The thing that makes this movie work is not the testimony of the "designated spokesmen" who claim to carry on John Lennon's hard-core leftist "legacy." By and large these people are either hard core scam artists (i.e. Black Panthers with LOOONG criminal records pretending to "dig" nonviolence)or pathetic victims desperately clinging to lost illusions (i.e. poor crippled Ron Kovic still blaming the US government for the deadly aim of the determined NVA soldier who crippled him for life.)
Where the movie works is when it catches John Lennon being himself -- jumping for joy while out for a walk with Yoko, or arguing with a very posh lady journalist from the NEW YORK TIMES who basically tells him a working class lad has "no business having opinions about what educated people do." (Hard to believe the feminist movement was once run by such a selfish, spoiled white-bread elite -- no, actually it still is!)
Ironically, of all the talking heads there's only one who really seems to "get" John Lennon's attitude -- and it's actually the sole right wing guy they deigned to interview, G. Gordon Liddy. Liddy's got the Lennon attitude down perfect -- tell the truth and to hell with anyone who can't deal with it. His take on the shootings at Kent State is hands-down the most honest moment in the video, so raw and irreverent you can actually hear John Lennon howling with delight.
It's a shame Lennon and Liddy never got to party together.
Where the movie works is when it catches John Lennon being himself -- jumping for joy while out for a walk with Yoko, or arguing with a very posh lady journalist from the NEW YORK TIMES who basically tells him a working class lad has "no business having opinions about what educated people do." (Hard to believe the feminist movement was once run by such a selfish, spoiled white-bread elite -- no, actually it still is!)
Ironically, of all the talking heads there's only one who really seems to "get" John Lennon's attitude -- and it's actually the sole right wing guy they deigned to interview, G. Gordon Liddy. Liddy's got the Lennon attitude down perfect -- tell the truth and to hell with anyone who can't deal with it. His take on the shootings at Kent State is hands-down the most honest moment in the video, so raw and irreverent you can actually hear John Lennon howling with delight.
It's a shame Lennon and Liddy never got to party together.