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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Illustrations FOLLOWING PAGE 16 4 Casualties of War Braddock : Missing in Action III Mike Shelton editorial cartoon Brazil Colors Robocop No Way Out Russkies Steel Magnolias Gorillas in the Mist Bright Lights , Big City Troop Beverly ...
The split - level yuppie housing developments of the eighties realized the dark side of that suburban dream as all of the problems of the cities ( homelessness , drugs , disease , crime , racism ) seemed to be moving outward and ...
With the British successes came curiosity toward , and acceptance of , other foreign films such as Diva ( 1982 ) and foreign directors such as Louis Malle who made Atlantic City ( 1980 ) and Alamo Bay ( 1985 ) in America .
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Contents
16 | |
The Coming Home Films | 61 |
The Terrorism Film Texts | 114 |
The Nuclear War Film Texts | 179 |
From the Evil Empire to Glasnost | 206 |
The Feminist Farm Crisis and Other Neoconservative | 246 |
The Yuppie Texts | 280 |
Film in the Holograph of New History | 308 |
Index | 325 |