‘WE WANT THE WORLD AND WE WANT IT NOW’: JIM MORRISON AS ‘GUIDING SPIRIT’ OF THE YOUTH COUNTERCULTURE
Proceedings of the 5th Arts & Humanities Conference, Copenhagen July 30, 2019 Kylo-Patrick R. Hart
Jim Morrison, lead vocalist of The Doors, became an icon of 1960s hippie counterculture rebellion, embodying the generation gap between youth seeking change and older authority figures. His outspoken views, bohemian lifestyle, rebellious personality, unpredictable performances, drug and alcohol use, literary knowledge of Beat poets and French existentialists, and intentional riot-provoking acts positioned him as a guiding spirit for young people. However, this cultural status took a substantial personal toll as his career progressed into the early 1970s, trapping him in a celebrity persona he no longer wanted, even though he had created it himself.