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Hippie Culture : The Hippie Movement

Decent Essays

The emergence of alternative cultures and movements during the 1960s were remarkably distinctive in which it contributed to the overall characteristics of the 1960s America. In particular, the hippie counter-culture was developed and it was popular amongst the younger Americans because they believed in peace. They wanted to live differently and wanted to be free from the mainstream society. In the film Easy Rider, it portrayed the hippie culture and at the same time, it portrayed the rejection of the culture by the Americans in the 1960s. Hippie culture and other movements alike were the reactions to the changes in society and political atmosphere in the 1960s.The film was an excellent film work that captured the characteristics of the …show more content…

Many hippies consistently used marijuana in these communities. In the film, the usage of drugs of hippies serves as a historical evidence for the time period of 1960s America.
The second reason why the film captured the characteristics of America in the 1960s was because there was a seek for freedom. The goal of Wyatt and Billy was to get away and retire in Florida with the money that they made from the drug deal. They wanted to live freely and live the life they wanted to live. This was a direct portrayal of the 1960s in which there were the hippies and Civil Rights movements. The hippie movement was to get out of the “establishment” called by younger people, in which it was a system of older institutions and values (Pendergast, 2005). The fact that it was the privileged young people that went against the “establishment” for a freer lifestyle filled with peace and love. This was the focus on the discovery of oneself serves a strong example for freedom. The hippies’ wanted to seek for freedom was similar to the blacks seeking for their freedom. An example of that was when the nonviolent Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized a peaceful school walkout in 1963 to protest for freedom and equality (Turner). In addition, no violent was shown in the film from Wyatt and Billy because they do not want to be involved in any kind of violent that will hinder their way of free life.

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