Journal on The counterculture in the sixities - Essay Example

Common themes One of the common themes underlying all three articles is the representation of the devastation of the Vietnam war through the medium of theatre. All the three pieces emphasize the realistic portrayal of the pain and suffering of the war. The anti-war theme was one of the dominant aspects of the revolution of the sixties, when there were mass demonstrations, with a rising number of protests against the American Government’s policy in Vietnam.(Hall 2004). In the first article, Beck (1965) uses the jail as an example to show that people in the outer world are not as free as they think because they are slaves to convention, unable to speak freely about sex or politics, which is an indirect reference to the horrors of war which people tolerate without speaking up.

In the second article, Schneeman describes how actors graphically demonstrate the body toll in war by dragging bodies along the stage, while the third article (1967) describes the fate of six men who were drafted into the war from Brooklyn and ultimately died. Another theme is the need to introduce more realism into theatre, without any need to dress it up with the propaganda that forms a part of daily life. All three articles argue towards this end – life is dramatic enough to be portrayed realistically (Beck 1965).

There is the underlying implication in all three articles that people are living their lives without being true to themselves, and there is a need for theatre to highlight grim realities and bring people face to face with their inner selves, whether through seeing jail inmates as human beings or witnessing horrific events occurring. An acceptance of reality and adopting a non condemning attitude towards drug users is also an implicit theme in all three articles that argue for more realistic portrayals through theatre and for people to face up to unpleasant images.

The Sixties counterculture was focused towards a release of such inhibitions which were deemed to afflict conventional society. I was struck by the singular role of theatre in contributing to the anti-war movement, which is evident in all the articles. They must have packed an impact during the sixties, when such visceral images as those described by Scheeman must have been quite a shock compared to the predictable quality of typical theatre devoid of realism. Realism in theatre and film is now commonplace and it made me realize how much we owe to the movement in the Sixties, to radically change long entrenched ideas.

I also found some of the views expressed in the articles to be very profound, particularly Beck’s assertion that life in the outside world makes people disconnected from each other and strangely enough, they are more true to themselves while technically behind bars. They are freer behind literal bars than they are in the outside world, where they believe themselves free but are chained in by their inability to express themselves without reserve and connect closely with each other. I was also saddened by the deaths of the six men from Brooklyn that was described in the last Ikon article.

The anger, rage and pain that is expressed through these articles against the war was a source of profound reflection for me on the real necessity of war and the beauty of peace – a message that seems particularly relevant in present times, when American forces are again deployed on Iraqi soil. It now seems to me that the protests against the Vietnam war are really significant; perhaps our country would have erupted into war with Russia and the scale of destruction would have been greater, if it has not been for the lessons learnt in Vietnam.

I was especially touched by Beck’s message to be non condemning of drug users, because it re-emphasized for me the value of tolerance and respect for all human beings, including for example those who may be disabled or from different cultures. The message of tolerance was an important part of the sixties counterculture and in this aspect, I feel it has made an invaluable contribution to American society. References:* Beck, Julian, 1965. “Letters from Jail”* Hall, Mitchell K, 2004.

“The Vietnam Era anti-war movement” Magazine of History, 18(5): 13-18* Schneeman IN William Reich, “Selected Writings”* “The sad story of about the six boys about to be drafted in Brooklyn” 1967 Ikon