History Commons^™

The Early Beats: Humanity And Machinery, James A. Winders

Honors Theses

The beatnik has been a favorite character in American films and television in recent years. Somewhere in the lost shuffle of Jerry Lewis movies is found a scene containing typical Hollywood treatment of the bohemian of the 1950's. A "square," i.e., a "normal" person, finds himself in a smoky tomb-like cafe featuring the props necessary to represent a "beatnik scene:" expresso coffee, unwashed, bearded men wearing sweatshirts, dungarees, and sneakers accompanied by classic beatnik "chicks" (female bohemians) with long, straight hair, an abundance of dark eye shadow, perhaps sunglasses, and, of course, they are clad entirely in black. Without fail, …