Another of our cheapo junk store DVDs - watched it the other night. The title had attracted me, and, with Cissy Spacek and Henry Winkler starring, how bad could it be? It turned out to be quite good, for a 1975 TV movie. It afforded a look at the USA during the 1960s and early 70s through the eyes of the lead character, Katy/Katherine. A little Google action threw up the fact that this TV film has been alternatively titled, and was known originally as Katherine - that title wouldn't have attracted this buyer nearly as much!
The story is factually based on the experiences of Diana Oughton, a girl from an old-established, very well-heeled, well-connected Michigan family. She was a stereotypical upper-class conservative-leaning university student in the beginning, turning sharp left in her loyalties after experiences teaching abroad. Back in the USA she eventually became part of The Weathermen, a violent revolutionary group. She was dead by age 28 after blowing herself up while constructing a bomb. That was the real character - more on her at Wikipedia and a good essay from 1970 at UPI Stories.
Interestingly (to me), Diana Oughton's birthdate was 26 January 1942. (Astrodatabank entry.) She was a far, far more extreme Aquarius Sun than yours truly (27 January different year, but close). She had three personal planets and ascendant in Aquarius, and three in Gemini: very Airy power-house of an intellect. She could've done, and been, just about anything she wished. It was a sad waste, but the times were wild and unpredictable, and she fit right in, sad to say.
A sidelight: I noticed on a couple of websites ( one here) indications that Diana Oughton was the girl friend of Bill Ayers who had connection to the writing of one of Barack Obama's books of memoirs (ghost-written some would have it). There is speculation that Diana was a large part of a composite of female characters described, in the book Dreams From My Father, as Obama's "New York girl friend".
The film, made for TV, strayed only slightly from the facts - mainly in the exact way the leading character died. It was rather odd in format, but it worked. There were frequent flashbacks and occasional faux interviews. Acting was good - I failed to recognise Henry Winkler, even though I'd seen his name on the DVD cover. I'm not sure whether his character, who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted to Vietnam, was meant to relate to anyone in real life.
We enjoyed the film. I'm always fascinated to discover what went on in the USA in the 1960s. Across the Universe, a favourite of mine, afforded a view of events, but from the perspective of an English lad, during a similar time span in the USA (with the added attraction of Beatles' music). I was in England, mostly unaware of dramatic, often tragic, turns of events in the USA. I had no TV, didn't read the newspapers much, and was going through dramas of my own, first from a bad marriage, then from jobs which entailed moving around the country every six months or so. It's only recently that I've fully caught up! Events in the US during that amazing period were more dramatic than many works of fiction from the same decade.
If a passing reader should happen upon a copy of The Radical or Katherine as it's titled in some cases, I can confirm that it'd be well worth a dollar, or even two.
The story is factually based on the experiences of Diana Oughton, a girl from an old-established, very well-heeled, well-connected Michigan family. She was a stereotypical upper-class conservative-leaning university student in the beginning, turning sharp left in her loyalties after experiences teaching abroad. Back in the USA she eventually became part of The Weathermen, a violent revolutionary group. She was dead by age 28 after blowing herself up while constructing a bomb. That was the real character - more on her at Wikipedia and a good essay from 1970 at UPI Stories.Interestingly (to me), Diana Oughton's birthdate was 26 January 1942. (Astrodatabank entry.) She was a far, far more extreme Aquarius Sun than yours truly (27 January different year, but close). She had three personal planets and ascendant in Aquarius, and three in Gemini: very Airy power-house of an intellect. She could've done, and been, just about anything she wished. It was a sad waste, but the times were wild and unpredictable, and she fit right in, sad to say.
A sidelight: I noticed on a couple of websites ( one here) indications that Diana Oughton was the girl friend of Bill Ayers who had connection to the writing of one of Barack Obama's books of memoirs (ghost-written some would have it). There is speculation that Diana was a large part of a composite of female characters described, in the book Dreams From My Father, as Obama's "New York girl friend".
The film, made for TV, strayed only slightly from the facts - mainly in the exact way the leading character died. It was rather odd in format, but it worked. There were frequent flashbacks and occasional faux interviews. Acting was good - I failed to recognise Henry Winkler, even though I'd seen his name on the DVD cover. I'm not sure whether his character, who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted to Vietnam, was meant to relate to anyone in real life.
We enjoyed the film. I'm always fascinated to discover what went on in the USA in the 1960s. Across the Universe, a favourite of mine, afforded a view of events, but from the perspective of an English lad, during a similar time span in the USA (with the added attraction of Beatles' music). I was in England, mostly unaware of dramatic, often tragic, turns of events in the USA. I had no TV, didn't read the newspapers much, and was going through dramas of my own, first from a bad marriage, then from jobs which entailed moving around the country every six months or so. It's only recently that I've fully caught up! Events in the US during that amazing period were more dramatic than many works of fiction from the same decade.
If a passing reader should happen upon a copy of The Radical or Katherine as it's titled in some cases, I can confirm that it'd be well worth a dollar, or even two.
