Sun King
Trying to change the whole wide world
[M:230]
Posts: 171
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Post by Sun King on Aug 22, 2007 13:57:14 GMT 1
I think most of us here admire John for all the work he did for peace, but it seems that a lot of people at the time didn't. There's a scene in The US vs John Lennon where he's reading a letter that says "we don't like people like you, go see a doctor to be normal", and I can think of lots of other examples. There's also footage in various documentarys that show him arguing with Al Capp during the bed ins and the journalist Gloria Emerson, and they don't even want to listen to what he has to say. Why do you think so many people had such a negative reaction?
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jean
Trying to change the whole wide world
[M:206]
Posts: 127
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Post by jean on Aug 22, 2007 21:07:05 GMT 1
I know, sometimes when you watch those clips it does seem as if John and Yoko had nothing but criticism or people laughing at them. However, what they were doing (e.g. the bed-ins) was so different and unusual, maybe people had difficulty taking it seriously. I wonder how the media would react if it was happening today?
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vetteguy
On the old dirt road
[M:200]
Posts: 15
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Post by vetteguy on Nov 10, 2007 3:41:17 GMT 1
It was a different time then and at that time it was perceived as being way the heck out there and quite bazaar/weird/crazy and not many people took it seriously (at first). If it happened today I think there would be a total different reaction from the media and the public.
In summary John was ahead of his time.
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Post by nocturnalquadruped on Dec 7, 2007 10:21:22 GMT 1
I think that anyone who stands up for unsavory issues gets slammed. Has anyone heard of the Chasers war on everything. It is a tv show in Australia and they use humour to highlight the absurdity of a lot of political issues (among other things) One of their more recent pranks was to infiltrate a hi security conference in Sydney in a car disguised as a diplomatic vehicle. When they were finally stopped and ejected from the vehicle one of them was dressed as Osama Bin Laden. They acquired a lot of bad press but the fact was they were trying to raise important issues using humour just like John did.
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Post by powertothepeople on Dec 10, 2007 22:40:55 GMT 1
I think it was basically that a lot of people at the time thought that he was, as one of my classmates put it, a "stupid hippie."
Also, it was so unusual at the time that he was percieved as a lunatic by some. If you ask me, those guys were the real lunatics...
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bungalowbill
Trying to change the whole wide world
[M:200]
Posts: 116
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Post by bungalowbill on Dec 12, 2007 21:44:14 GMT 1
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Post by nowheregirl on Dec 13, 2007 19:55:38 GMT 1
Thanks for that link, Bill. That's a perfect example of the attitude some people had towards John and Yoko.  |
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Post by Alan The Walrus on Feb 1, 2008 11:37:00 GMT 1
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Post by lennonfan on Feb 1, 2008 23:22:56 GMT 1
Thanks for posting that Alan.
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Post by Alan The Walrus on Feb 2, 2008 20:38:49 GMT 1
You're welcome.
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Post by lennonlegend on Feb 26, 2008 17:54:20 GMT 1
Negative attitude to bed ins?
Well, well. They need to lighten up.
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Post by onolennon on Apr 28, 2008 20:03:22 GMT 1
Those people had no idea about what peace was. Those guys need a wake-up call!
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peterb
Nowhere is the place to be
[M:200]
Posts: 6
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Post by peterb on May 28, 2008 5:02:24 GMT 1
There was such a range of factors in play - the book "The Revolutionary Artist" catalogues many of the reactions to the bed-ins. One was on the Eamonn Andrews Show, where (older) audience members seemed to ridicule their ideas for peace (acorns, etc.) and insult their appearance. There was also the conceptual art that they had promoted the year before, which had struck many as weird. They also had to deal with racism. Yoko explains in the book that they "got all sorts of threatening letters from people advising John that he might have his throat slit for marrying a Japanese. When I was pregnant a girl sent me a little rubber doll filled with pins."
Though it's not as well remembered today, there were many positive reactions from the press - especially the Canadian press, who asked many thoughtful questions. The conflict with Al Capp was in a sense a set up - the CBC brought him along (along with Tommy Smothers, Dick Gregory, etc.) knowing full well what Capp's opinions were (one example: he supported the police beatings of protesters in Chicago 1968). Lennon, however, was caught off guard by the Capp encounter and for days afterwards would only refer to him as Al Krapp!
"You just got to keep trying and keep trying and hope his son isn’t the same." - Lennon on Al Krapp
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lovely7rita
Magic in the air
[M:232]
Love is like a flower- you've got to let it grow.
Posts: 59
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Post by lovely7rita on Jun 1, 2008 2:45:33 GMT 1
Ha!! I love the Al Krapp!!! I think the older people didn't want change and didn't like his hair or the way he dressed or his drug habit.
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Post by onolennon on Jun 1, 2008 22:21:30 GMT 1
You know what? *Some* people reacted negatively to the bed-ins 'cause they're DUMB, that's all. As simple as that. I can't stand some uptight, toffee-nosed politicians who think they're the best. I hate when they say that peace is just our way to do NOTHING.  (I'm really angry about this) |
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