American Pop, the story
by Claire Tapia, Outpost staff
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- It begins in czarist Russia in the early 20th century with the first of the chain of males as a young boy. The family escapes from Russia and goes to America, where the boy hangs out at a burlesque theatre under the families' small apartment. There, he gets his first peek into the world of music. When he gets older, he becomes a vaudeville performer and fathers a son with a singer. They live in the 20s, during prohibition, one of the most volatile times in U.S. history. The father eventually ends up in jail for his involvement with the mob and becomes the first in a string of strained father-son relationships.
- The second-generation male, Benny, ends up going to WWII and getting shot by a German soldier but only after he father s a son. The third generation male, Tony is given the most attention out of the four main characters. By the time that he grows up, it's the 50s and the beatnik scene is big. One night, Tony goes to a club and watches a poet perform Allan Ginsburg's "Howl." Shortly after, he decides to travel across country by hopping trains and stealing cars. He stops in Kansas for one night and ends up getting together with a waitress in a cornfield, who unbeknownst to Tony, becomes pregnant.
- After this, he moves to San Francisco where he joins up with the band Jefferson Airplane. Tony writes songs for the band and leads a pretty stereotypical 60s rocker-hippie life. This part of the movie is the most heavily laden with cliche scenes, which are interspersed with animated performances by Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane, which are pretty cool.
- While traveling with the band, Tony manages to meet Little Pete, the son that he fathered years before. Tony and Little Pete, who is about 10 years old, start hanging out together. Pete goes with Tony to California where they hustle so that Tony can buy drugs and Little Pete can have a guitar. Tony disappears shortly after and leaves Little Pete with a harmonica that belonged to Tony's father and a big package of cocaine with a message "not to sell it all in one place."
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The next time we hear from Little Pete, he's grown up into a smooth talking, cool walking drug dealer in the late 70s. Instead of psychedelic stage shows, he's hanging out in the new wave club scene, where piercings and neon clothing are all the rage. He plays piano and convinces on eof his drug contacts to let him play one of the songs he's written, which is none other than "Night Moves" by Pete Seger. He's an instant hit and the movie leaves him playing at a stadium in front of a huge audience.
Posted March 31 2000
Copyright 2000 Nevada Oupost
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