Re: [bomp] twisted retro -- the future is next?

[Michael Snider <lasciviumdei@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Deena J Canale <roots66@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> 
> > Then there was the whole WWI phenomenon in the
> 60's--with an emphasis on
> the >aerial war, the Red Baron, the Fokker
> tri-planes and Sopwith Camels
> (Charles >Schultz, the Royal Guardsmen, THE BLUE
> MAX, etc), also the Maltese
> Cross >being used by surfers and bikers (who also
> wore Kaiser-styled
> helmets).

And don't forget PATHS OF GLORY, one of the greatest
war films
of all time - although it was technically 50s. 

Also VON RICHTOFEN AND BROWN, in which John Philip Law
gave his only real acting performance as the Red
Baron.....
(other than that, he was more or less a pretty boy,
although he was
a real scenemaker in the 60s Sunset Strip era and hung
out with 
all the great rock bands, artists, countercultural
figures, etc.) 

I have a theory, rather unproven, that many of the WW1
films of the 60s/early 70s were indirect ways of
commenting on Vietnam, a 
topic forbidden in the H'wood of the time (not
counting right wing swill like The Green Berets and a
few super obscure b films). WW2 was not only too close
timewise but was also one of the few wars in which
right and wrong were very clearcut, so films set in
that war wouldn't have served the same purpose. (Catch
22 aside, of course)  WW1 being removed in time and
having its share of moral ambiguities made it a good
choice for distanced comment on the present. 
> 
> Not to mention Arte Johnson's "verrrry interesting"
> character on Laugh-In.
> 
> Once I had to sort through a huge batch of book
> donations and found one on
> WWI medals/imagery.  One of the drawings on the
> cover looked exactly like
> Arte, right down to the cigarette and sneaky
> expression.  I found the same
> picture inside the book, but no reference was made
> to its Laugh-In
> origins...so I couldn't resist writing "verrrry
> interesting...but stupid"
> next to it.  I hope it gave some fellow moron a
> thrill at the ensuing book
> sale.
> 
The WW1 chic trend seems to be carried to the present
day by one
Billy Childish.....

Sexual orgies, homosexual or not, eliminate social tensions and should be encouraged. - Justice Vincent Scalia

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