Last weekend I went to visit Haight Ashbury for the first time and was shocked by what I saw.
So, Haight Ashbury is supposed to be one of the hearts of the hippie movement. It has so much rich history and deep political and social roots in the summer of love. But what happened?
All I saw when I was there was smoke shops and tie dye t-shirts. One homeless man asked me "hey do you need some dank dank," a hand outreached with a mason jar full of weed. What the hell. Outside of Ben and Jerry's there is a fake Haight Ashbury sign that tourists were selfies with, Cherry Garcia cone cameo of course. There was also a remarkable number of Tibetian and Napali stores. OKAY NO BUT SINCE WHEN ARE TIBETAN SKIRTS HIPPIE? Am I missing something? Please correct me if I am. It was block after block of people just trying to make a buck. Or tourists walking out of a smoke shop with a way overpriced bong with a Haight Ashbury sticker on it. I think we talked a little bit about this in class a while back when talking about Reclaiming San Fransisco.
Does anything else feel like this about anywhere else? I know I read a blog post a while back about Kerouac alley being a bit of a let down. It's pretty depressing, but I suppose times change. But then that makes me think, where did all of the real hippies go? Are they in hiding? Where did all of this tye die come from?
I think its interesting that you bring up the point of tourism and consumerism. People want to feel that sense of authenticity that was once there. Perhaps thats why we tend to see hipsters smoking weed and wearing tie die. San Francisco Natives poke fun at the fact that Haight and Asbury has become a tourist location. I wonder though what were your expectations when visiting?
ReplyDeleteI, too, am genuinely interested in maybe what it was that you had imagined/expected/hoped for in visiting Haight/Ashbury?
ReplyDeleteWhen I first visited SF years back, I did notice right away the very co-opted, consumerist feeling of the area. But I guess the problem for me is that I have never really been a big fan of the "hippy" ideal. I guess I just have more reverence for the '68 crowd and the more radical elements. To me, the "hippy" image always seemed to be mostly that - an image. Something that could be easily commodified and sold. "Free love" is great and all, but it also seems somewhat narcissistic and privileged. White folks were preaching free love and peace in a country and city divided along the fault line of two very different realities. But I am sure I am very much oversimplifying the ideas here.
What is it that draws you to the hippies? What are/were the main tenets, in your view, of what the hippies represented/stood for?