Growing Up in America

"How will he be now?" Once in a while everyone wonders about the old acquaintances with whom they have lost touch. This emotion caused Morley Markson to look up again the activists and hippies that played a prominent role in the 1960s, and about whom he had made the film Breathing together: Revolution of the Electric Family, in 1969. Growing up in America is the result of this renewed encounter. It turns out that many people have gone through a complete metamorphosis in twenty years. One of them is Jerry Rubin. He used to be painted with war colours and determined to overthrow the system; nowadays, he is an entrepreneur voting for the Republicans. And yet, Markson does not believe that anyone appearing in the film has really changed. "Why do people think they can change themselves, all the genetic material remains the same," he states. No doubt, this holds for Abbie Hoffman who was charged with wearing a T-shirt, made from the American flag in the 1960s. These days, as a comedian he still criticizes the establishment: "If Bush wins the election, I will go to Canada." But the fact that Bush has a good chance of winning makes even Hoffman desperate at times.
Markson has approached the main characters with a well-balanced and loving camera. Thus, he has managed to avoid a smooth and easy 'then-and-now' editing. By this, by this better justice is done to the question of what constitutes their identity and what is left of their 'old selves' after all those years. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)