Sweet Bird of Youth 1962
 

first time i have ever seen this movie.....was on the weekend

the opening scene is paul newman driving along some boulavade in a convertable cadillac with some drunken burned out movie star chick drinking straight vodka and popping pills...its 1962

was the early 60s the golden times in the states?...everyone driving convertables, cheap fuel, land of opportunity, everone working and lots of jobs to go around?

Like the opening line in A Tale Of Two Cities, it was the best of times, and the worse of times. I was 8 years old in 1962, so my recollections are a bit hazy, but I remember my Dad working and owning a new 1961 Rambler Classic, and Mom staying home because Dad's job as a newspaper typographer paid enough to support a family. We had all the modern amenities of the times - a black and white TV tabletop radio, toaster oven, etc.

It was also the time of Camelot in the White House with the Kennedys at the controls. The Cold War was in full swing in the early 60s culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of '62. We were never so close to all-out nuclear war as we were then, and I remember our parents gathering up us kids into the living room and praying for peace. Scary times, especially for a kid!

I think that as we grow older we tend to see the past with rose-colored glasses, as if the times we so much better back then. The truth is that they had their triumphs, challenges and difficulties back then, just like any other times.

It was a time where a lot of the WWII generation was enjoying an abundant life. My parents went through the depression and the war, so this was an amazing time for them. During the late 60's a lot of boomers like myself later rebelled against what we thought was materialism. I'm not clear what we replaced that with.Some good things came from that rebellion and some that were not so good.

It was probably pretty awesome.... if you were caucasian:hmm:

It's as if movies weren't real life... :hiding:

Wasnt born

True, but the Civil Rights movement was in full swing by 1962, which in time would lead to all the changes we see today. Women's Lib, the antiwar movement, the youth movement, gay rights, the first black President, all stem from those times.

Life is what you make it, not what it makes you.