Throughout the years of research into Camilla Hall and the SLA, I developed an affinity for the 1970s. I was born in 1974 and have some memories of the last couple of years of the decade. I appreciate movies and books that help me learn more about that time.
Some of my favorites:
Movies
The Company You Keep, a film about a former 1970s radical who is living underground. Then his way of life is threatened and he goes on the run. The movie stars Robert Redford, Shia LeBeouf, and Susan Sarandon and is based on The Weather Underground movement.
Argo, starring Ben Affleck. This story is set during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979. Affleck plays a CIA agent who puts together an elaborate plot to rescue Americans who are held hostage.
Both of these movies came out in the last ten years, which suggests that the public is still intrigued by the political drama of the 1970s. I hope this bodes well for my book.
All the President’s Men. Do movies get any better than this?
A few other great resources on the 1970s
- Munich (the film and the book are both tremendous)
- 1973 Nervous Breakdown by Andreas Killen
- “Bag Man,” a podcast about Spiro Agnew
I still contend the 1970s was one of America’s strangest and most bizarre decades. If you remember the 1970s well, was it really as bizarre as I think it was?
If You Have Five Seconds to Spare 
I lived in London and Australia in the mid-70s and I don’t recall it being especially bizarre, but perhaps it’s normal to think that if you were living through it?
It was certainly a time of great social change, but that might be true for every decade. Also, things might have been different in the US.
I haven’t seen Argo, but Ben Affleck looks exactly like my nephew does now, which is spooky.
Perhaps London and Australia were spared some of the weirdness! Your nephew must be very handsome 🙂