The Films of the Eighties: A Social HistorySouthern Illinois University Press, 1993 - 335 pages In 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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... exploited by the American media , of the time - bomb potential for street and domestic violence by Vietnam veterans ... exploitation of the stereotypes of the Vietnam veteran culminated in the Rambomania of 1985–86 . Charles Haid , a ...
... exploit the image of the Vietnam veteran . The " Strangers at Home " Films First Blood , the movie that introduced the ... exploitation of the action scenes gives way to a rather serious and thoughtful social text . Because First Blood ...
... exploitation without ever really exploring it . A few films , however , while not explicitly exploring issues such as rape or abortion , nonetheless examined the general topic of sexual exploitation in some fresh ways . Dangerous ...
Contents
The Vietnam War as Film Text | 16 |
The Coming Home Films | 61 |
The Terrorism Film Texts | 114 |
Copyright | |
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