Beat documentary goes directly to ‘The Source’
■ “The Source” examines
the Beat Generation using
a simplistic yet passionate
approach and focus
The Source
Documentary about the Beat Generation;
interview footage with Jack Kerouac, Allen
Ginsberg and William Burroughs, among
others. Directed by Chuck Workman. Win
Star Cinema.
★★★★☆
By jack Clifford
Oregon Daily Emerald
“The Source,” a new documen
tary by Chuck Workman, is close
to being a perfect example of the
genre.
The film elicits thoughtful in
sights from its subjects with
amusing anecdotal tales or off
the-cuff comments, while balanc
ing its factual, mostly linear na
ture with broad strokes of
unrestrained passion.
The entire time, Workman dab
bles in just enough poignancy to
remind viewers that human be
ings are at the heart of his project,
but we never feel manipulated by
the technique.
The fact that this documen
tary’s focus is the Beat Generation
— with spotlights on Jack Ker
ouac, Allen Ginsberg, William
Burroughs and Neal Cassady, the
movement’s widely recognized
originators — makes “The
Source” all the more worth some
serious finger snapping.
The Beats were a group of po
ets who were well-known for re
belling against conservatism and
conformity, society’s overwhelm
ing traits in the late ’40s and early
'50s. Yet. the core group never re
ally wanted to change society.
They just wanted to do their own
thing and they wanted to talk
about it using cool lingo.
On most levels, Workman’s
film is simplistic in its approach.
He approaches the subject matter
through combined recent and
archival interviews with the main
figures and then complements
those comments with interviews
from the somewhat more periph
eral contributors to the Beat cul
ture — for example, Jerry Garcia,
Phillip Glass, Bob Dylan, Norman
Mailer and Timothy Leary all toss
in their colorful perceptions and
recollections.
Locals will appreciate the heavy
screen time accorded Pleasant Hill
resident and noted ffterry
Prankster Ken Kesey, whose novel
“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s*
Nest’’ bridged the gap between the
Beat and hippie generations.
Yet, Workman also digs be
neath the surface of his muses’
motives and thought processes,
sometimes in almost indis
cernible manner.
During one scene with Bur
roughs for instance, the self-pro
claimed drug addict is asked why
he has tortured his body and
mind so much throughout the
years. The camera catches the au
thor’s bemused look that he sub
stitutes for an answer, one that
conveys a sense of sympathy to
ward the querist for not appreci
ating or understanding what that
lifestyle produced.
Cou rtesy WinStar Cinema
jack Xerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs anchor Chuck Workman’s documentary “The Source,” which examines the
societal and artistic impact of the Beat Generation. The movie opens Friday at the Bijou Art Cinemas.
There is no surprise here that
the beat poets and authors are in
triguing. Anyone who has ever
read Kerouac’s seminal beat offer
ing “On The Road” or Ginsberg’s
poem “Howl” will be drawn to
this film due to a thirst for a more
complete picture.
Workman weaves key facts and
dates throughout the film, as well,
without the information coming
across as static. Viewers can al
most envision Kerouac and Gins
berg meeting for the first time in
1944 at Columbia University,
while Burroughs — already
hooked on heroin — circles the
pair in a destined convergence.
Workman recruited a trio of
Hollywood stars to read excerpts
from the Beat authors’ literary col
lections, which adds a more con
temporary feel to “The Source.”
In perhaps the most brilliant
and inspired reading, actor John
Turturro brings alive Ginsberg’s
“Howl.” Turturro is shown pac
ing on a Brooklyn rooftop in the
middle of a freezing night, while
his impassioned recitation ex
plodes on the screen.
Dennis Hopper, as might be ex
pected, is given the task of verbal
izing several of Burroughs’ selec
tions to the audience. Hopper
embodies Burroughs’ frenzied,
hallucinogenic literary style.
Unfortunately Johnny Depp’s
attempts at conveying the same
liveliness to Kerouac’s work fall
short. In a way, Depp comes
across as too cool, which in turn
caricaturizes his endeavors.
The Beat Generation receives
deserved credit for influencing
other counter-culture movements
and figures. Without Ginsberg
and Burroughs laying down a
foundation, would Andy
Warhol’s impact on pop culture
* have been so compelling?
In addition, Workman inter
sperses amusing outtakes from
television’s golden era relating to
the Beats. Yet the scope of Work
man’s subject matter becomes
clear when an old TV clip shows
an animated character from “The
Flintstones,” wearing the essen
tial Beat look — black clothes,
black beret and a little goatee.
Hey, if the scene is groovy
enough for Bedrock, the rest of us
will get a kick out of it, as well.
“The Source” opens Friday at
the Bijou Art Cinemas.
Controversy over museum censorship has positive effect
■ The Grants Pass Museum
of Art closed but reopened
in a more community
accessible location
By Sara Jarrett
Oregon Daily Emerald
Late last year, New York City
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani revoked
funding and closed an exhibit in
the Brooklyn Museum of Art be
cause it sponsored an exhibit us
ing cow dung to depict the Virgin
Mary.
The Christians and other critics
who vocalized their outrage said
they were disgusted by the blas
phemy, yet opposition to Giu
liani’s decision was high and the
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word “censorship” was used to
describe his act.
Closer to home, in Southern
Oregon, the division between
conservative and liberal thought
is most profound when the sub
ject is art. A battle over what
Grants Pass Museum of Art Direc
tor Don Brown calls that city’s at
tempt at censorship resulted in
the relocation of the museum in
February 1999.
Grants Pass Mayor Gordon An
derson maintains, however, that
the relocation wasn’t an issue of
him or the city council censoring
the museum.
He says the museum moved be
cause of eminent domain, which
means the government has the
power to take private property
when it is needed for some public
use. Anderson said the city’s at
torney read the clause as stating if
a private entity is housed in a
public building, it is subject to the
decisions of the people.
Anderson therefore draws a
distinction between banning ex
hibits because of citizens’ com
plaints and that of censorship.
“People complain about rapists
all the time,” he said. “Is that cen
sorship?”
What is clear, no matter whom
the mayor wants to blame, is that
the museum was forced to move
because of the threat of somebody
deciding what was to be dis
played on its walls. Even though
this debate began more than a
year ago, Brown says that the de
cision still evokes loathsome feel
ings in people who believe and
value the sanctity of art.
Brcrwn and Anderson do agree
on one aspect of this controversy:
The move has been the best thing
to happen to the museum and the
art community in Grants Pass.
Though it forfeited a spot in a
new $300,000 building, the muse
um’s disengagement from the city
resulted in a move to a better,
more accessible location.
“We threw everything out the
window, found a-space on the
second floor above a thrift store
and decided to forget the city
completely,” Brown said.
In one year, there has been an
increase from 10 to 12 visitors per
day to an average of 40 to 50,
Brown estimates. There are also
now on average 450 to 500 people
participating in the museum’s
First Friday Art Walk.
That number is up from 40 to
50 people who participated last
November. Brown says that, in
addition, more local artists than
ever before have decided to be
come museum members.
“[They] can now belong with
us and be separate at the same
time, something they didn’t feel
before,” he said.
This involvement means more
than just an influx of monetary
support. The increase in patron
age allows for a bigger member
ship show twice a year and a co
hesion of the citizens who speak
up against censorship.
“Giving the finger to the city
brought the art community to
gether and solidified art in this
town,” Brown said.
That solidarity has subsequent
ly created a greater polarization
between the non-censorship peo
ple and their opponents who are
cast in a familiar role.
“The mayor is strong Christian
right,” Brown said.
■ Incidentally, Anderson says he
also supported Giuliani’s deci
sion in New York.
Entertainment brief
Faculty authors give joint reading Jan. 18
Ehud Havazelet, the most recent recipient of the
Oregon Book Award for fiction, and novelist Grace
Talusan will give a joint reading on Jan. 18 at the Uni
versity as part of the Creative Writing Program Writ
ing Series.
The readings, free and open to the public, will be
gin at 8 p.m. in the Browsing room of the Knight Li
brary. A book signing will follow.
“Like Never Before,” Havazelet’s second collection
of short stories, earned him the 1999 H.L. Davis
Award for fiction in the Oregon Book Awards. Both
the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times had
called his collection of connected stories one of the
best books of 1998, and The Oregonian called it the
best regional book of the year.
Havazelet, the director of fiction for the Creative
Writing Program, is a graduate of Columbia Universi
ty and the famed Iowa Writer’s Workshop. He has
published fiction in such notable literary journals as
DoubleTake, The Southern Review and the New Eng
land Review.
Talusan, a recent graduate of the fiction writing
program at the University of California at Irvine, re
ceived an Oregon Humanities Center research grant to
spend time in the Philippines researching her novel
in-progress, “Like Any American Girl.” This reading
will be the first public appearance in Eugene for Talu
san, this year’s visiting writer in fiction at the Creative
Writing Program.
For more information, call 346-0544.