The Controversy in Hair

Hair is a musical that premired Off-Broadway in 1967. The plot of the musical, which varies often, usually focuses on a group of hippies (referred to a tribe) and their life of poverty, protests, drug use, sexual activities, and draft dodging. Claude, one of the hippies, debates whether he should join the war (usually the Vietnam War but sometimes updated) or burn his draft card. It portrayed the hippie movement in a positive light and had the cast perform extremely controversial actions and obscene language. Some productions have faced legal action because of these actions, such as indecent exposure and flag desecration. While the actions and language could be considered shocking for the sake of shocking, it still remains that Hair a controversial and noteworthy piece of theater.

Hair was one of the first major plays to include racial integration and some songs required POC to sing them. In the song "Colored Spade" the character Hud (played by a black male) describes himself with racial slurs and black stereotypes (“A black nig*er”). A protest chant the tribe recites is "Black, white, yellow, red copulate in a king size bed." At the beginning of the second act, three white girls sing about their preference for black boys and three black girls praise white boys ("Black Boys/White Boys"). Anti-miscegenation laws in the US had then only been recently deemed unconstitutional. Race is a factor of Claude’s drug-induced hallucinations. One of the American historical and cultural figures he envisions is Abraham Lincoln who is portrayed by a black female. Lincoln (unlike the other historical people he envision) is spared from being killed by African witch doctors because "[She's] one of you." Then three black men praise Abraham Lincoln, using old-fashioned stereotypical black language like 'Massa' and 'I's' ("Yes I's finished"). When Lincoln is mocked being shot (usually by John Wilkes Booth) she says "I ain't dying for no white man." The tribe often discusses the perceived racial motivations during the Vietnam war. For example, during the anti-war song "Three-Five-Zero-Zero" the tribe sings "Prisoners in Nig*ertown, it's a dirty little war."

The productions traditionally have a very positive attitude towards drug use and prop drugs are consumed on stage. A lyric from the song "Donna" is "I'm evolving through the drugs that you put down." "Hashish" salutes drugs such as LSD and opium. In the song "Initials" the tribe cheerfully describe LBJ (Former US president Lyndon Johnson) seeing "The youth of America on LSD." During the song "Be-In" the tribe members sing "Take trips, get high ... I am high on you know what" and "Marijuana". During the second act the tribe members begin smoking marijuana and Claude is given a joint laced with a hallucinogen and much of the second act describes his trip. The song "Walkingin Space" describes some of the pleasurable aspects of this ("walking in space we find the purpose of peace, the beauty of life you can no longer hide") while Claude usually reviews the experience negatively.

The tribe also is quite open-minded when it comes to sexual interactions and nudity. In the song "Sodomy" the character Woof discusses his love for various sexual activities and says that "masturbation can be fun." As previously mentioned, miscegenation is acceptable to the characters and so is homosexuality. Woof is attracted to Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. Excessive PDA often occurs between cast members. Perhaps the most controversial and well known scene in Hair is during the song "Where Do I Go" when at the end of the song, tribe members willing to participate in this scene emerged completely naked, singing for a scene lasting about twenty seconds. The level and existence of nudity has been changed in some productions because of the casts personal comfort zone, the potential audience, and threat of harm and/or legal action. The intention of the scene was to comment that society makes more of nudity than violence. In some productions the nudity wasn't a problem and the cast would sometimes appear naked in other scenes.

Religion is often mocked in Hair. In the song "Ain't Got No" Woof sings "Ain't got no faith" and the tribe responds with "Catholic". In the same song, a tribe member says "Ain't got no God" and "Good" is a response. Eastern beliefs and religions however are praised. For example the Hare Krishna mantra is recited by the cast members.

Another extremely controversial action in the show is flag desecration. During the song "Don't Put It Down" three characters fold the American flag, singing about people who are "crazy for the red, white, and blue". They reject the notion that they are not patriotic ("You look at me, what do you see? Crazy for the blue, white, and red") but at the end they urinate on the flag. Like the nude scene, there have been violent and legal actions as a result of this scene.

The controversial content in Hair is part of what made it notable and change what was acceptable on stage. It also helps capture the spirit of the hippie movement in a colorful and eccentric way.