There are actually four Billy Jack films:
The Born Losers
Billy Jack
The Trial Of Billy Jack
Billy Jack Goes To Washington
The Born Losers is an odd, off canon story that was originally supposed to be Billy Jack but apparently the films backers didn't believe people wanted to see a movie about a "Crusading Indian". Instead, the detail of Billy being half Native seemed to be mentioned but overlooked and his being a Vietnam War vet took the limelight. Either way, the character and ideas behind the movies seemed wildly unpopular with mainstream media outlets.
Jump ahead a few years and the popularity of anti-war/anti-establishment movements made for the perfect climate for the other three films.
Personally I believe the films tackled too many topics for people to really grasp. Todays society is, in a lot of ways, too black and white for the ideas presented in the films. That gray area of mystery no longer exists in modern society to allow the films to present the concepts openly and gracefully.
It's funny; the generation that these films originate from wanted desperately to instill equality and guarantee the rights of future generations. In turn society chooses to label every person and belief as it suits their own being or position.
Though I do not agree with many of the Laughlins political positions and agendas I do applaud them for doing what they thought to be right for themselves and the world in the work the pursued. Many of the incidents and most of the topics they tackled are a very real part of this nations history as well as its current state and future. I do admire Tom Laughlin for his portrayal of a mixed race individual trying to find his place in the world despite the obstacles that come with existing between worlds. In a way the films presented truths denied to them by post war America and the tumult of the Cold War.
The main characters are polar opposites that are later revealed as more alike than is comfortable for some: a violent protagonist that brutally murders several people in vengeance killings, protects the outcasts of American society, and eventually becomes a politician. His partner and love interest is a pacifist with goals to heal the world and take care of its children peacefully but eventually resorts to violence to protect those children. if that doesn't make members of opposite political parties/ideals uncomfortable I don't know what does.
Seeing as there is no pleasing people these days, the Laughlin films don't come recommended by many, I would highly recommend them for people studying film and society in the last four decades of the previous century. Issues and topics presented in the films seem more prevelant than ever. Perhaps the way people fight for their issues today would be more effective if they could take the mistakes from the past and learn from them.
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