Woodstock and the Youth Uprising
Watching parts of the Woodstock movie is possibly the best documentary on the flower children culture of the late 60's. Early on, one of the people attending refers to himself as a freak much to the surprise of the middle aged local man who feels the term is too extreme. To me this is one of the most important parts of what we watched because it shows a confrontaion between the counter culture and the "normal" culture. It didn't result in violence or conflict outside of some grumbling from the townfolk, most people seemed to think that they were nice kids having a party. Perhaps though, they didn't understand what the kids were really representing, concepts like peace, free love, and the reckless abuse of narcotics on hopes of achieving enlightenment. Despite the enthusiasm of the people at the festival, they could not have lived like they were for long and chances are they new it. But what I think they were trying to say was that it was possible to get along with people which was, in their minds, against the old and evil that ran the country.
-Thomas Kuppe