Running on Empty

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift"

- Steve Prefontaine

As promised, a post on the running boom of the 1970s- more specifically, the people who inspired it.

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Before the 1970s, people didn't really run "for fun," and jogging was nowhere close to being in vogue. The 1972 Munich Olympics changed that: it was there that Frank Shorter became the first American since Johnny Hayes (1908) to win the men's marathon.  The dramatic event, broadcasted on ABC and the source of one of the most famous sporting lines of all time was the spark of what would eventually become known as the running boom of the 1970s.  The television broadcast of the marathon brought the sport of long-distance running into the living rooms of millions across the United States, and changed people's perceptions of what the sport could be (or educated them- many people had never even heard of a marathon).

Steve Prefontaine

At the same time, other well-known runners were skyrocketing the popularity of running.  Perhaps the most celebrated is Steve Prefontaine- the young running prodigy from Coos Bay, Oregon who never lost a single race in his NCAA career at the University of Oregon, and who ultimately died tragically at the age of 24.  

Prefontaine (also known affectionately as "Pre") was a middle and long distance runner who won 120 of the 153 races he ran, and at one point held the American record in seven different track events.  Unlike other runners who typically mesmerize crowds, Prefontaine didn't run elegantly or smoothly; rather, he made a show of the immense effort he put into his craft, and often looked "ravaged" by the end of a race.  Known for his mustache and long hair, Pre quickly became a recognizable and iconic figure in the running community.

Oh, and his coach was the legendary Bill Bowerman, who you might know as the co-founder of Nike.   You may know that it was Bowerman who first designed and manufactured the classic waffled Nike sole pattern, but did you know that he actually used his wife's waffle iron (and eventually ruined it) to achieve the effect?  Bowerman employed many of his running protegees (including Prefontaine) at the company- thus truly merging the sport and the product.
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Many long distance runners enjoy competing because it provides an opportunity to challenge and better oneself- it's both an introspective and exhilarating endeavor.  It's true that you're always racing against yourself.

Those unfamiliar with the sport may associate it with solitude, or a lack of the comradery-building teamwork associated with sports like soccer or football.  But ultimately, running is about the community- the people who run every day and know how challenging it is to do so.  This quality has been a prominent element of the sport since its start.  Prefontaine was good friends with both Bowerman and Shorter, and on a much grander scale fought for the rights of all amateur athletes.  And perhaps more importantly, he was most assuredly a fixture in his community of Northeastern Oregon: a testament to the fact that, like so many other things in the 70s, the running boom was a grassroots movement that transformed the nation.

Women, Music, & the 70s: A Tapestry

"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.  

Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning."

- Gloria Steinem, feminist icon

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... there I was, researching Steve Prefontaine quotes for the post I had planned to write on the 1970s running boom when "It's Too Late" by Carole King came on Pandora. As I cheerfully bobbed along, an exceptionally distressing thought crossed my mind- "Oh my God. I haven't written about any women."

This I am sorry to say, is true.  Over the span of five months of blogging and seven posts on seventies culture, I never once talked at length about any influential women from the decade.  Suffice it to say I was mortified by this discovery. Today I am going to right my wrongs.

Being one of the millions of women who have reaped innumerable benefits from the second-wave feminist movement that flourished in the seventies, I feel it's my privilege (and the least I can do) to tell you a bit about my favorite women of the decade.  And because it was the superb voice of Carole King that informed me of my worrisome forgetfulness (and because it seems that I have a penchant for writing about musicians anyway) I figure it's only fitting that this week I'm writing about the women who ruled the radio in the seventies- specifically two of the most widely celebrated songwriters of the decade: Carole King and Joni Mitchell.

Prefontaine will have to wait. This post is all about the girls.
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Carole King

Carole King is perhaps best known for her album Tapestry, which held the number one spot on the Billboard 200 for 15 consecutive weeks in 1971 and has since sold over 25 million copies worldwide.  Her earnest harmonies made her a leading figure in the singer-songwriter explosion of the early 70s (along with longtime friend and collaborator James Taylor).

The seventies were a time when people were searching for a message they could hold onto. King drew inspiration from the ubiquitous uneasiness caused by the Vietnam War and mixed that with her own personal turmoil (volatile relationships, mainly) to craft songs so authentic that they spoke to nearly everyone, making her music as much a product of the decade as of her own pen and piano.

What I find most endearing about King is that she  didn't start out looking for stardom- she was originally a writer. She and her then-husband Gerry Goffin penned hit after hit for famous bands and singers throughout the sixties (most notably "Natural Woman," Aretha Franklin's soaring power ballad). King has been the brains behind over 100 Billboard entries and has gone on to record many of those hits herself.  And in the seventies, her natural look and bold, untouched curls redefined what a beautiful woman could look like at a time when supermodels were on the rise.

Perhaps best summed up by George Scott, the director of a biographical documentary on the singer, the secret to King's mass appeal lies in the idea that "her music is literally the soundtrack to so many people's lives. People always wanted to be singers, but there are a handful of people who can be an Aretha or a Barbra Streisand.  But you believe you could be Carole King."

What you should listen to: "I Feel the Earth Move", "It's Too Late", "So Far Away"

Best Lyrics:

So far away

Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore

It would be so fine to see your face at my door

Doesn't help to know you're just time away

- "So Far Away"

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Joni Mitchell

My first introduction to Joni Mitchell was in Love Actually- specifically, the scene in which Emma Thompson's character Karen tells her husband "Joni Mitchell is the woman who taught your cold English wife how to feel." A rendition of Mitchell's hit "Both Sides Now" is subsequently featured in the film's iconic and most heartbreaking scene.

Unsurprisingly, Mitchell's music nearly becomes its own character in the movie, a telling detail that I think highlights her ability to create music that is truly about capturing the essence of people.  Mitchell hit her stride in the 70s, but her music adapts to new stories wherever it goes.



Where King ricocheted off of the tensions of the world with her comforting lyrics, Mitchell found inspiration closer to home in the communities she lived, particularly New York.  Mitchell has said that she used to just walk down the streets of New York, taking it all in because "there are a thousand stories in a single block... you hear the songs immediately."




Her songs are of the singer-songwriter variety, but with a significant bohemian twist that makes her songs uniquely hers and infuses them with a literary quality- almost more akin to poetry than pop.  Like King, Mitchell's work inspired and challenged many of the male singers of the decade (she dated both David Crosby and Graham Nash, of CSN, as well as James Taylor).

What you should listen to: "Chelsea Morning", "Big Yellow Taxi", "Free Man in Paris"

Best Lyrics:

Tears and fears and feeling proud,

To say "I love you" right out loud

Dreams and schemes and circus crowds,

I've looked at life that way

But now old friends they're acting strange

They shake their heads, they say I've changed

Well something's lost, but something's gained

In living every day

- "Both Sides Now"

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Of course, Carole King and Joni Mitchell were by no means alone. There were scores of other female singers who paved the way in one of many male-dominated industries:  Linda Ronstadt-- the country-pop star who can basically take credit for creating the Eagles. Carly Simon-- singer of the instant classic "You're So Vain", onetime wife of James Taylor, icon of the sexual liberation movement.  Stevie Nicks-- a singer and performer so talented that her solo career somehow matched her time in the mega-popular band Fleetwood Mac. (just to name a few)

These independent performers proved that women could be gifted storytellers capable of holding their own in the world.  They sang wildly different songs and possessed one-of-a-kind voices, but they all were connected to each other in some way.  They played at the Troubadour, they lived in the legendary Laurel Canyon, they overlapped boyfriends and husbands.  But on a deeper level, they all sang with a striking authenticity that comes from listening. They listened to their own experiences, to their peers, to the energy of the world, and then they crafted stories that unified people.

In many ways, the rise of the independent female singer mirrored the feminist movement that was gaining ground throughout the country.  In the seventies, women from all races, sexualities, and backgrounds came together to fight for the ERA  and to break free from the restraints of the "51% minority."  The seventies were the decade that feminism became mainstream, an idea cemented  in 1975, when Time awarded their "Man of the Year" award to "American Women."

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I think Emma Thompson got it right in Love Actually: songs like "So Far Away" and "Both Sides Now" pull the emotion out of you.  They prompt you to sing along. They elicit standing ovations. In small yet persistent ways, music makes us feel,  makes us empathize, makes us question standards, inspires us towards change. And in order to make music, we need to listen.

People will tell you where they've gone

They'll tell you where to go

But until you get there yourself you never really know

- "Amelia", Joni Mitchell

Coppola & Lucas: 70s Cinematic Superstars

Last semester I touched upon the "golden age" of cinema in the 1970s, focusing on films that I believe capture the shifting political and social climate of the decade, particularly the Godfather films (Parts I and II) and Star Wars (1977).  Today, I want to discuss the people behind the camera.

George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola
source: American Zoetrope

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"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

Francis Ford Coppola

Amazingly, the first film Francis Ford Coppola ever directed for the big screen also turned out to be his most well-known.  Despite facing disheartening difficulties with movie giant Paramount, whose executives detested his choice of Marlon Brando for the role of Vito Corleone, Coppola ended up creating one of the most stirring and impactful films of all time.

Of course, I'm talking about 1972's mafia epic The Godfather.

Vito and his cat

Coppola's first major movie catapulted him into movie-making fame, launched the career of Hollywood great Al Pacino, and earned the coveted title of Best Picture at the 45th annual Academy Awards.  And while The Godfather is a truly amazing movie, none of these accolades really make Coppola stand out from the scores directors who also make great movies and win Oscars.

Coppola cemented his reputation for movie magic three years later, when in 1975 his sequel, The Godfather Part II (1974), again took the Oscar for Best Picture.  It marked the first time a sequel had ever won best picture, and the only time an original and its sequel both won the award.  Various critics consider the second Godfather movie to be the better of the two (a sentiment I do not endorse), and TV Guide ranks it as the best movie of all time.   What's more, Coppola began the tradition of numbered sequels with his straightforward movie title.

Everything was on the up and up for the director, and then, in the words of my high school film teacher, he "went crazy" following the success of his previous films and directed 1979's Apocalypse Now- an adaption  of Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness that offers harrowing and bleak insights to the Vietnam War.  While the film was a huge success both critically and commercially, its production is infamous for such mishaps as severe weather, Martin Sheen's on-camera mental breakdown, and an "overweight and unprepared" Marlon Brando wreaking havoc on set.  In the words of Coppola himself "we were in the jungle... we had access to too much money, too much equipment and little by little, we went insane."

Maybe it was the craziness of Apocalypse Now or the intimidating legacy of The Godfather films, but regardless, 1979 marked the end of Coppola's golden age in Hollywood.  His biggest films are perfectly contained within the decade, making his work a quintessential part of 70s cinema.

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"The Force is strong with this one."

George Lucas

The original Star Wars (now Star Wars Episode IV- A New Hope) enjoys the distinction of being the third highest-grossing film of all time.  And its director, George Lucas, enjoys the distinction of being the man behind the cultural phenomenon.  The story of misfit-turned jedi Luke Skywalker has captured the imagination of millions of moviegoers since it first took to the screen in 1977, but it's a story that almost wasn't told.

At the time of Star Wars' conception, 20th Century Fox had recently disbanded their visual effects department, making the complicated filming of the movie nearly impossible.  Faced with dim prospects, Lucas took matters into his own hands and assembled a crew of ragtag technicians who would eventually become Industrial Light and Magic- the company that effectively revolutionized filmmaking and continues to do so into the 21st century.

Thanks to Lucas's ingenuity, films like Iron Man, E.T., and Pirates of the Caribbean have been able to dazzle audiences with their special effects, and ILM claims both Pixar and photoshop as products of its creativity.

Moreover, Lucas's exhilarating space opera has become an important cultural link between generations and was a major player in the developing "blockbuster" movement of late-70s film.  So what was Lucas's next step after Star Wars won six Academy Awards? Intriguingly, he decided to take a break from directing, and from 1977 to 1999 focused instead on producing such hits as Indiana Jones and the perennial classic The Land Before Time.

Despite maintaining a strong cultural presence throughout the years, Lucas too may best be encapsulated in the decade in which he found success as an innovator and visionary- in a time that both embraced and reflected his colorful characters and resilient themes.
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"It's funny how the colors of the real world 

only seem really real when you watch them on a screen."

- Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange

What do a brooding master of film noir and a fantasy-loving "Disney Legend" (it's a thing) have in common, besides their shared decade?  In some ways, the two couldn't be more different.  They cater to different age groups, different tastes, and even different ideas of what a 'good movie' should be.  Where Star Wars and Indiana Jones are fun, exuberant films best enjoyed with good company and copious amounts of popcorn, trying to stomach anything while watching Sonny Corleone get ripped to shreds in a hail of bullets (or a Cambodian tribe actually disembowel a real live water buffalo) would be quite the challenge.

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But George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola share the fate of being identified almost exclusively with one 'brand' of their films.  For Coppola, it's The Godfather- for Lucas, of course, Star Wars. And while vastly different, these films are both epics in their own, unique ways.

All of time's chapters have their uncertainties, but few are as defined by them as the seventies are-- and this unique trait left the moods of the decade up to artists' interpretations.  For Coppola, the harshness and corruptibility of capitalism set the tone for his devastating masterpiece of a family slowly torn to pieces by the pitfalls of power. His work is dark and authentic, and while it doesn't take its viewers to "a galaxy far, far away," the values by which the Corleones live do force us to imagine a new and harrowing vision of the American Dream.

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Lucas went a different route- dreaming up a story filled with robots and aliens, space travel and heroic missions- but ultimately his tale of a lost kid who goes on to accomplish amazing things inspired a simple message of hope that outlined the     possibility for the future.

Ultimately, Lucas and Coppola made distinct and lasting impacts on the world of cinema, along with the likes of Spielberg and Scorcese, all of whom are figures of the 'New Hollywood' era that lead to the seventies earning its reputation as the golden age of cinema.

And the context of their work carries important meaning even today.  When struggling to come to terms with the stifling and quite simply frightening uncertainty that is all too prevalent in the world, we would all do well to remember the power of artistic expression, its ability to take raw emotions and fashion them into something beautiful,  and the effect that this can have on changing minds, feelings, and even history- just as it did in the 1970s.
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Thanks for reading and See you back here next week!

p.s. -- if you've been feeling down about yourself, you can take comfort in the fact that you didn't seriously consider titling your blog post "Lucas and Coppola: 'Star-Gods' of Cinema," like I may or may not have (evidently my creativity ends at the joys of reconstructing compound words)