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The Monkees starred in Head, one of the most bizarre movies ever made by famous musicians. One member of the group isn’t sure what Head is about, but he has a theory. Regardless, Head is a hugely important movie.

The Monkees’ movie ‘Head’ was a middle finger to Hollywood

The Monkees were created by the producer duo of Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider. The band had a TV sitcom that was fun for the whole family. Rafelson and Schneider were also behind The Monkees’ only theatrical movie, Head. While the TV show was accessible, Head is a bizarre arthouse surrealist film that doesn’t really have a plot so much as a series of vaguely connected vignettes. After dipping their toes into the world of high art with Head, Rafelson and Schneider gave us two critically acclaimed independent movies with Jack Nicholson: Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces. Those movies helped usher in a new era of Hollywood.

During a 2022 interview with Variety, The Monkees’ Micky Dolenz discussed Head in the context of Rafelson and Schneider’s partnership. “Now, I’m not always sure what Head was about, but I have a theory,” he said. “Do you remember the scene where Mike, Teri Garr, and I are doing this Western scene within the film, and I’m getting arrows fired at me by Indians?”

“Well, in that scene, I got hit by four fake arrows,” he added. “Then I stand up, yank the arrows out of my chest and yell ‘Bob. I’m fed up. I’m not going to do this anymore.’ Then I bust through the scrim into another set and walk out. That, to me, is metaphorical about what the movie is about and what they were about — busting through the old school, traditional Hollywood system.”

The movie showcased the director’s innovative personality

Dolenz gave fans insight into who Rafelson was as an artist. “That was Bob. Busting down the old ways for something new,” he said. “He helped tear down the walls to essentially almost single-handedly create a new independent Hollywood film industry.”

The success of Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces helped to create the modern indie film. Before those movies, people tended to associate independent films with silly B-movies like The Blob, Robot Monster, and Plan 9 from Outer Space. Rafelson made independent films more intelligent than they ever were before. If you have ever enjoyed a movie by Quentin Tarantino or A24, you can thank Rafelson and the Prefab Four.

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The Monkees helped create the modern indie movie

Head remains popular among both fans of The Monkees and fans of the avant-garde. While it has a strong cult following, few critics seem to appreciate how much Head paved the way for modern independent cinema. You don’t have to enjoy, much less understand, what is going on in Head to admit that it is one of the most important movies from the 1960s. It certainly mattered a lot more than any of the movies made by Elvis Presley or The Beatles around the same time, even if it’s not as famous as Viva Las Vegas or Yellow Submarine.

We might not know what Head was supposed to mean, but we know what impact it had on American movies.

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