Whilst searching for an example of Reagan hatred or hagiography, I found it difficult to locate one that allowed me to see through the bias and better understand the issue of Reagan devotion vs loathing. Reagan's presidency and his actions violently divide opinion and to either uncensored vitriol or blind dedication. I chose this website as whilst it is undoubtedly anti-Reagan and biased in it's viewpoints it nether the less gives clear categories and evidence (though I don't know if their points are actually valid) to support their personal hatred of Reagan and his polices.
The example I selected was written in 2011 over 20 years of Reagan's presidency. There is no evidence to suggest that the author was alive or old enough to understand the events as they happened, consequently the argument presented has a hindsight base for it's debate. The author operates after the fact but uses the current loyalty displayed by the Republic party to illustrate the other contemporary side of the Reagan argument. The level of hatred portrayed further illustrates just how relevant Reagan was to American culture, for better or worse.
During a period of fear and debate between capitalism and communism the television show Seinfeld aired in 1989 provided comedic relief for all.The comedy is known to be "A show about nothing" through being showed as a group than as individuals. It features characters of Jerry Seinfeld, a stand-up comedian, his ex-girlfriend Elaine, his best friend George, and his next-door neighbour Kramer and . depicts life in Manhattan through the quirky interaction of offbeat characters.
"The genius of the Senfield is that every one of the main four characters have so much depth and personality that you can see yourself in a little of each of them, thus humanizing the show and making it so relate able even after being off the air for over 14 years."
In the "Soup Nazi" episode a new soup store open in the neighbourhood. The soups that they serve are undoubtedly the best in New York but the soup owner has a precise ordering protocol..
What makes Seinfeld iconic of the 1980s? The idea that TV guide ranked this NBC smash comedy hit " show about nothing" the greatest television of all time or that Americans viewed and voted this show as the most entertaining or influential television series in American pop Culture. Or the fact that its a classic which provided humorous scenes in which are often imitated by future TV shows. Or is it the competition other shows like Simpsons felt was a competitor.
5 Reasons Why Seinfeld Is The Greatest Show of all time? My friend from Alfred, NY said that it was very popularise show within the 80's, in his words " How can you not no about this show, what world do you live in its so funny...I guarantee your parents or grandparents will know."
- Celebrity Sightings: Seinfeld was filled with celebrities making guest appearances one in particular Bryan Cranston who played jerry and Kramer's dentist.
- Frank and Estelle Constanza: Audience found exciting watching a husband and wife fight.
- Relationships: The entire show centres around relationships.
- Larry David: Who George Constanza based of, without Larry David there is NO SHOW.
- Jerry Seinfeld: The glue and Anchor of the show, known as the voice of reason.
Some of the most popular TV series premièred during the 1980's or carried over from the 1970s include: Dynasty, Dallas,Miami Vice,The Cosby Show, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Simpsons, and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The 1980s also was prominent for spawning several popular children's cartoons such as The Smurfs, Transformers, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Inspector Gadget, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Some of these TV shows became to be some of the best known shows in world.
A prime example of the this would be the the Simpsons an an American adult animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield and is extremely popular as it parodies American culture, society, television, and many aspects of the human condition.The Simpsons is widely considered to be one of the greatest television series of all time (Time magazine's December 31, 1999, issue named it the 20th century's best television series).
Along with all of these popular programs, the 1980's was can be identified to be a decade that transformed television. This is particularly because of the mass introduction of cable television. Cable television became more accessible and therefore, more popular. Only 8 percent of American households received basic cable in 1970. But by 1980 that number had climbed to 23 percent, and it would double within the next four years. By the end of the decade, nearly 60 percent of American homes were wired for basic cable, and almost half of those were receiving some premium channels. With the advent of cable, the three major networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, lost their monopoly on what Americans viewed in their living rooms.
Furthermore, videocassette (VCR) ownership grew from 1 to 68 percent during the 1980s, allowing viewers to tape one or several shows while watching others. Along with more TV sets within households, the old image of entire families gathered around a single set had given way to the more common practice of individual members of the family watching a personal TV, or watching their shows individually on the same TV set.
Therefore the 1980's was a decade that carried on and introduced many successful and iconic TV shows but completely changed the way in which Americans watched their favourite TV shows.
Air Jordans, or simply just J's, first released for public consumption in 1985 by Nike, after Michael Jordan wore them during his rookie season in 1984, have been bestsellers ever since their launch, with almost all incarnations from Air Jordan I's through XXII's have been retroed. The instant success of the Air Jordans demonstrates the economic boom America was experiencing in the 1980s, after all these are a premium pair of trainers (or kicks as my friends in America call them), costing well over $100 and therefore the American economy must have been doing exceptionally well for people to have the extra cash to be able to afford to spend that kind of money on a pair of shoes, whether for themselves or for their kids, seeing as how they are undeniably a luxury, one that would be cut back quickly during hard times. People now had the capital to spend on luxury items such as a new pair of shoes.
The "must-have" nature of the Air Jordans, people line up every year outside Nike stores all over America waiting for the release of that years newly designed pair, and the fact that coolness has become intertwined with owning and wearing J's, demonstrate the rise of materialism and the consumer culture during the 1980s, people were beginning to blindly consume in the belief that it would bring them so form of happiness, making them willing to buy a new pair of luxury trainers every year. Which most likely came as a product of the economic boom of the 1980s, seeing as how people could now afford to participate in consuming.
So popular are these shoes that people who couldn't afford J's would resort to "shoe-jacking," robbing people at gun-point and even murdering people just to get their hands on a pair, which still happens right now, my roommate in Eau Claire told me that every year someone is killed after buying the latest pair. There is also a line the the Macklemore song "Wing$" which goes "my friend Carlos's older brother got murdered for his fours," referring to the Air Jordan IV's. The song also discusses the cult built around shoes just as Air Jordan's, and how through branding and marketing they have managed to convince people that they are so much more than shoes, that they will improve your life, created a dream people have bought into, like how they make you cool, make you a better player.
Michael Jordan was one of the first heavily marketed athletes not just having a line of shoes based on his name, but becoming the major spokesman for major brands like Coca-Cola, Gatorade, Chevrolet and McDonalds amongst others, which is perhaps why their was such demand for Air Jordan's because MJ was so visible beyond basketball, his name known around the globe, much like David Beckham and Lebron James, as a result of this marketing, resulted in the huge cultural impact of the Air Jordan shoes.
With the release of the Air Jordan IV's, which saw the Air Jordan shoes released globally for the first time, they followed the increasing trend of globalization which saw American companies expanding into foreign territories in order to expand their business and more importantly their profits. The 1980s saw companies such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Nike releasing products in more and more countries than ever before, as well as the increased exporting of American culture around the globe, Michael Jordan's popularity and celebrity status, was instrumental in popularizing the NBA globally during the 80s.
Because of their huge popularity J's have been absorbed into American culture, from being featured in the film Like Mike, in which the main character finds a pair of J's and becomes a great basketball player overnight, one of the marketing ploys used with Air Jordan's was that they would make you a better player, give you some form of advantage, to being referenced in songs, especially hip-hop songs, from the 80s till now, a recent example being "23" by Mike Will Made It which features the hook "J's on my feet."
The 80's gave us some of the most timeless Hollywood blockbusters of all time. Above is an image from Robert Zemeckis' iconic 'Back to the Future' (1985), a film about a young Marty Mcfly (Michael.J.Fox) who is sent back to 1955 in a Delorean time machine where he must try everything possible to get back to the future without adjusting the past.Along with 'Back to the Future', there were also many other hit movies that define 80's cinema, for example, 'Ghostbusters' (1984), Die Hard (1988) and 'Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981).
Many of the films released in the 80's were turned into series or released it's most popular instalments that led them to become hardcore franchises. The Star Wars Saga, for example, is one of, if not the most famous fandom in the history of film. According to 'Vulture', Star Wars is 2nd in the biggest fandoms of all time, with 'Game of Thrones' taking first place and 'The Twilight Saga' taking third. Here is the list:
1. Game of Thrones
2. Star Wars
3. Twilight
4. Harry Potter
5. Justin Bieber
6. Lord of the Rings
7. The Hunger Games
8. Lady Gaga
9. Doctor Who
10. Arrested Development
Interestingly, all of these 'fandoms' are based around very recent films/books/music. However, Star Wars is the only one from the list which isn't from the 21st Century, although it can be said that neither is Doctor Who as it's first episode was aired in 1963, however, it's increasing popularity and the formation of the 'Whovian' didn't start until it's revival in 2005. The Star Wars franchise has lived to this day from the rise of it's popularity in the 1980's. Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Termintor are all examples of other popular franchises of the time, and although they don't have hardcore fan-bases to their names, they still remain timeless, re-watchable classics.
Perhaps another reason why these films were (are, still) so popular, is because of the originality and creativity of the story and plot. In today's film industry, cinemas are bursting with sequels, remakes and safe plots which gives the modern film a certain lack of excitement and risk. With today's technological advances in film making, with the correct software and equipment, we are now able to create an entire realistic CGI world from a computer desk (e.g. Avatar). Although, to us today, watching
something like Jaws is almost painful when we can clearly see just how 'animatronic' the shark is, when it was released in 1975, it was a realistically scary film. The 80's were a break in special effects in film. Ghosts and ghouls from the 80's are one of my favourites, looking at something like Slimmer from Ghostbusters or the creepy demons from Poltergeist - we can see how unrealistic they are, yet, there is something about them that still makes them brilliant.
The 1980s were arguably the most successful era in Madonnas music career. Her risque outfits such as her famous cone bra (pictured below) and on controversial on stage antics saw her come to represent the change in attitudes of women in the 80's. No longer seen as merely capable of domestic work women were entering the corperate world and Madonna represents this liberation. Her song 'Like A Virgin' implies women were no longer waiting for marriage they were having sex and not with merely one partner. Birth control was introduced in the 1960's and by the 1980's was used widely; women had the choice whether to have a child. 1980's Madonna reflects in her music, outfits and performances the women the 1980's produced; career driven, independent women.
Madonnas transition from the beginning of the 1980's to the end shows an extreme difference in style, her outfits become more extreme and perhaps less stereo typically feminine. The top picture shows Madonna in the early 80's and the bottom shows her towards the end of the decade. The video is a clip from Madonna's Blond Ambition tour which began in 1990, in this video she dances on stage in a corset and a trouser suit. She also simulates masturbation which again shows the liberation of women.
What appears most interesting is how many viewed Madonna as forward thinking and representative of powerful, independent women yet Miley Cyrus did a similar performance on this years VMA awards (minus the trousers and with the addition of a foam finger) and faced intense scrutiny and extremely negative press.
Airing on August 1st 1981 saw the focus on music videos and news with 24-7 access. The 1980s saw the emergance of artists such as Madonna and Whitney Houston, who at the time were becoming very influential and powerful figures.
MTV acted as a platform for musicians to share their music and videos with the world. Michael Jackson's Thriller, that everyone knows, from 1983 was 14 minutes long and was aired twice every hour on MTV due to high demand from audiences. The channel saw the rise in black artists into music aired on television which was limited in the past.
The original tagline of the channel was "you'll never look at music the same way" showing the originality and direction that MTV was leading in the 80s. MTV paved the way for other channels integrating music into their shows and formats. HBO had 'Video Jukebox', NBC had 'Friday Night Videos' and the Disney Channel had 'D-TV' among many other exampes.
In 1984 MTV introduced the MTV music video awards which still stands today. Although the awards and MTV in general seem very different today the music industry would not of developed the same way if it wasn't for MTV in the 1980s.
It was the first truly global concert that changed the
world, with just music. Bob Geldof's idea used the latest TV satellite
technology to link up Wembley in north London, JFK Stadium in Philadelphia and
a host of smaller venues in other countries to blitz the world's TV networks.
It was the first global concert that attracted 1.9 billion
viewers in 150 countries. The biggest ever TV audience.
‘People felt
empowered and exhilarated. They felt they really could help change the world.’
It was estimated to raise $1 million. The real figure was $70 million, later to
reach $140 million in total. Partly in recognition of the Live Aid effort, Bob Geldof
received an honorary knighthood.
Live Aid was significant simply for its uniqueness. A
concert had never been staged at the same time on opposite sides of the world,
included the biggest names in music and was staged for a charitable cause. The
enthusiasm surrounding this event would never again be mimicked. Live aid went on
to inspire many other aid charity concerts but nothing quite like that of 1985.
It was a memorable first for aid reaching Africa, and became an iconic movement
in the 80’s and continues to raise money still to this day the same way it did that
July in 1985 at the JFK Stadium.
The idea of the "Yuppie" appeared in the early 1980's and it signified a new class of wealth, the young professionals. The stereotype of the "Yuppie" has a strong connotations of the young middle and upper classed men from privileged backgrounds. A stigma has been formed around this image and the "Yuppie" is often associated with the conceited, capitalist consumer, whose career involves money and lots of it.
It's significance in relation to the 80's is important as it symbolises the economic boom and the nouveau riche culture that existed at the time. It illustrated a new age of consumerism and self absorption that is still crucial within society's infrastructure as the current debate about the 1% and the banking scandals of recent years shows. The 1980's marked a time of innovation and corporation and a boom in the importance of 'things' that is to say that new products were storming the market in all areas and people had the money to buy them.
The "Yuppie" also become a fixture within film and literature as a emblem of the era. Author Bret Easton Ellis wrote books at the time and into the 1990's about the "Yuppie" culture and in doing so created a cult ideal behind the image of the young professional. Ellis created characters that simultaneously basked in the glory of their wealth and opulence whilst at the same time represented a typecast of morally devoid capitalist figures.
The film 2000 American Psycho whilst being made outside of the 80's still significantly illustrates the role of the "Yuppie" in the 1980's. The film is particularly important too as it shows not only the lifestyle and context of the time but through its retrospect production, conveys the the way the "Yuppie" as defined in the 1980's in viewed after the fact.
In Oliver Stone's 1987 film "Wall Street" the "Yuppie" is again explored and embodied in the memorable quote, 'Greed is Good'.
The 'Miracle on Ice' refers to one of the ice hockey games played during the medal round of the 1980 winter olympics at Lake Placid, New York between the USA and the Soviet Union. The US team was made up of amateur and collegiate players who ended up defeating the professional Soviet Union team, who had won nearly every world championship tournament since 1954.
The picture is iconic for a number of reasons. The fact that the 'underdog' prevailed during this important sporting event (hence, the 'miracle') gives the population that witnessed it or remember it hope and pride, as all success stories do. The implications of the picture and what the US population was experiencing at the time was much deeper than purely sporting prowess. After WW2, relation with the Soviet Union had not been wholly positive. During the 1980's the Cold War was in full effect, with both the US and the Soviet Union attempting to out-do one another and become the most powerful nation in the world. Although neither nation participated in out-right hostile physical war, other tactics had been used, such as psychological warfare, espionage, propaganda and the space race in order to get the upper hand on the other.
This game represented the US defeating the Soviet Union (albeit in a ice hockey match) and because of this, the result and match was a much publicised event, which was celebrated outlandishly after the USA had won.
The picture is iconic as it shows the defeat of the Soviet Union, which at the time was the US's number one goal (in terms of dominance). It signifies a crushing blow to the communist regime that was the USSR and a victory for the American's over their 'enemy'. The picture shows a united, elated team of players revelling in the fact that they have triumphed over the Soviets. It also captures the American peoples' fantasy of seeing a dejected, defeated Soviet Union, as metaphorically shown by the Soviets' goalie.
The event was one that was so empowering and heartening for the American people that it was made into a film (2004). It tells the story of the victory, accentuating the US's dominance over the Soviets, even though the cold war had ended around 15 years previously.
Also in the media, the US team received Sports Illustrated's 'Sportsmen of the year' award. In 2004 ESPN declared the event as the top sports headline moment, and game between 1979-2004. This may have been down to the incredible comeback orchestrated by the US in an important sporting event, but is more likely the result of an 'underdog' (US) defeating the seemingly undefeatable 'Soviet Union empire', during a period where relations between the two nations were far from positive.
On November 9th 1989, the Berlin Wall that separated East Germany and West Germany was finally tore down after nearly three decades. Günter Schabowski, a government official for East Germany announced that people of Germany could now cross the border as they wished. The Berlin Wall had become "the most enduring symbol of the Cold War" (Ratnesar, 2007).
As President Reagan addressed the Soviet leader, he pleaded for him to 'tear down this wall'
""General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate!" Reagan says. The crowd starts to erupt. "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!" At this point, 20,000 Berliners are cheering Reagan on." (Ratnesar, 2007)
This image is iconic of the 1980s as it was so sudden. People did not realise that Germany would be an undivided state and were relieved that they could now pass freely into West Germany.
The Brat Pack,
iconic of 1980’s Hollywood in America, it is the term that play’s on that
similar of the Rat Pack[1]
from the 1950s and 1960s. However this nickname coined in 1985 by writer David
Blum, described a group of actors and actresses that represented all that was
popular in 1980's American culture; whether this was music, fashion or the
issues that faced the teenager/young adults during this decade, in other words
the “It-Crowd”[2]. The
Breakfast Club, Seventeen Candles
and Pretty in Pink were amongst the
most popular and well known, and as such the Brat Pack term was coined because
the actors that starred in this style of film would frequently star alongside
one another.
The Brat Pack was seen as representing those who were
coming-of-age during this decade, and similarly they mirrored this in the
characters they played in their films. Even so, one article wrote that; “In their films as well as their lives, the
Brat Pack represented the dreams and dilemmas of young adults in the Eighties
-- how to reconcile youthful idealism with a desire to realize their share of
the American Dream in a decade when conformity and materialism were once again
in vogue.”[3]
For this reason, the teenagers of this decade could begin to embrace their
differences and live life with a new found revitalisation that the Brat Pack
encouraged or inspired them to do; it did not matter what walk of life you came
from, whether you were a ‘yuppie’ [another 1980’s trait] or someone from the
working class background. The films that the Brat Pack were associated with highlighted
the struggles and pressures that the teenagers and young adults faced in a
society that promoted only style and money could bring success; aka, all that
the ‘yuppies’ embodied.
In all, those in the Brat pack and the Hollywood status’
they earned were often short-lived, due to sex, drugs and scandal; all of which
they ironically portrayed in some their films.
The Brat Packers however, as an article quite rightly puts it; “left an
indelible imprint on the film history of the 1980s as the idols of millions of
kids seeking guidance as they traded adolescence for young adulthood during the
Yuppie Decade”[4].
From Left to Right: Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Mare Winningham and Andrew McCarthy. Poster from St Elmo's Fire.
