The Films of the Eighties: A Social HistoryIn this remarkable sequel to his Films of the Seventies: A Social History, William J. Palmer examines more than three hundred films as texts that represent, revise, parody, comment upon, and generate discussion about major events, issues, and social trends of the eighties. Palmer defines the dialectic between film art and social history, taking as his theoretical model the "holograph of history" that originated from the New Historicist theories of Hayden White and Dominick LaCapra. Combining the interests and methodologies of social history and film criticism, Palmer contends that film is a socially conscious interpreter and commentator upon the issues of contemporary social history. In the eighties, such issues included the war in Vietnam, the preservation of the American farm, terrorism, nuclear holocaust, changes in Soviet-American relations, neoconservative feminism, and yuppies. Among the films Palmer examines are Platoon, The Killing Fields, The River, Out of Africa, Little Drummer Girl, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Silkwood, The Day After, Red Dawn, Moscow on the Hudson, Troop Beverly Hills, and Fatal Attraction. Utilizing the principles of New Historicism, Palmer demonstrates that film can analyze and critique history as well as present it. |
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Perhaps because " it don't mean nothin ' . " Perhaps because he sees murder as a moral act . Perhaps as an act of revenge for Elias . Perhaps as a mercy killing , because Barnes asks him ( tells him ? ) to “ do it ” just as the dying ...
Perhaps the most ironic symbol of their yuppieness is the running shoes , an essential part of the uniform . Harold owns a string of athletic shoe stores , ironically named “ Running Dog , " and each member of the house party finds his ...
The " Vietnam : The Movie " metaphor is , perhaps , first offered by Julian Smith in Looking Away : Hollywood and Vietnam ( New York : Charles Scribner's Sons , 1975 ) and is also quoted in chap . 1 of this book . 10.
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Contents
The Vietnam War as Film Text | 16 |
The Coming Home Films | 61 |
The Terrorism Film Texts | 114 |
Copyright | |
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| Title | The Films of the Eighties: A Social History |
| Author | William J. Palmer |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Southern Illinois University Press, 1993 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | 26 Feb 2008 |
| ISBN | 0809318377, 9780809318377 |
| Length | 335 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |