In a sense, there were two decades going on during the 1960's. The generation that fought WWII with careers and families (most with teenage children) and the Baby Boomers (teens and college-age young people). The film industry and the changes to it are deeply divided in this schism. On the one hand, musicals (Sound of Music), World War II war films (The Great Escape) and historical epics (Dr. Zhivago) drove the adult market. Rebellion, sex and individual-minded heroes drove the youth market (Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate.) By the end of the decade, the tastes of the counter-culture youth had won. Anti-war film (Catch-22), flawed characters as heroes (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) and sexual issues (Midnight Cowboy, Butterfield 8, Valley of the Dolls) dominated the screen.
Question 1:
What are some of the benefits of the Boomer generation's rebellion and changes to Hollywood in the 1960s?
Question 2:
What are some of the drawbacks of having film dominated by the demands of an audience that was under the age of 25?