[phpbb]

has anyone checked out this show:

http://www.history.com/shows.do?episode ... ion=detail

It was OK, kinda reiterated most of the standard talking points, I think concentrated on the mostly negative aspects of hippies, but did give them some kudos.

They talked about how it was hippies that really brought the whole eastern philosophies to Western Culture via the beatles (even though George Harrison tuned out LSD based on seeing the filth at the Haight).

They mentioned about how hippies really were kinda forced into the commune world becuase they were always in conflict with some group - either people considered them smelly dropouts (rich) or invaders of their affordable housing (poor). The more popular they got, the more they were pushed out.

I had no idea that Charles Manson was a Haight child, and was friends with Neil Young.

They also attributed the popularity of social causes to the hippies. The hippies started some popular protests, but it was other groups that really got the credit. The "yippies" and the DNC convention, and the environmental movement.

It also dabbled in the typical woodstock/altamont fiascos. They talked about how bad the bad trips got when someone said "don't take the bad acid" - of course, everyone thought they had and it got ugly.

However, some of the commentators were obviously anti-hippie and even the pro-hippies talked in a failed voice. I got the impression that the story had to try hard to associate good things with the hippies.

Of course, you'll see the stock Grateful Dead footage, plus some interesting protests when California outlawed LSD.

All in all, if you get a chance to watch it, take it.

[ker1227]

i watched it the other night, and it hard to disagree with the hippies but they had everything right but the drugs. The movement and the world would have been different i beleive if the ideas came from the sober within. People would have paid so much more attention to them. Its hard to say if the music would have been the same though. Dont get me wrong, i love my fair share of drugs, but when searching for something within it feels so much better on your own. this one has hilarious comentary
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... =955429144

[BuddhaG]

most of the causes that the hippies put themselves behind are actually now turning out to be overwhelmingly relevant. caring for the health of our natural environment, management of all the refuse/trash that our society creates, equality, these are all things we will be confronted with again and again. the hippies took drugs and were like "wow, man, these things are actually important to think about". the rest of society is trying to make a living and not caring for a greater good and sure you can't blame them really cuz they just want to survive as well...

i took a principles of ecology class this past semester at school and much development in this field came during the 60's where we started thinking that the earth was like a single organism, with smaller parts playing equally important roles in the continuance of life as we know it on this planet.

who knows what life woudl be like if the hippie movement never happened... nobody can deny that they changed american culture and altered the course of history in some ways... and drugs could very well have been the influence for the hippies to speak freely and freak freely without giving a care.

[dancing mantis]

Of course one has to question just what do you mean by the term "hippie"? Seems to me it means alot of different things to different people. That being said there is absolutely no question but that much of what American culture has become or is trying to become originated from people referred to as hippies. The whole idea of hippies and the 60's counterculture almost always gets a bum rap as hopeless idealists, unable to face reality, spoiled kids, drug-crazed lunatics, and just plain smelly earthy-crunchy tree-hugging lazy no good bums. And yet look at the world we live in now and compare it to the 50's. Think about sexual mores, alternative lifestyles. environmental awareness, music, the arts and creativity, political activism, interest in yoga, martial arts, meditation, tai chi, bhuddism, taoism, massage, alternative medicine, energy work of all kinds, organic farming, minority rights. I could go on, but you get the point. Shit, didn't even the internet and all kinds of other new technological innovations find its origins in hippiedom? I'm really tired of 60's bashing as you can tell. One of the things that made a Dead show so special was that it was one of the few places where a little bit of the magic of the 60's still lived and breathed.

[chubbypony]

i watched it two times this weekend. I thought it was extremly negative, but pretty informative. It made me feel bad for them.

[bodiddley]

Didn't watch it, thought Manson had a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson connection...didn't know about any Neil Young connection. Interesting.

[Shaggy]

Check out Neil Young's song Revolution Blues from On The Beach.

[grateful4booze]

Manson was pals with Dennis Wilson. Al Gore invented the internet.

[Django]

Brian Wilson and Manson wrote a song together called 'Fire', and after working it out, Brian Wilson stepped outside and the building across the street was in blazes! It was a factor in Wilson's freak out that lasted for over a decade. I read this in 'Guitar Players' cover story on him.
I watched the 'hippies' and it was like a bad wreck; I couldn't take my eyes off it.
Though I sometimes refer to my self as an old hippie for impact, in my day we referred to ourselves as 'heads'; whether from a music, drug, or just 'awareness' aspect. Of course our issues with authority were alike and our cultural bent was based on hippie ideals.