is everyone with a 71 in their username a dire pessimist?
Maybe the top 20 movies of 1971 (all very optimistic) had something to do with it (courtesy IMDB.com)
1. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem - but not all goes according to plan.
2. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
A poor boy wins the opportunity to tour the most eccentric and wonderful candy factory of all.
3. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
In prerevolutionary Russia, a Jewish peasant contends with marrying off three of his daughters while growing antisemitic sentiment threatens his village.
4. The French Connection (1971)
A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.
5. Dirty Harry (1971)
When a mad man calling himself 'the Scorpio Killer' menaces the city, tough as nails San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan is assigned to track down and ferret out the crazed psychopath.
6. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
A diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas, where he uncovers an extortion plot headed by his nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
7. THX 1138 (1971)
Set in the 25th century, the story centers around a man and a woman who rebel against their rigidly controlled society.
8. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
An apprentice witch, three kids and a cynical conman search for the missing component to a magic spell useful to the defense of Britain.
9. Harold and Maude (1971)
Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.
10. Straw Dogs (1971)
A young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.
11. The Last Picture Show (1971)
A group of 1950s high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied West Texas town that is slowly dying, both economically and culturally.
12. Carnal Knowledge (1971)
The concurrent sexual lives of best friends Jonathan and Sandy are presented, those lives which are...
13. Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
The world is shocked by the appearance of two talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society; but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.
14. Vanishing Point (1971)
Kowalski works for a car delivery service. He takes delivery of a 1970 Dodge Challenger to take from Colorado to San Francisco...
15. Big Jake (1971)
The McCandles ranch is run over by a gang of cutthroats led by the evil John Fain. They kidnap little...
16. Macbeth (1971)
A ruthlessly ambitious Scottish lord siezes the throne with the help of his scheming wife and a trio of witches.
17. Shaft (1971)
Cool black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
18. Play Misty for Me (1971)
A brief fling between a male disc jockey and an obsessed female fan takes a frightening, and perhaps even deadly turn when another woman enters the picture.
19. The Andromeda Strain (1971)
A group of scientists investigates a deadly new alien virus before it can spread.
20. Walkabout (1971)
Two young siblings are stranded in the Australian Outback and are forced to cope on their own. They meet an Australian boy on "walkabout": a ritual separation from his tribe.