TMS Retro: Are You More Hippie or Punk?

(Keystone France / Gamma Rapho)

The hippies of the 1960s and the punks of the 1970s might be the two biggest alternative cultural movements of the 20th century. Both had similar ideologies and messages of bucking the system and traditional roles, though with completely different tactics. Hippies believe in peaceful strategies, while punks are loud and rowdy. And as is usually the case with huge societal movements like these, come great art and entertainment as well. The number of classic films and albums from the mid-1960s to early 1980s is impressive and makes one wonder why we still haven’t experienced a huge artistic boom politically in the 21st century.

Once the popularity of recreational drug use, anti-war stances and the sexual revolution broke through globally by 1967, terms like ‘flower power’ and ‘counterculture’ were coined. In showbusiness, artists had no problem gravitating to the new phenomenon, with bands like the Beatles, the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Grateful Dead and Buffalo Springfield penning classic psychedelic rock albums such as ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ (1967), ‘Younger Than Yesterday’ (1967), ‘Surrealistic Pillow’ (1967), ‘The Doors’ (1967), ‘Are You Experienced?’ (1967), ‘American Beauty’ (1970) and ‘Buffalo Springfield Again’ (1967). Filmmakers also jumped the chance to use the cultural shift as a creative outlet as well, with Mike Nichols’ The Graduate (1967), Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider (1969), Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Monte Hellman’s Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), the documentaries of DA Pennebaker’s Monterey Pop (1967) and Michael Wadleigh’s Woodstock (1970), and even the second season of NBC’s “The Monkees” (1967-68).

(Red Stripe Films / Paramount Pictures)

The punk scene simultaneously came from New York City and London in 1975 before quickly spreading all over the world. Though one could also find some noticeable influences with music acts including MC5, the Stooges and the New York Dolls a few years earlier; it was groups like the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and the Clash who made it clear rainbow face paint and natural hair were out, leather jackets, black eyeliner and hair dye were in. The peace sign was now replaced with the middle finger. ‘Ramones’ (1976), ‘Never Mind the Bollocks’ (1977) and ‘London Calling’ (1979) were instant hits with the rebellious youth and remain classics with avid music fans. The iconic all-female fronted teen band, the Runaways, were always more hard rock than legitimate punk. But their image and personas matched the alternative vibe, most appreciatively on their 1976 self-titled debut LP. The film industry took a little longer to grasp the next subculture of anti-establishment. Retrospectively, movie fans still got cult flicks out of Lou Adler’s Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982), Susan Seidelman’s Smithereens (1982), Penelope Spheeris’ Suburbia (1983), James Merendino’s SLC Punk! (1998) and Spheeris’ own documentary The Decline of Western Civilization (1981).

Even now, the hippie and punk ethos still live on in society and make appearances in pop culture as period pieces or homages. With how much Gen Z loves to glamorize the grunge and emo eras, it will be amusing to see how much impact time periods from my lifetime will hold up in history.

(IFC / Broadway Video)