The whole spirit of Hair in one scene. Maybe the whole spirit of the 60′s right there. That’s what Hair meant to be, a musical, comical manifesto of the hippie generation. But if the 60′s was all it meant, it wouldn’t hold up very well today, and I think that it does. Not just because we’re supremely nostalgic for everything besides our own times. Because the spirit of rebellion stomping on the fine china of establishment is timeless and universal. We wanted to kick high society in the balls in 1969 and we still do. We still want a dance on the table with George Berger.
More about the importance of hair, from the movie on that very topic. The musical Hair dates back from a time when having long hair genuinely meant something. Everything was a revolution in the sixties; music, hair, clothing. Our anything-goes current condition is a result of that. I won’t get into deep political issues. One thing that hasn’t been the same since the so-called youthquake is how people dress and present themselves. It’s hard to imagine, but not that long ago, there were very strict expectations of how one ought to dress. According to status, according to age. According to everything. Hair is about the ending of those times when a long haired man or a woman in pants could expect to be denied service, barred from public places, spat upon, or infinitely worse. It’s about the freedom of a generation to draw the line on conformity and express itself. The fallout is the sight of middle aged fat people wearing shorty-shorts in public, but that in itself is a victory. When I was overseas (in Ukraine) a couple of years ago I witnesses a conformity of dress not seen in America since the fifties. Everyone was slender, chic and stylish, but everyone looked exactly alike. I breathed a sigh of relief landing back on American shores. Americans may not always dress well, but we dress to express ourselves, not to merge facelessly into the safety of a crowd. It’s only one of many legacies from a turbulent time. No wonder there’s so many songs about hair.
I may be a cold blooded cynic – not too much makes me sentimental. I don’t gravitate towards the ‘girly’ or ‘romantic’, I don’t like anything frilly, and I certainly don’t enjoy being manipulated by entertainment. I’ve always held tearjerking, weepy movies in contempt. Even lower contempt for people who watch chick flicks and blubber. I don’t watch movies and cry. I find that pathetic. But I’m not entirely made of stone either. For whatever reason, there’s one moment that’s always made me feel weepy – the finale of the movie Hair. It could be the crescendo of the music, or something about the sheer catastrophic finality of a simple mistaken identity. It might be the unexpected heft of an otherwise light spirited movie turning serious. It might even be the very fact that Milos Forman isn’t actively trying to turn on your waterworks – he’s effectively killing off his most lovable character, but he’s still keeping a hopeful tone. If it were to follow that airplane and actually show what happens to Berger in Vietnam, that would be going overboard and the effect would be ruined. But anyhow, whatever you think it is, it never fails to affect me. Taken out of context like it is here, it may be missing some of its punch, but of course I assume you’re a sophisticated film buff and you’ve seen the movie.
A song from the movie Hair. It might not be one of the most outstanding songs from that movie, but it’s such a great scene. But don’t listen to me, I think all the scenes in that movie are great. Total love. With the music and the costumes and the message, it’s right about the perfect movie.
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