Friday, October 8, 2021

Treading Water After Watergate: "Chinatown" and "Shampoo"

Pundit Ronald Brownstein, who has been a White House correspondent for the National Journal and a political analyst for CNN, is best known for writing and talking about Washington power-brokers. But his years of connection with the Los Angeles Times as well as his lifelong passion for pop culture have helped shape his brand-new book. He calls it Rock Me on the Water, after a Jackson Browne ballad that also inspired a powerful Linda Ronstadt version. There’s an important subtitle too—1974: The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television, and Politics. In Brownstein’s view, there was a brief period of transition in which the high idealism and the political fervor of the late Sixties flowered into something quite wonderful, before movies and TV were taken over by the yen for nostalgia exemplified by Jaws (an updated “monster from the deep” B-movie) and the amiable sitcom, Happy Days.

 To my mind, the linking of this cultural shift to the twelve months of a specific year doesn’t entirely work. Still, Brownstein makes his point by way of some fascinating analysis of key media moments. In the realm of television, he pays tribute to the powerful transformation of a nation’s viewing habits through the rise of three essential TV series. The Mary Tyler Moore Show, introduced in 1970, looked like a sitcom, but also placed real people in real (and up-to-date) situations, paying particular attention to a young woman more focused on career than on finding a man. M*A*S*H, which debuted in 1972, obliquely reflected the realities of Vietnam, balancing humor with a sober reflection on the horrors of war. The hugely popular All in the Family, which ran from 1971 to 1979, took on such issues as racism, social inequality, and rape. It was America’s #1 favorite series until replaced in 1974 by Happy Days, with its cheery appreciation for a past that never was.

 At the movies, Brownstein cites two key masterworks as indicative of a nation’s mood in the wake of the Nixon era. (Both, as it turns out, hinged on the talents of Robert Towne, a Roger Corman alumnus who went on to write some of the era’s boldest screenplays.) Chinatown was—as Brownstein so wittily puts it—“Watergate with real water,” a story of political and moral corruption set in the L.A. of the past but revealing parallels with the present. Shampoo, spearheaded by writer/producer/star Warren Beatty, is a tale of aimless seduction by a Beverly Hills hairstylist who’s considered “safe” because hairdressers are stereotypically assumed to be gay. George’s romp through the beds of countless women takes place in November 1968, on the eve of Nixon’s election to the U.S. presidency. “It was in this way,” says Brownstein, “that Shampoo represented a bookend to Chinatown. Each film documented the decline in early 1970s America by exposing the corruption and decadence of an earlier era in Los Angeles. One movie is about concealment, the other about display, and yet they reach the same bleak destination.”

 Brownstein notes that it was filmmakers born before 1940 who circa 1974 were most insistent on chronicling the rot endemic to the American system. He also spends time on Robert Altman’s Nashville, the brilliant 1975 compendium of life on the country-music circuit, seeing it as one more dour reflection of the Nixon years by a man well along in his career. By contrast, says Brownstein, rising Baby Boomer filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas turned away from politics in the 1970s to explore (in films like Jaws and Star Wars) of adventure sagas in all their apolitical excitement.  


 


 

12 comments:

  1. Hiya, I’ve read Brownstein’s book and agree with you that his calendar calculation “doesn’t quite make it” but it is worth reading. I signed up for One Day University on-line and every “lecture” about GREAT movies always includes “Chinatown,” for good reason, it’s spectacular. Goldman gives it a lot of positive commentary in his “What Lie Did I Tell You Last.” In addition to my last two comments associated with your last essay I have a couple of more things to share. 1) I found a radio interview you gave to a Bloomington Il. Station about your Corman book, I LOVED hearing your voice! 2) I haven’t seen any recent comments from Craig Edwards and there’s nothin more recent on his Blog than 2020; I hope he’s OK. 3) VERY personal——I read that you were at The Ambassador Hotel when Bobby was killed, awaiting his victory speech. I don’t know how you can still breath having experienced that. It IS the worst moment/event of my life; watching it on TV and having him die on 6/6, my birthday. I was devastated by Dallas. I was tortured when Malcolm was murdered. I was crippled when Martin was killed. And I totally gave up when Bobby was assassinated. Political involvement ended for me that night. My belief in America ended, and that has not changed. I died that day, the just haven’t buried me yet. Bless you for keeping on going, you’re a hell of a woman. Bob

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    1. Yes, I was there, on a fluke. What a terrible night. I share your shock and horror at the events of that era. (Glad you like my voice!) I'll try to see what Craig Edwards is up to.

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  2. Chinatown is one of my favorite movies but so hard to watch.

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    1. Thanks for chiming in, Jamie. I think you've made a new fan of Bob Levinson (see below). I'm currently reading your Tony Hillerman bio, and just put on hold the film version of A Thief of Time.

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  3. James, What makes it’s hard to watch for you? Bob

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  4. Another comment regarding your essay above, specifically regarding “Shampoo.” I recently read that “Shampoo’s protagonist was based on the hairdresser who was visiting Sharon Tate the night the Manson’s crazies murdered Sharon and him and her other visitors(Folger, etc.). Which reminds me, the “reversal” in “Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood” was a gasp generator. Just imagine if it has come out that way. WoW. Bob

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    1. I am so glad I had no notion going in of how the film would end -- prior knowledge would have spoiled that amazing outcome. That's why I try not to read in advance reviews of films that interest me. I'm sorry to say that the much-loved Roger Ebert was much too "generous" about spilling the beans when writing about new films he liked.

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  5. James, I looked you up, read your bio AND many excellent reviews of several of your books, looks like you and I have at least one similar perspective-there is NO “justice” in the suffocating prison system the US has counter productively created. Everyone loses except the C O’s, who are always on triple overtime.

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  6. Bob, James is a friend and mentor of mine, James McGrath Morris (aka Jamie). Among many other accomplishments he personally founded Biographers International Organization(BIO), a group that has taught me so much and given me so many friends.

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  7. Beverly, A TOTALLY out of left field observation (forgive the political pun)—in reading all of you old essays I’ve come across a large number of very intelligent observations (and warnings!!!!!) from you about the political ambitions of a Mister Donald Trump. You correctly implied that his political goals were serious, that he was an incompetent clown and that we, the public, should “Be Careful” about him. You get a Gold Star from me for your ability to see through his BS smokescreen and recognize the danger that he was. I simply pray that his era is over. PLEASE God, not again. Respectfully, Bob.

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  8. Bob, I contained Craig Edwards, who was very flattered by your concern. Here's what he wrote:
    "Ms. G, How very wonderful to hear from you! Mr. Levinson is vety kind to worry after me. I am well and hanging in through the crazy world of 2020 and 2021. I am not blogging much - just an occasional placeholder post to keep the 1000+ posts going. I hadn't realized I haven't posted anything in 2021. But I am doing fine and just enjoyed the long delayed 25th James Bond movie NO TIME TO DIE. I'm delighted to see you're still blogging away! 10 years. Amazing. I hope you are well and let's stay in touch as we can."

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  9. Beverly, Thank you for contacting Craig and finding out he’s OK, I’m relieved. Please pass on my good wishes to him. Best, Bob.

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