Music of Counterculture Cinema

The counterculture period represents a struggle over the legacy and the meaning of the U.S. in a turbulent time and continues to do so today. Films produced in the 1960s and early 1970s, as well as films focusing on the era have reengaged and revisited the social, political, and cultural ideals of the time for generations of film audiences. The counterculture, however, was not monolithic. Studying the music used in countercultural and counterculture-focused films reveals the intricacy and complexity of the movement. Struggles to establish both collective and individual identities based on one's race, class, gender, and many other forms of categories surface in such music. A crash of values, generational gaps, and anti-war sentiment are also just a few of the many examples of the countercultural experiences film music helps to examine, reaffirm, and challenge for audiences looking to cinema for a sense of the times.