Barbarella Moved On

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Husband John will always remember the movie, Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda. Released in 1968, when my husband was 18 and full of testosterone, Barbarella became a cult classic of spoofy erotic sex and science fiction.  It was a coming of age for those male baby boomers.

In 1982, Jane Fonda became a different coming of age (literally) for the female baby boomers, who were thirty-ish and experiencing sag-after-babies, when "Jane Fonda's Workout" video was released.  It led to 13 more such videos, rake in $13 million, and open up a whole industry of muscle toning (leg warmers, incl.).
  

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For two+ years, I faced Jane through the television screen and followed the mantra: No pain, No gain.

But, sandwiched in between 1968 and 1980s, Jane Fonda was an activist for many civil rights issues.  Ranging from women's rights to Alcatraz and American Indian reparations, Jane Fonda was a voice.

It wasn't always a good voice.  Black Panthers, Huey Newton, and then Vietnam were always in the forefront.  It was that Vietnam choice that tarnished who and what Fonda was. 

She visited Vietnam and American servicemen, as well as North Vietnamese military.  So much gets blurred, especially when a photo of her on an anti-aircraft gun was published.

Nicknamed "Hanoi Jane" thereafter

My Aunt Minerva was enraged by Fonda's relationship and actions with North Vietnam.  She was a Gold Star mother, one of too many who had lost sons in this war; Jane Fonda's actions were unforgivable. Even into her dying years, my aunt still held tightly to that fury.

Although Jane Fonda relayed what really happened in her 2005 autobiography, that photo is still too strong. 

From Barbarella to Exercise Queen to Political Activism, Jane Fonda definitely created a memorable legacy.

What do you remember?