The Films of the Eighties: A Social HistorySIU Press, 1995 - 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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 99
... Vietnam War as Film Text 16 3 The " Coming Home " Films 61 4 The Terrorism Film Texts 114 5 The Nuclear War Film Texts 179 6 From the " Evil Empire " to Glasnost 206 7 The Feminist Farm Crisis and Other Neoconservative Feminist Texts ...
... Vietnam War , terror- ism , the nuclear threat , detente , are all issues that had a profound impact upon the formation of American social history during the decade . Some of these international issues were carry - over issues from both ...
... war almost equal to the Vietnam War , which was the subject of the film . Throughout the eighties , sagas of agonizing struggles to bring films to the screen accumulated . While the Heaven's Gate and The Cotton Club sagas failed ...
... Vietnam War constantly comments upon Reagan - era for- eign policy in Central America and the Middle East , a hair conditioner bottle's label declares that " herbal history traces the use of Chamomile to bring out highlights . " The ...
... Vietnam War , its meaning and aftermath , especially exemplified this eighties self - reflexiveness . The Vietnam War became the dominant metaphor for postmodernist confusion , paranoia , and aliena- tion within both eighties society ...
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 |