1968 with Tom Brokaw
When people look back on past years and decades, they usually do so in a manner that summarizes how particular events helped define those years. People will often have says for each decade such as the Roaring Twenties, the GI Generation for the forties, and the 60s may just have an endless list. One year in the 60s though stood out from the rest; 1968 was quite possibly one of the most influential years in American History. A counter-culture tore through classic American Traditions, a controversial war segregated the population, protests, assassinations, and riots were front page news every couple of months. These were times of trouble yet growth in the American culture, and we are still feeling the effects of them today.
1968 With Tom Brokaw takes the viewer into the past by compiling footage and interviews with those who lived through the key events of 1968. Brokaw speaks with those who were first pioneers of the counter culture, those close friends and associates of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy (both assassinated), musicians such as Bruce Springsteen, Arlo Guthrie, Michelle Phillips who experienced how influential music was to the counter culture, police and protestors alike who prevented and participated in riots, and the list continues. Each of these interviews gives us, the viewer, a better understanding of chaotic of a decade the 60s were, and how many up and downs there were within the single year of 1968.
Focusing specifically on the music and events that shaped the music of the 60s, its funny to actually see the various connections between the events and the music of the time era. In the opening clips of the documentary we are given a brief clip of Timothy Leary saying his classic phrase “Turn On, Tune In, and Drop Out” which of course could be described as one of the phrases that summed up the entire counter culture as a whole. We can quickly see the other side of this peaceful