MovieChat Forums > Hair (1979) Discussion > This Movie Came Out About 8 Years Too La...

This Movie Came Out About 8 Years Too Late

posted 13 years ago by IdiotDomainer
9 replies | jump to latest

I grew up in the 1970s and by 1979 nobody was interested in Hippies anymore.
They were out of date and out of style by 1979.

Of course most of us teen guys still had really long hair (mine was really long) but a lot of us by then were more like Jeff Spicoli of Fast Times at Ridgemont High then George Berger of Hair.

By 1979 catch phrases like Far Out and Out of Sight and Peace were uncool to say.

I remember when this movie came out I was in high school in So Cailf and nobody I knew cared to see this movie.
We pretty much made fun of it.

But had this movie came out, say 1970 or 1971 I think it would have been a big hit.

Also at the time it didn't help that a lot of people were romanticizing over the 1950s with Grease and Happy Days and was tired of the 1960s Hippies.

It's all about timing

[–] Randy-144 13 years ago

I was thinking the same thing you were when I saw Hair in the TV listings today (playing on the "this" channel) and noticed the 1979 release date.

I'm older than you. I was in college when The 5th Dimension had a #1 hit with "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" in April 1969. The musical first came to Broadway in April 1968, so by the time the US evacuated the embassy during the Fall of Saigon in April 1975 most of the topics of protest raised in Hair were no longer in the public's mind.

[–] gabby_bm 13 years ago

Indeed, it would have fared better during the nostalgia-phase of the 80's (Big Chill, Return of the Secaucus Seven, 30-Something, etc.) when you had the hippies-turned-yuppies feeling nostalgic and resentful of themselves for selling out.

You think too much of me. I'm not that clever.

[–] Owlwise 9 years ago

Not everyone sold out. But the ones who did made for the best news stories for corporate media eager to uphold & support the status quo.

[–] dannieboy20906 9 years ago

I was studying Basic Vietnamese (Ha Noi) at the Defense Language Institute on the Presidio of Monterey when Sai Gon fell to the communists. We had about three weeks to go before graduating and proceeding to crypto school in Texas. We, my classmates and I saw a lot dejected, crestfallen faces. You see, our teachers were born in North Vietnam and were looking forward hopefully to the eventual collapse of the communist regime. I guess there must always be some losers in life.

The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.

[–] jefgg 12 years ago

I was going to post the same thing. But "Hair" holds up with time better than expected. That is the mark of a quality product.

[–] jlbengler-415-78513 9 years ago

It indeed came late, but just because Milos Forman couldn't make it before, as I recall him saying in an intervew I read back then in a French magazine.

[–] Isau 9 years ago

They may have missed the boat at the time, but IMO 1979 was the perfect time for this soundtrack. It may not be "authentic" to the original sound, but it was the height of disco, which allowed the composers to add a full orchestral treatment to many of the songs . IMO the movie soundtrack is one of the best albums ever released and leaves the original Broadway ST in the dust. If it had been produced in any other era I doubt it would have the same power. The 2000s revival sound is good, but doesn't keep peace with this masterpiece. Too bad the movie isn't as good as the soundtrack.

[–] kenburke (2386) 5 months ago

It was a classic case of something NOT being better late than never.

[–] TheDemon (598) 3 months ago

You left out Groovy!