You do not have to be the life of the party type but you should exhibit some signs of life. An occasional smile, a personal anecdote or a ready quip are advised. Don't sit behind a desk, you're not an accountant. Circulate, make eye contact, vary your voice. Don’t drone on in a robotic voice, try dramatic pauses, accents, stage whispers maybe even a bellow.

Call audibles. If students are getting bored you may need to switch activities sooner than you planned. Alternatively if students are enjoying something you may want to extend what you're doing. Sometimes lessons need to be modified while in progress. Know your audience. Read their faces, look for yawns, look for eyes wandering, note if you're getting a lot or no questions, note if students are puzzled or engaged. Classes take on different personalities and have different needs. Some are stronger academically, some are more sociable, some are quiet, some are full of the dull and lifeless and some are full of whirling dervishes. Some understand one concept but not the other. Pay attention to the different needs of each class and don’t be afraid to modify on the run.

A little TLC goes a long way. Give students encouragement and praise whenever possible, even if it's not totally sincere. You should be something of a cheerleader, rooting them on. Assuming you have a student for more than a couple of weeks, it’s good to get to know a little about her or him. Teaching is about establishing relationships, knowing what a person's strengths and weaknesses are and if they have specific needs. When writing summary comments on a student paper or giving them oral feedback I always employ PCP. Praise, criticism praise. Always leave them feeling good about themselves.

Learning is its own reward. What rewards should students get? Isn’t learning reward enough? If not isn’t a good grade or advancement to the next level a nice reward? That being said, rewards are proven to be far better in motivating students than punishments. Punishments should be swift, fair and used minimally and should never be in the form of “making them write.” Writing should be viewed as a rewarding experience, not as a punishment.

Tell them why. Teachers often fashion innovative lessons that challenge and inform students. But often students don’t understand the point of a lesson. Go ahead and tell them. In fact, sell them on the idea. If you can’t explain the value of an assignment, it’s likely because it has none. Justify the assignment to yourself, then to them. Nothing should be done just because it’s fun.

Would you like it? Create lessons and a classroom environment that you'd enjoy if you were taking the class. In fact, if you’re enjoying teaching a lesson its likely they’re enjoying learning it. Students feed off your enthusiasm and energy. Also they'll like you. Being liked by students is a big plus. If students like you they're going to be more open to what you have to say and more willing to do what you ask. Also remember you're dealing with two different dynamics: you and individuals and you and the class as a whole. The more students who you have on your side, the more likely you've got the whole group. That's key because groups are infinitely harder to manage than individuals.

Don’t drown students in paper. For one thing it’s bad for the environment and for another it can be a lazy way to teach. It’s easy to pile on the worksheets and readings to give yourself a break. My teaching philosophy is — whenever possible — offer a variety of teaching methods within one class. I like to — again, when possible — give students a mix of interactive, writing, listening, reading etc. Remember two things: 1) Variety is the spice of teaching and 2) Moderation in all things teaching.

Video, like all things, in moderation. I have heard too many aging educators (usually ones who are no longer teaching) complain about the use of videos. Several say that “students can watch TV at home.” Yes, well for that matter they can read and write at home too. However if you are showing them part of a movie or TV show or any other type of video, presumably it is something that they would not choose to watch at home and even if they did they would be doing so without the benefit of your introducing the relevance of it and clarifying and explaining and giving assignments around it. By not using video at all you are eliminating an important instructional tool. Of course many teachers overuse video. There’s got to be a demonstrable value to whatever you are showing.

Students are comforted by routines but shake it up. You start every class with a particular warm up or activity, you always do something at the end of class or every Wednesday you do this or every Friday you do that. I have a number of routines that I practice in every single class and students come to expect and enjoy them. Consistency and stability and a certain predictably is comforting. But you’ve also got to shake things up from time to time. Within the boundaries of the everyday activities mix in something different. The totally unexpected can be a refreshing break and in fact can invigorate your classroom. Make yourself and thus students step out of the comfort zone.

Test results sometimes reflect you. If I give a test and a few students fail while most do well, I have to assume those few students did not study or did not understand. I’ll work with them. But if a lot of students have trouble with a test, it’s on me. Clearly I either made it too difficult or did not prepare them well enough. Also if there’s a particular part of the test that a lot of students struggled with be sure to review that and keep it in mind the next time you give that test. Whenever “everyone” is struggling it's up to you to fix it.

Don’t not look back. A good teacher is reflective. If a lesson goes poorly do not blame the students, look in the mirror. You can’t fix how they react to a lesson but you can fix the lesson itself. Always ask yourself what you could have done differently, challenge yourself to improve. At the same time when a lesson goes well, give yourself a hearty pat on the back and learn from that too.

Have fun Teaching is challenging, at times difficult and occasionally enervating, but it’s also jolly good fun. If you’re not enjoying teaching, find a profession that you will like. Look at the bright side, it’ll probably pay more.

Films to Inspire You in the Coming Revolution

Battle of Algiers

These are dark times for American Democracy. The country is teetering toward fascism. We have a president who has no regard for political norms, cares not for social justice and is trying to bring on a second Gilded Age. The moneyed class — the very top of it — are prospering. The current prospects for the poor and marginalized are bleak. 

In response could there be revolution in the air? It’s difficult to imagine pitched battles in the streets of U.S. cities; then again it is no longer impossible to envisage something akin to Civil War. After all, Trumpy is sending troops into major cities. Troops, mind you, that locals did not request and do not want. Representatives of ICE are making a mockery of due process, arresting the innocent with the supposedly guilty. Americans are being held in detention centers without due process, some are shipped to foreign prisons.

There have been and will continue to be large protests that may get bigger. There could well eventually be repressive measures enacted against marchers. It behooves good citizens to be diligent. It may already be that we are beyond the point when writing one’s congressperson is sufficient.

There are films that can inspire us as we struggle to regain and hold our basic rights as citizens. Many movies have had powerful messages about resistance and fighting the good fight against authoritarianism. They are scattered throughout the history of cinema. I present to you ten such films. I hope they will give you hope and inspiration. Power to the people!

Battle of Algiers (1966) Pontecorvo. One of the greatest political films of all time. This faux documentary tells the story of Algerians fight for independence against the French in the 1950s. Filmed to look like actual news footage, it makes the struggles of revolutionaries seem real, important, necessary and desperate. By giving voice to the French army it broadens the scope of the story and puts it into greater historical context. Insurgency, occupation and resistance have never been more compelling on the big screen.

Reds (1981) Beatty. The epic story of John Reed, Louise Bryant and the revolutionary — American and Russian — who helped make the first quarter of the 20th century such a hopeful time for the far left. Sadly we know that the Russian Revolution fell into a reign of terror and murder under Lenin and only got worse under Stalin. However they were times of great promise to the left. Reed and Bryant were revolutionaries and journalists and as the movie shows they numbered among their associates the likes of Emma Goldman (anarchist played by Maureen Stapleton), Big Bill Haywood (IWW leader played by Dolph Sweet), Eugene O’Neill (playwright played by Jack Nicholson). Reds is a love story and it’s a history lesson and it's about the passion and idealism of people who believe power should be vested in the people and not oligarchs.

One Battle After Another (2025) PT Anderson.In theaters now. I quote from my blog post on the film from last month: Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, One Battle After Another is a movie movie. It is a cornucopia for film goers. Rich with character, incidents, conflicts, themes, history and messages. It clocks in at two hours and fifty minutes and there’s not a yawn in it. There’s not a wasted second. It’s a nearly three hour film that’s tight and compact. It’s a wonder.One Battle is the story of an ex-revolutionary (Leonardo DiCaprio) who has to rescue his daughter (Chase Infiniti in her film debut) from a corrupt military officer (Sean Penn). That’s your over simplified plot summary. There is so much else going on. Relationships, plots, betrayals, deception and a fair bit of comedy along with something of a history lesson. No, One Battle is not based on a true story (its origins are Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Vineland) but it gives you a sense of the spirit of the Sixties among those who, like the Weather Underground, believed in using violence as a response to a regressive and repressive U.S.government.

The Strawberry Statement (1970) Hagmann. Not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination more like a prolonged music video with some of the greatest hits of the Sixties. But it for all its flaws, Strawberry Statement captures the mood of the Sixties, particularly among those college students dedicated to ending the war, the draft and social injustice. For many in the Sixties, the “revolution” was something of a lark but one that they discovered had real life impact that would resonate down the years.

Medium Coo (1969) Wexler. Cinéma vérité–style documentary filmmaking used in telling a fictional story set in Chicago in 1968 during the infamous Democratic National Convention. Actual footage of protests is used which helps show the chaotic nature of police riots. Medium Cool tackles a number of issues including the failure of whites to understand the black experience. Shot when and where it was by the great Haskell Wexler, it couldn’t help but give a real sense of the late Sixties in general and the events in Chicago in particular.

The Grapes of Wrath (1940) Ford. Based on John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name it is surely one of the greatest films ever made. It tells the story of the Joad family which has been dispossessed from its Oklahoma farm by the combined horrors of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. They head to California in the poor person’s eternal search for greener pastures. They find thousands of others on the same quest and they find land and farm owners who are only to happy to exploit the poor and brutally suppress any efforts for fair pay and decent treatment. Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) becomes an unwitting revolutionary. He muses: “I been thinking about us, too, about our people living like pigs and good rich land layin' fallow. Or maybe one guy with a million acres and a hundred thousand farmers starvin'. And I been wonderin' if all our folks got together and yelled….”

Malcolm X (1992) S. Lee. What could be more revolutionary than the story of Malcolm X? The rise from common criminal to inspirational leader to the burgeoning black power movement. There was the long stopover with the Nation of Islam before his Hajj led him to understand that Islam was not exclusive to one race. His split from Elijah Muhammad was yet another of courage and ultimately led or contributed to his assassination. Malcolm was the white establishment’s greatest fear, an inspirational Black leader who spoke eloquently of the corruption and racism in white society. His story still resonates. 

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Capra. The classic story of one man standing up to a powerful political machine that seeks to crush him while continuing to control the press and muzzle dissent. Jimmy Stewart gave his greatest performance in the title role as a naive new senator pitted against powers that seem impregnable. Senator Smith uses the fillibuster to rally support to his cause. Mr. Smith shows both the worst and the best in U.S. democracy. It has been criticized by people on the left, the right and in the middle. Perhaps because it so effectively hits home.

Z (1969) Costa-Gravas. The Best of Costa-Gavras’ many politically-charged films that include Stage of Siege, Missing and the Confession. Z is the story of the 1963 assassination by right wing zealots of a Greek liberal politician and the ensuing investigation which uncovers a web of corruption involving the military, police, and right-wing extremists, revealing the state's complicity in silencing political dissent. Z is aptly labeled a political thriller but it is also an unflinching look at the terrible damage a right wing regime can bring to a democratic society. I hope that doesn’t sound too familiar.

Sorry to Bother You (2018) Riley.  Sorry to Bother You"is a surreal satirical comedy that follows a young African-American telemarketer who discovers that using a polished, exaggerated “white voice” catapults him to success in a dystopian version of corporate America. As he rises through the ranks, he uncovers a disturbing conspiracy and is ultimately forced to choose between personal wealth and power, or standing in solidarity with his activist friends fighting to unionize and reclaim their humanity. The film exposes the big-money people behind the curtain and how they manipulate our culture and transform people into corporate slaves. It’s a movie to enjoy maybe mostly because it will piss you off.

Also recommended: State of Siege, Missing, Matewan, Our Daily Bread, Meet John Doe, Judas and the Black Messiah, Born on the Fourth of July and Running on Empty.