A doc that loves 70s movies and politics.

The year is 1975, and the first question of Morgan Neville’s latest doc “Breakdown: 1975” is: “What the F was going on?.” We have a number of classic films of that year with an aspect of triggering people somewhere. “Nashville,” “Jaws,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “All the President’s Men,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “The Stepford Wives,” “Star Wars,” and the list goes on and on.

There’s a lot of movies and politics at the time that this doc debates about. Granted, the centerpiece loses our best interests based on how it’s presented, but most of it is very poetic and acknowledges what was going on in America and how movies were used as escapism and representations.

We also have gotten a rise in Jack Nicholson from “Easy Rider” to “Chinatown” to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” This actor, who is still alive today, has made a name for himself in movies.

“Chinatown,” for example, was a film that represented how the bad guys win. For a new generation of movie-goers, if you haven’t seen that film, and I suggest you do, I won’t spoil the ending for you. I can say that not every battle was won, and nobody can win everything. Not even the good guys. And that film was a film representation of that.

We also have gotten the blaxploitation genre, which allows African-American independent filmmakers to have a voice in cinema. Think of “Shaft” or “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.” And think about how the futuristic film “Logan’s Run” had no black people in it. What did that say to them at the time?

And the sitcom “All in the Family” revolutionized television the way it talked about politics and society. This is when you continue morning the loss of Rob Reiner.

Cynicism has taken away the Golden Age of musicals at the time, and even in other generations, cynicism is threatening to destroy movies. Superhero movies, animated sequels, etc. And as the film critic, I try to prevent that from happening. I may not praise every movie that comes out, but I still haven’t given up on that form of entertainment, and I have confidence.

In “Breakdown: 1975,” we also hear from narrator Jodie Foster, as well as interviews from Seth Rogen, Martin Scorsese, Josh Brolin, Ellen Burstyn, and Albert Brooks about the movies, wars, politics, and what was going on at the time. Everything is practically a history lesson, and the influence it has on entertainment.

This is the latest doc to make its way on Netflix, and while it’s not one of Neville’s best entries, it still keeps us informed about what has happened back then and how movies used their themes. What’s going on now is just as crazy and movies continue to represent them. I know for a fact that “Captain America: Brave New World” partly represented the polarizing responses towards Donald Trump being President, and “Thunderbolts” acknowledges how a new set of heroes would have fans celebrating and booing them at the same time. Those are Marvel movies, sure, but they do resonate with our society.

I twist Nicholson’s opening line from “The Departed,” which is: “I don’t want to be a product of my environment; I want my environment to be a product of me.” That was said that a racist and sadistic villain, but if I said that, then the world would be a better place.

Now Streaming on Netflix