A Ritual of Love and Peace: Finding Identity in Taking Woodstock

• Main Authors: Wei-cheng Peng, 彭韋誠
• Other Authors: Whitney Crothers Dilley
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/96404375034535824413

碩士 === 世新大學 === 英語學研究所(含碩專班) === 99 === Taking Woodstock is filmed by Ang Lee in 2009, and it is based on a true story of Elliot Tiber’s autobiography of the same name. Ang Lee uses his own technique to reconstruct the background of the late 1960s. In the late 1960s, the rise of anti-war and self-consciousness makes people move forward and face themselves. Because of the Vietnam War, people live in a hard time at that moment. The Woodstock concert is like a musical ritual about love and peace. The concert makes people find their direction for life and their identities. The Woodstock concert is not only a music ceremony, but also something more powerful that infiltrates people’s mind. This paper will prove that the Woodstock concert is regarded as a ritual symbolism to help people find their goal and direction in future life and help Elliot Tiber discover his queer identity. The Woodstock concert is a kind of symbolism that makes people to find their identities in this hard time. For Elliot, the Woodstock concert makes him find his queer identity and the new direction of his future life. In the first part of this paper, the essay will discuss how Ang Lee reconstructed the background and the culture in the late 1960s in Taking Woodstock and why Ang Lee wants to make this film. The second part will discuss what kind of effective trauma brings to people from the Vietnam War and why it is so important for Americans that the culture of popular music shows people’s attitude toward life and reflects people’s emotions to music. As a kind of symbolism of love, peace, and hope, the phrase “taking Woodstock” has deeper meaning in this movie. The meaning of this phrase, “taking Woodstock”, makes Elliot Tiber find his identity and makes him understand that he is a homosexual. In this part, Michel Foucault’s theory, From the History of Sexuality will be used to discuss Elliot’s queer identity. The last part will discuss how the Woodstock concert affects other people in this movie. For example, the role of Billy, a soldier who had been in the Vietnam War will be discussed by Stuart Hall’s ideas, Questions of Cultural Identity will be used to illuminate Billy’s personal struggle. Because of the concert, Billy does not live in the fear of war; he remembers his wonderful time before the war, and he is not confused anymore. For Elliot’s parents, the concert makes them work together and open their mind to be honest to each other. In addition, because Elliot and his parents are diasporic Jews, when Elliot plans to hold the Woodstock concert, he and his parents are criticized by the residents in the town. But with the success of “taking Woodstock,” Elliot and his parents gradually find their identity in the town. For human beings, the concert makes all people understand that Woodstock concert is not only a concert, but a symbol of love and peace to make people find hope.