Comments on: Human BE-In Lacks Sincerity

By: Elucidarian

Elucidarian — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:24:02 +0000

I’ll second Marie’s note that credit should be given to the invitation of relevant speakers. It does not aid their causes to diminish the event as a whole. As for the publicity factor, the HAIR production no doubt benefits from having valid activists appear on the same billing. We could label this is a disingenuous ploy. We could also applaud Klipfel and his troupe for using the event as an excuse to remind people of the show’s origins, to bridge the fiction with the fact. I don’t which is truer, if either, but there is a choice to be cynical or optimistic.

By: Marie Strinden

Marie Strinden — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:33:34 +0000

I’m confused about why you say “real issues were discussed in spite of the fact that the event was pure publicity.” Yes, the Be-In was planned in conjunction with HAIR, but two of the main draws of the Be-In were the speakers: Jason Schaefer’s talk about wind energy and David Monson’s talk about industrialized Hemp. Both are issues that were singled out by event organizers to be highlited at the Be-In, and these issues were discussed because of the event, not in spite of it.

I wish you had interviewed Ben Klipfel, the organizer of the event. His voice is largely missing from your article, and I think he could have cleared up many of your misconceptions about this event- mostly your claim that it was a fluffy publicity stunt.

As for your dislike of street theater- you call it a “sham”- street theater has surrounded political climates for centuries- notably during the French Revolution and including 1967 San Francisco- and Klipfel and his cast deciding to break-down the fourth wall was a continuation of this tradition. They took the still relevant issues of HAIR out on the streets- to the people.

Finally, Aaron Quaday is a friend and a smart, truly good person, but your wish that he would have spoken about health care reform is off topic. Just because the organizers chose topics you wouldn’t have chosen and not health care reform, this doesn’t mean the event wasn’t a success. It just means you would have organized it differently.

The event you wanted to see couldn’t have existed- Grand Forks is not San Francisco, we are not living in 1967, the Ramblers are not the Grateful Dead, and the Town Square is not 10K Lakes. The Be-In, as it turned out, was a family event that mixed fun with social awareness. Bravo to Ben Klipfel, Jason Schaefer, David Monson, the North River Ramblers, and the cast of HAIR for taking part in the Be-In with such enthusiasm. Grand Forks needs more events like this- and more street theater- to bring us closer to matching the culture found in places like San Francisco.

By: Elucidarian

Elucidarian — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:05:46 +0000

It was a funny event, I’ll agree. However, this is a staple of the Grand Forks counter-culture. We’re such a safe community, those who do sport an alternative lifestyle or political stance, however sincere, tend to appear as a token demographic for social movements at large. Any note of desperation or urgency is blunted by the mild and homogeneous nature of the region’s population. We’re just not a hotbed of societal ills and political unrest (not that there aren’t issues swept under the rug of our collective psyche).

So, we take what we can get. Fake hippies at worst ridicule the originals and at best inspire some real grasp of freedom’s value. The danger of portraying a cultural revolution in fictitious song and dance, bordering on trivialization, exists if the intended audience forgets the associated ideals were born of something real. It is the irony of radicalism to eradicate purpose through acceptance.

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