We've got birthdays: today is the birthday of businessman Warren Buffet, cartoonist Robert Crumb, comedian Lewis Black, former Boston Celtic forward Robert Parish, and actress Cameron Diaz. Sadly, today also marks the 1979 death of the actress Jean Seberg (Breathless).
Bob Dylan's album Highway 61 Revisited was released on this date in 1965. Containing classic songs such as Like A Rolling Stone and Ballad of a Thin Man, as well as the nearly 11-and-a-half-minute, stream-of-consciousness epic, Desolation Row, the album captured the chaotic political and cultural gestalt of the times. Author Michael Gray has argued that, in a certain sense, the "1960s" started with this album.
Thirty-four years later, the world premier of the movie Fight Club was held on September 10, 1999. With a theme of conflict between Generation X and the value system of advertising, Fight Club was cited as one of the most controversial and talked-about films of 1999. The Guardian saw it as an omen for change in American political life, and The New York Times dubbed it the "defining cult movie of our time."
Instead of Labor Day, perhaps we should commemorate these two definitive 20th Century artworks documenting class struggle and alienation with a combined holiday on the last Monday of each August.
Thirty-four years later, the world premier of the movie Fight Club was held on September 10, 1999. With a theme of conflict between Generation X and the value system of advertising, Fight Club was cited as one of the most controversial and talked-about films of 1999. The Guardian saw it as an omen for change in American political life, and The New York Times dubbed it the "defining cult movie of our time."
Instead of Labor Day, perhaps we should commemorate these two definitive 20th Century artworks documenting class struggle and alienation with a combined holiday on the last Monday of each August.
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