Have you ever thought about the idea of exploiting the time machine? Would you like to use it once? Then what time would you choose and what country? Do you feel nostalgic for the period of time of your parents’ youth or for the past in general? Sometimes it happens to me. From time to time I look through old photos of my parents and grandparents and feel really nostalgic for and captivated by the time.
If I had a chance to travel through time I would definitely go to the 1960s. How come? Well, I don’t know actually but somehow I’m captivated by the events, people, writers and artists of that period of time. As for me then that time seems to be the most interesting, flamboyant and captivating era of the 20th century thus referring to the cultural and social-political events that began in 1963 and ended in 1974. It was great time indeed. People wanted freedom and independence and they did everything to get it. Some of the events appeared to be disasters but at the same time their cultural influence was enormous and invaluable. What I mean? For example, Cultural Revolution in China not only changed the country, its traditions and customs when people were made to refuse from their past. It influenced the whole world. Thus an attempt to remove “liberal bourgeois” elements who wanted to restore capitalism inspired French students to struggle and try to revolutionize society.
At the same time it was era of hippies and sexual revolution. Even though I’m not encouraged by some of their ideas and principles nevertheless some of the ideals of the Beat Generation inherited by the hippies really attract my attention. Once I would like to see what the Summer of Love actually meant and would like to immerse myself into atmosphere of free love and freedom, when people expressed their ideas and beliefs directly, when they struggled and enjoyed everything they were doing and finally when they tried to be happy. It was the time of the great changes in popular culture especially in music and cinema. The Beatles, the Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, the Stooges and many many others released the singles that changed culture once and forever. Film directors and producers of European and American companies created actual masterpieces including Psycho, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Bonnie and Clyde, Rosemary’s Baby, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Easy Rider and others.
It was the time of anti-war movement in the USA and you know if I had been living at the time I would definitely join them to struggle against senseless war caused deaths of 60000 American soldiers in Vietnam.
As you can see the list of the events and phenomena of the Sixties is endless and it is just impossible to mention in this post. The influence of that period of time is great and we still can feel it and see the results of all these things. And it seems like all these events took place and happened to that generation only because people had a hope that moved them to act. I wish I were there!
Teegan Clark 