ies than any period since. By the eighties, American cinematic culture was becoming homogenized, as high concept cookie-cutter films seemingly rolled off the assembly line. In the seventies, however, American theater and cinema took some chances. Characters in theater productions and films had real problems, usually reflective of real world societal changes. Movies like Bob and Ted and Carol and Alice took a shot at multiple bed partners. Movies like Easy Rider defied social conventions to present America with a new vision of itself. Even Antonioni came to America (the site of so much social change) to film Zabriski Point with young, unknown American actors.
Barbara Fraser has examined America's seventies musicals to note various cultural trends. The American musical, prior to the seventies, had primarily been full of hilarity and high jinx. In the seventies, however, "the American musical, most often known for its optimistic and positive tone, followed the pessimism of America" (31). Fraser notes that Stephen Sondheim's revolutionary musical Company dealt with many of the social issues characterizing the seventies. She observes:
With the 1970's divorce rate, many young people thought the institution of marriage a proven failure and preferred living together. Until that time, love in the musical theater had always taken shape in the form of marriage or engagement to marriage. In 1970,
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