Luke
Gray
recent paintings
FLOWER CHILDREN
two American families, one white and
one black, who are torn apart by polit-
ical forces.
"The '60s" producer Lynda Obst
cherishes the times and the messages
of the miniseries.
"I identify most with Sarah
(Jordana Brewster)," says Obst, 48,
who began her film-journalism career
as editor/author of The Roltipg Stone
History of the Sixties.
February 6
March 6, 1999
Reception to meet the artist
Saturday, February
From
2 — 5:00
6, 1999
pm
David Klein Gallery
163 TOWNSEND BIRMINGHAM MI 48009
TELEPHONE 248.433.3700 FAX 248.433.3702
HOURS: MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY I I - 5:30
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29173
DETROIT JEWISH IIEWS
Northwestern, Southfield
FOR SALE
gridato al:
INTERNATIONAL NEWS PLUS
372 Oullette Avenue • Windsor, Canada
2/5 III
1999
Se Detroit Jewish News
from page 77
"I wa4rom
mine created exactly the way I intend-
ed. I know how hit or miss the bulls-
eye is. I think the thing that makes me
feel most alive in my work is when it
connects to thin g s I began to believe
back in the '60s."
One connection to the past echoes
through the music that includes
Motown songs and artists. "My Girl"
by the Temptations and "Can I Get a
Witness" by Marvin Gaye are on the
soundtrack.
"I think the music was one of the
critical factors in making [the minis-
eries] credible," says Obst, who labels
Westchester and ran awayro
Greenwich Village to find Bob Dylan.
Obst, who went on to produce
many films, including The;Fisher King,
This Is My Life and Sleep4 in
Seattle, worked with the screen-
writers page-by-page because her
own life was so intertwined with
the story.
"I think I probably have more
Jewish characters in this movie
than you ever get to see on net-
work television," says Obst. She
refers to minor characters,.such as
a young lawyer on a bus with free-
dom riders and rabbis caught up
with the civil rights marches, as
well as to major characters, includ-
ing Sarah and radical organizer
Kenny Klein (Jeremy Sisto).
"I think that we tried in some
Producer Linda Obst: "A closet hippie."
sense not to disguise the fact that
much of the action happened
herself a closet hippie. "I listen to the
from the margins, from the ethnic
soundtrack over and over. The music
sides of the street. The Jewish popula-
from the '60s is still my favorite."
tions were inspired [then], and
Obst's heroes of the past include
Catholic activism was [there].
Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King
Obviously, the African-American com-
Jr. and Abbie Hoffman. Today, her
munity was in a decade that trans-
heroes are scientists, because she feels it's
formed their hist-ory.,We didn't dis-
getting harder to find pUrity of values.
:-
guise any of that
While the producer remains com-
The Herlihys, a white, middle class
mitted to the issues that galvanized her
Catholic family, are central to the
in the '60s, she feels she has not been
drama. The differing directions of each
very successful in conveying the impact
member — and the tensions in their
of her decades-ago experiences to her
focus .attention on the
relationships
20-year-old son. She hopes he and
differing views express0 throughout the
viewers
across the country will become
American family. The Taylors, a black
more
in
touch through the miniseries.
family, reflect differing views about the
"I think the best that we can do is
best way to achieve racial equality.
just try to capture a small, visceral
The cast includes Cliff Gorman,
sense of what it was like to be there
Josh Hamilton, David Alan Grier,
and what it felt like to stand up and
Jerry O'Connell and Julia Stiles.
be counted," Obst says. "The point is
"There was a real sense that with
to try to remember the time without
your generation, with your peers, your
the filter of rancor — what was glori-
ideas could make a difference," Obst
ous,
what was fun and what was
recalls about her enchantment with
ridiculous. I hope this really starts
the times. "It was very much the
conversations, even just little ones,
forming of the sensibilities from
inside families."
which I work now. In many ways, the
women's adventure began in the '60s,
and that empowered me.
"The '60s" will be telecast 9-11
"Now, I know too much. I know
p.m. Sunday and Monday,
how hard it is to make a difference. I
Feb. 7-8, on WDIV-Channel 4.
know how hard it is to get a piece of
))