Hippie Films, Hippiesploitation, and the Emerging Counterculture, 1955-1970
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HIPPIE FILMS, HIPPIESPLOITATION, AND THE EMERGING COUNTERCULTURE, 1955- 1970 Britton Stiles Rhuart A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2020 Committee: Cynthia Baron, Advisor Dawn Anderson Graduate Faculty Representative Angela Ahlgren Bradford Clark Johnny Walker © 2020 Britton Stiles Rhuart All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Cynthia Baron, Advisor The 1960s was a turbulent time in the United States. The war in Vietnam and the assassinations of leading progressive figures created great cultural anxiety. One response to the divisive war and the rightwing violence was the Hippie movement, which advocated peace, love, and social equality. In American cinema, films touting their cultural relevance or appeal for the lucrative youth market came to include representations of Hippies. Initially, mainstream films failed to capture Hippie style and ideology, but subsequently featured sympathetic portrayals of Hippies. By comparison, exploitation films depicted stylistic elements associated with Hippies even at the outset, but offered sensationalized characterizations of Hippies throughout the 1960s. The study’s primary method is textual analysis of films, reviews, marketing materials, and print documents ranging from mainstream news coverage to counterculture manifestos. To provide a context for analyzing the various trends in cinematic representations of Hippies, the study examines cultural events and filmmaking patterns that led to and sustained the Hippie movement and its representation on screen. Studying depictions of the Hippie movement on-screen sheds new light on how dominant American society viewed the Hippie counterculture. Most on-screen representations of Hippies reflect the views of the country’s dominant culture, because, in contrast to other Hippie art forms, Hippie films were produced, distributed, and exhibited almost exclusively by companies outside the Hippie movement. At the same time, because certain Hippie films feature vérité footage of events such as the Woodstock festival and the 1968 Democratic Convention riots, iv some on-screen representations offer a window into ways that people sympathetic to the Hippie movement viewed the lifestyle and values associated with Hippies in the 1960s. Analysis of Hippie films illuminates several key distinctions among mainstream, independent, and exploitation filmmaking. The study reveals that exploitation films were generally unfavorable in their on-screen depictions of Hippies, whereas mainstream films featured generous depictions of Hippies when they had left leaning directors at the helm. The handful of independent Hippie films produced in the 1960s capture the movement’s eccentric spirit and its interest in nonviolence. v First to Roger Corman, without whose films this dissertation would not be possible. More importantly, to my family, both blood and chosen: Les and Susie Rhuart Britt and Penny Burns Nanny, Stacie, Kimber, Caden, Kate, and Sara Melanie Schultz and Shawnnah Garza “We are stardust, we are golden. And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.” - “Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell, 1970 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A lot of work went into making this dissertation readable and even more work went into making me able to get it to where it needed to be. I certainly could not have done it on my own. The first person I must recognize is my chair, Dr. Cynthia Baron. I want to thank her for her seemingly infinite patience and kind words throughout the writing of this work. I could not have achieved a fraction of what I have without Dr. Baron’s input nor without her keeping tabs on me and my project. She helped shape it from the very beginning and for that I thank her. My other committee members need recognition as well. Dr. Johnny Walker has become someone I consider a good friend and academic icon. He writes on all the topics I want to research, and he is very supportive of my efforts. We are separated by an ocean, but we can sit and have a pint and talk exploitation cinema whenever we get together. Dr. Angie Ahlgren and Brad Clark were two of my favorite instructors going throughout my first two years. They have always been available for a kind word and quick conversation. Their advice and input on several projects have been invaluable. Brad also is my chair for my Performance Studies certificate. My grad rep, Dr. Dawn Anderson, is not someone I know very well, but I have greatly appreciated her support. I appreciate that she has been able to keep everything above board. My cohort has provided me with some of my new, lifelong best friends and I am eternally grateful I was in the group that I was. Elizabeth Brownlow is the person I need to most thank for her help on this project. For the last semester or so, she has been my constant writing partner, a friendly ear, and a solid editor. Knowing and working with Liz, particularly this last semester, has been one of the highlights of this program and certainly took some of the sting out of writing everyday just by her presence. The rest of my cohort including Kathleen Kollman, Elizabeth Neihaus, David Stephens, and Michail-Chrysovalantis Markodimitrakis (Michael Poe) have been vii some of my best support over the last several years. I should also acknowledge my cohort member Buddy Avila, who provided support in the Ray Browne Popular Culture Library and helped me with historical and other data throughout the project. He also read several chapters and I greatly appreciate his input. My Bowling Green State University “Family” extends far beyond my Ph.D. cohort. Unfortunately, I do not have the length and breadth to write my thanks to all of them individually, but I want to thank Nick Clark, Nick Canada, Tyler Wertsch, Keisuke Kimura, Chrissy Jones, Liz Seung-A Lee, Leesi Patrick, Elizabeth Collins, Aju James, Trinidad Linares, Washeika Torres, Graeme Wilson, Shane Snyder, Erin Carlyle, Jacqueline P. Hudson, Jordan Wilson, Leda Hayes, Courtney Bliss, Naykishia D. Darby, and Ericka Findley. They are all good friends of mine and kept me sane throughout my four years here. I also want to recognize some BGSU faculty who have also made my life easier. I want to thank Dr. Mark Hain, Dr. Hannah Miller, Stephen Crompton, Lucas Ostrowski, Dr. Andrew Schocket, Dr. Radhika Gajjala, Rob Sloane, Dr. Molly Gardiner, and Dr. Susana Peña in particular, though there are so many more names I could list. All of them have helped me survive here, whether it be through academic input or pure friendship. And, of course, I cannot forget Beka Patterson, the program secretary for American Culture Studies. Not only do I have to thank her, but I do not think there is a person in the program whose life she has not touched in a positive way. Without Beka, everything would come to a grinding halt. Next, I want to thank people who helped me on the research end. Erin Weigand is also an advisee of Dr. Johnny Walker and was with me while we looked through pressbooks and other movie ephemera at Something Weird Video in Seattle. She is a kind person, a great academic, and helped me fill in a lot of gaps, particularly in discussing Hippie exploitation documentaries. viii Speaking of Something Weird, I really have to thank Lisa Petrucci, who allowed Erin and I into her home for two days to do research. She was always there with any information on certain films I may have been lacking. I must quickly recognize the staff at the BGSU Popular Culture Library, where I wrote probably a third of this work. Amongst the many folks there who helped me find obscure underground press materials and movie pressbooks were Dr. Nancy Down, Dana Nemeth, Steve Ammidown, and Stefanie Dennis Hunker. They were all wonderful people with whom to work. Amy Fry in the BGSU library helped my find all the necessary resources to cite obscure materials. My friend back in Phoenix, Hal C.F. Astell, helped me find some of the more obscure films in my work that were either out of print or exceedingly difficult to track down. He is a good friend and one of my favorite non-academic film reviewers. Ren Baron helped copy edit this work for more hours than I would like to admit, and I could not have finished it without her kind input. Finally, I want to thank my family. I mentioned some names in my dedication, but to my Mom and Dad, Susie and Les Rhuart, thank you for introducing me to movies at such an early age. Fostering that appreciation got me here, as did your love and support. My godparents Britt and Penny Burns have always managed to make me feel happy and silly in times of struggle. Aunt Nanny and my cousins Kimber and Stacie Lambeth are as close to me as anyone could be. I would like to recognize my many godchildren, including Thomas and Maryanne Rotchford, Jack and Lucy Weaver, Caden Lambeth, Kate and Sara Onken, and Jeremy Garza. Those kids make life worth living. Lastly, I want to thank two close friends who are my family. Shawnnah Garza is my oldest and best friend from childhood. She is my sister. Melanie Schultz has been my friend for years, both here and at home in Phoenix, and is my favorite person. I consider her as close to family as anyone. I love both Shawnnah and Melanie more than I can say. These are the people ix who have made me who I am today, for better or worse. Without them and without everyone else, I would have nothing. Thank you all for making my life better. And now, on with the opera.