MovieChat Forums > Almost Famous (2000) Discussion > Handing out tickets for God

Handing out tickets for God

posted 9 years ago by Lester_Burnham_Risen
3 replies | jump to latest

Funny that Crowe starts the Tiny Dancer singing at that line [ie the Jesus freaks]

but it does allow Tiny Dancer [Penny] to follow with "looking back ---"

see footage and words below

http://reviewalmostfamous.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/tiny-dancer-redux.ht ml

[–] codiss 9 years ago

I never put two and two together before I read this. But the sing along starting on the 'tickets' line is a brilliant subtlety. The line is a reference to the Jesus Freaks handing out LSD (tickets) during that era. Having just picked up Russel who was coming down from an acid trip, that's what struck up the Jeff Bebe's character's singing along. That's neat.
I just re-watched the movie for the first time in many years, and really liked all the little stuff like that I missed when I used to watch it often back in the day.

[–] gabby_bm 9 years ago

The line is a reference to the Jesus Freaks handing out LSD (tickets) during that era.

Where did you get this idea? Because I was under the impression that this referenced those tiny little 4-8 page "are you saved?", "heaven or hell?" type booklets that the street Christians used to always pass out on the street in the 70's (probably still do).
Hence, the next lines about her laughing and that "the boulevard is not that bad", indicating that Sunset Blvd might be a bit edgy but not so bad that it needed the work of a savior.

I see the handing out LSD thing as more of a 60's thing. But if you have Bernie Taupin talking about his lyrics, referencing the LSD then i really can't dispute it.

My New Year's resolution is to simply write 2̶0̶1̶4̶ 2015 instead of 2014"
.

[–] Lokisgodhi 8 years ago

No it's not.

Jesus Freaks are street preachers. They're out harassing people on the street, trying to hard sell them their product, a relationship with their God. In effect, they're handing out metaphorical tickets to see their God.

Most people aren't interested because the crap these annoying parasites are pushing about doom and gloom doesn't jibe with the world these people see around them, i.e. the Boulevard ain't that bad.

codiss wroteL

"The line is a reference to the Jesus Freaks handing out LSD (tickets) during that era."