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Addie Dancer
D. Hengesbach
English 10
2 December 2013
Cultural Impact on 1960s Film
In the earliest decades of American film, movies were created to excite, amuse and offer
an escape to viewers. And while in these formative years film evolved dramatically in terms of
technology, the content of its stories did not, sticking mostly to typical tales of good guys
fighting evil and white stars falling in love with one another. That is until the 1960s, when, for
the first time, film began to explore different, more serious topics, a result of the rapidly
changing culture of 1960s America. 1960s film was heavily influenced by the growing culture
and demonstrated newfound attention towards and a willingness to explore themes of race,
violence, and sexuality.
To begin, the exploration of race in 1960’s film increased greatly during the decade. As
most know, the Civil Rights Movement grew tremendously during the 1960s, with the passage of
various anti-segregation laws, frequent marches, and riots occurring in both the north and south
over racial issues. Before this time, addressing topics such as segregation, racism, and interracial
relations was unheard of in movies of the time. However, films began tackling these issues as
early as 1962, when two major films addressing this issue were released; A Raisin in the Sand,
based off the play of the same name about the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, as well
as To Kill a Mockingbird, taken from Harper Lee’s timeless novel, about of a white lawyer
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defending a black man accused of raping a white woman in a small down in the deep South
(Dirks). Though literature had been revealing these issues to the public many years before, it was
not until the 1960’s that the cinema brought attention to them as well. This trend only continued
later on with groundbreaking films like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), the story of an
interracial couple announcing their engagement to her stunned parents, and In the Heat of the
Night (1967), a murder mystery about a skilled black detective from the North investigating a
crime in a bigoted small town in Mississippi, which eventually won the 1967 Oscar for Best
Picture (Dirks). Both films starred esteemed actor Sidney Poitier, who was also the first ever
African American to win the Oscar for best actor in 1963 for Lilies of the Field. The creation of
both of these movies, as well as the success of Sidney Poitier, represented how far the Civil
Rights Movement had come and how much more integrated other races, as well as race issues,
were explored in 1960s films as opposed to the decades before it. But aside from race, film of the
60s began to integrate violence in movies as well.
Aside from delving into race issues, movies of the 1960’s were changed by incorporating
more violence as well. Despite the growing “hippie” movement, which promoted peace, love,
and harmony, the 60’s was undoubtedly a decade of intense violence. Possibly sparked by the
assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, coupled with the seemingly endless war in Vietnam,
violence was rampant all across America with constant anti-war and race riots, a slew of
assassinations, and even a rise in the number of serial killers. This mood of anger and hostility
very likely influenced the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, which “stylishly romanced
choreographed slaughter” (Gitlin) and “glamourized violence, and redefined the crime/gangster
genre forever” (Dirks). The story of two criminal lovers revolted much of the audience at the
time, but very clearly exposed the overall feeling of aggression in America. The real-life
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violence only seemed to escalate after Bonnie and Clyde was released, with the assassinations of
Dr. Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy, countless race riots, and police brutality
against anti-war demonstrators at the Democratic National Convention, all occuring in 1968. The
following year, very likely not a coincidence, The Wild Bunch was released, a film still widely
regarded as one of the most violent films of all time, even today (IMBD). Between the main
characters using women as shields and slaughtering innocents without a second thought, once
again, audiences were shocked. But it was this ruthless showcase of brutality that “served as
counterpoints to the media’s honest display of violence during the late 60’s, with the Vietnam
War, assassinations, urban riots, and other events filling the airwaves” (Dirks). Before the 60s,
most on-screen “violence” consisted of exaggerated (almost humorously so) fist fights between
obvious “good guy” protagonists and their “bad guy” antagonists. By the end of the 60s, not only
was the violence much more honest, (though still difficult to watch) but the film’s main
characters were often not the “hero,” they were frequently flawed, though still relatable, “antiheroes.” Whereas moviegoers before saw film as a chance to escape life’s harsh realities,
audiences of the 60s went to the theatre and were confronted with them, as we see with the
recurring theme of violence. Beside this, the 1960s was also the first decade to explore themes of
sexuality in films.
In addition to addressing the rising issue of violence, the 1960’s also broke ground by
revealing themes of sexuality in film. By the mid-60s, sex was no longer a taboo subject, this
change stemming from the growing feminist movement, the rising popularity of primarily sexfocused rock and roll, and the 1967 “Summer of Love” which held many “free love”
counterculture festivals. This newfound willingness to embrace sex was integrated into film in
the famous 1967 movie The Graduate, the story of a graduate student trapped in an affair with a
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middle-aged woman. The Graduate was wildly popular, especially with young audiences, and
was the first ever film to make its director, Mike Nichols, a million dollars (Dirks). This
popularity demonstrated clearly not only a more willingness to discuss topics pertaining to sex,
but also a willingness by filmmakers to explore such topics as well. It was very likely the success
of The Graduate made it possible for a film like Midnight Cowboy to be released only two short
years later. The story of a male prostitute struggling to survive in New York City, Midnight
Cowboy boldly explored themes of homosexuality as well as heterosexuality (Canby). Before the
1960s, perhaps even in the early 60s, themes regarding sexuality, especially homosexuality, were
unheard of in film. Through a series of cultural events occurring throughout the 60s, as the
American people became more willing to embrace sex, so did the films.
As a result of the changing culture, the films 1960’s were far more willing to begin
exploring new themes of race, violence, and sexuality. Civil Rights issues, such as segregation,
racism, and interracial relations were explored in films like To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), and also frequently starred successful African American
actors such as Sidney Poitier. Intensified violence was also exposed more frequently in the 60s,
with films like Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and The Wild Bunch (1969) including scarily accurate
portrayals of violence, while sexualized films like The Graduate (1967) and Midnight Cowboy
(1968) portrayed the nation’s newfound willingness to be open about sex. And it was this
newfound freedom filmmakers found in the 1960s to experiment with these new topics that
allowed the trend to continue on in following decades, and inspired them to make what appeared
on the big screen more dramatic, more shocking, and more real than ever.
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Works Cited
Canby, Vincent. "FILM REVIEW: Midnight Cowboy." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 13 Aug. 2004. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Dirks, Tim. "Film History of the 1960s." Greatest Films - The Best Movies in Cinematic
History. Web. 12 Nov. 2013
Gitlin, Todd. The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage. New York: Batnam Books, 1987
Print.
IMDB. “Most Popular Feature Films Released 1960 to 1969." The Internet Movie Database
(IMDB). Amazon Company, 1990. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.