Jasmine Omorogbe- Reflections on Woodstock
Personally, I have mixed views on the Woodstock festival. On the one hand, I do respect that it was a great movement of a counterculture that stood for peace instead of war and all things beautiful in the world – love, equality, happiness, etc. However, on the other hand, especially after having watched the documentary, it seems on the borderline of insanity. On page 46 of the “Blame It On the Sixties” article, Walley mentions that the drugs in the movement were seen as “an aid to attaining and integrating knowledge, one way to build experience…”. I do not share his sentiment. The mass involvement of drugs in this movement only taints it in my view. It gave them something to be blamed for. It would have been better without the drugs, sex and other questionable behavior. This discussion was even shown in the movie. One man was arguing how awesome it was that so many kids could come together and be peaceful. While the other man was bringing up that they were all high and it was a disgrace. Such behaviors gave the movement a weakness or downfall, if you will. It was a legitimate claim that the media, parents, and all those opposed could throw in their faces at any time. On page 86 of Schowater’s “Remembering the Dangers of Rock n’ Roll” paper, he mentions how Tipper Gore pointed these issues out and said they were leading to the (moral) “decay” that started to develop in the sixties. I think they would have made more of an impact with those who held different viewpoints had they been “blameless”, meaning had a clean slate with no obvious illegal blunders to look upon.
I know this point may seem silly to some, but another thing I don’t understand is the lack of police presence. There were all types of major violations of the law going on however the only time that the authorities were shown was when they were bringing in supplies and medical help. They were helping the cause and allowing it to go on uninterrupted. That is fine and dandy, more power to them. My issue is that at that time and even still today, if it were any other race of people, it would have been shut down before the end of day one. This event happened at a time period where even if 20 black people gathered for a march or a protest, they were surrounded and beaten by police, etc. Now, how is it that 500,000 young people, primarily white (not to say that other races weren’t represented), can hold a 3 day event with all sorts of public drug use, nudity, sex, etc without any problem? It seems unfair in that respect, however it was beneficial to the participants of Woodstock.
The reactions of the adults in the film did surprise me. I figured there would be parents and old people all upset about those “young whippersnappers” swarming the town. However it did bring in revenue, but also left the town in shambles after it was over. I was glad to see adults standing up for the young people and focusing in on the good rather than the bad of the situation. I was especially stunned by the reaction of Max Yasgur, the owner of the farm. Though I am sure they did pay to use his farm, he could have been upset about the ruin that was going to be left afterwards or all the unanticipated problems that were happening at the time. Nonetheless, he speaks to the crowd in happiness, encouraging what they were doing. Of course, as with the couple fixing the car, some people were less happy about than others, but overall the sentiment of most didn’t seem to be one of anger.