Why does Mike think so highly of himself, while others find him more mediocre? And why does Peter almost disappear without a thought, while Micky gets all the sympathy. If this is the filmmakers perspective, then this is how the audience thinks of these four people; but that isn't true for Mike and Micky, only Peter and Davy (the least and most popular). If this is Micky dreaming of his place in the foursome then what is he doing on the bottom of the Monkee ladder? He was the lead singer and very popularwith the fans. Did he think that little of himself? Was he really that insecure? The fact that he is almost hidden from view (also in a later scene during the song "As We Go Along" he is completely concealed) suggests that there is another side to Micky that no one ever sees, and is only slightly revealed in his dream.

And what does it say about Mike? Not a very flattering picture. In Micky's dream, Mike thinks much more highly of himself than anyone else does. His wind chimed background, is a reference to his Aquarian personality. He thinks of himself as intellectually superior to everyone else around him; but his lesser popularity in the group, and "pain in the ass" troublemaker reputation give him the low status on the Monkee totem poll. Peter could also be a bit of a troublemaker, but he was well liked and a nice person, and Micky thought very highly of him, so enjoys the higher status even though he was the least popular Monkee. His squeaking chair could be a reference to his voice, which was almost never used for recording lead vocals.

 

 

 

 

Next, Peter volunteers to get the ammo, and is briefly interrupted by a cameraman snapping his picture  "Hold it - this is for Life". The caption on the magazine reads "So War Goes On", despite the concerts, the teenagers, and Hollywood. He then finds a football player in the middle of the war. Well, obviously, football is like a game of war, only for entertainment purposes, and the Monkees are entertainers, not soldiers. Mr. One (as Peter calls him) keeps trying to tackle Peter while Peter just wants to know where the ammo is. Mr. One represents the gusto with which Americans will go to war. Americans love a good game a good fight a good war. Peter, along with his friends, is very out of place here. Like many young people of the time, their views on war were considered un-American.

Peter gets the ammo, and Mr. Ones football helmet which he gives to Micky, who is thrilled to wear it. But why is it OK for Micky to wear the football helmet, and not the military issue? Because Micky is not a soldier, he is in the entertainment industry like the football player. Entertainment deals with only fake wars, but the real thing is too much for the entertainer, and he has no business being there. I think the whole film is much more of a comment on the entertainment industry than the political scene or at least I hope so. Since these guys were duped by Hollywood, they have every right to complain and criticize it; but when it comes to politics they are out of their league, which is why the film becomes pretentious when they attempt it.

It was shot as a real concert with a paying audience, but it is in no way genuine. The scene is forcefully manipulated with a montage of quick and clever editing, which only distorts the various perspectives into irony. The double imaging is a reflection of this real vs. unreal awareness. They may look like a real band in concert, but the film is contrived to show us, the audience how Hollywood worked to manufacture the image. This is only a filming of a concert not the concert itself, and in the translation it becomes something else entirely. It is a commentary on the times, the war, Hollywood, and the Monkee machine that had generated millions of dollars.  This could be nothing more than any other concert scene shown in dozens of films, except for all of the political implications. The scene leading into this is the war scene, and during the song are images of Vietnam from stock footage.

Now, I just cant believe that they are making any kind of comparison from giving a concert to real war, because that would be too ridiculous, and I hope they weren't that shallow to dream up such a thing. So, what does it mean? It could be a comment on their audience they are quite harsh on the thoughts of their fans. There is a war going on, and all the audience can think about is an escape the Monkees concert. The teenage girls don't care about the men being killed in Vietnam; they only care about the men singing to them on the stage. But they are nothing but shallow little girls, and you can't help but think about how these four guys were lucky enough to be singing instead of fighting.

Like it or not, they do compare what they do for a living
with war, that's why the fans become life-threatening to them.

Going out to give a concert on stage is like going into battle at least to them. So what does that say about these guys? While I don't think this is the main point to the scene it is a part of it. I think it represents a shallowness on all sides; the audience, the Monkees, and the entertainment industry for making it all happen. The dummies at the end of the concert scene represent the fabrication of the Monkees. When their fans try to grab the real guys and tear them apart, they only get fakes dummies. The odd part is that the fans don't seem to mind the deception. They proceed to rip their clothes off as if they were still the real things. Fabrication or not, the public gets what they want and what they deserve; they just don't care so the audience becomes the real dummy.