University of Virginia Library

Cinema

'Billy Jack': The Great Barefoot Incident

By PAUL CHAPLIN

Well here's a film for you to
think about. It's called "Billy
Jack," and it pretends to be the
heir to that monumental work,
"Easy Rider." I simply couldn't
believe all I was seeing on the
screen, not that it was unbelievable,
but that so damn much was
squeezed into so damn little.

The plot of the film includes
three or four story lines, but the
underlying theme of the film is the
bigotry of an Arizona town towards
the Indians and free thinking kids
of the area. The hero of both red
man and white student is Billy
Jack, a hot tempered half breed,
with a pair of lethal feet, that in
one scene wipe out ten thugs.

Tom Laughlin is a delightful
hothead, perfectly suited for the
title role. I have read that "T.C.
Frank," the director, and "Frank
Christina," the author are aliases
for Mr. Laughlin, and that "Teresa
Christina," the co-author is actually
Delores Taylor, who is Mrs.
Laughlin. (Ah, J. Edgar where are
your men; who is really responsible
for writing and directing this film?)

In addition to the great barefoot
episode, there's an interesting
enactment of the Shoeshine snake
ritual, in which a young man
endures repeated snakebites in
order to achieve manhood, and
enlightenment. (Ah, Ken Russell,
where were you?) If ancient sages
and oracles spoke as blandly as the
inspired Billy Jack does, it's no
wonder they were never listened to.

Freedom School

Delores Taylor fits into this
mess, portraying Jean, the founder
of Freedom School which is
situated on an Indian reservation.
Into her loving arms come countless
runaways to be greeted by a bland
monotone, preaching the virtues of
non-violence. Naturally, the heavies
in the film will be recognizable
stereotypes, such as the two-faced
bigot and his son, the child-man, a
punk who gets shafted in humorous
ways, such as driving his Sting Ray
into a lake. A new stereotype, the
young girl with a heart of gold and
the mouth of Ali McGraw, is
winningly portrayed by Julie Webb.

Good Message

The only good elements of
"Billy Jack" are the comedy scenes,
and the message. There is some
uproariously funny stuff going on
here, some of it being
improvisational, and some of it
intent on being serious, but looking
ludicrous, such as the town meeting
at which the Freedom School kids
voice their anxieties about being
forbidden to come into town.

The message of non-violence is
always timely, but after all we have
to sit through before we get to the
real meat of the film, the conflict
of the two protagonists' ideologies,
the performers and the story come
off as "strained seriousness." I
don't doubt that those were real
tears Miss Taylor shed in those final
moments of the film, but a
shoot-out over the right to run a
free-school, the right of a minor to
run away from her father, and the
death of an innocent Indian?

No Kisses

This is like "Easy Rider;" it's an
old-fashioned Western disguised
with long hair amplified rock, and
Hondas. Billy Jack isn't even
granted a kiss from Jean. Granted,
Westerns are great for black and
white moralities, but a sense of flair
helps, and "Billy Jack," with all the
good intentions of the people
involved, including the producers,
the National Student Film
Corporation (the what?), just
doesn't work as a serious statement
of conditions in America in the
70's.

(Now at the Paramount)