Author: Heidi Greco (Anvil Press, 2021)
During the early 1970s, Hollywood experienced a transformation of thematic motives and ideas in the performing arts. More specifically, movies—as well as TV shows and music—began to change popular culture by responding to ongoing issues pivotal in American life and politics in a boldly critical manner.
Hal Ashby’s 1971-movie, Harold and Maude, falls under this very category—the plot focusing on a forbidden love affair between a young, lost man and an old woman. But at a deeper level, the movie deals with critical issues such as trauma, the Freudian theme of Eros and Thanatos, the dance between love for life and desire for death, the absurdity of war, criticism of the establishment with all its political and religious connotations, and questioning societal norms.