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 94
A Social History William J. Palmer. A Social History FILMS THE William J. Palmer THE 900 OF EIGHTIES : THE FILMS OF Carbondale and Edwardsville. Front Cover.
A Social History William J. Palmer. THE FILMS OF Carbondale and Edwardsville William J. Palmer THE EIGHTIES A Social History Southern Illinois.
A Social History William J. Palmer. William J. Palmer THE EIGHTIES A Social History Southern Illinois University Press This One GA1X - G5A - RAEP Copyright © 1993 by the Board of Trustees , Southern.
... social history / William J. Palmer . p . cm . Includes bibliographical references and index . 1. Motion pictures - Social aspects - United States . I. Title . PN1995.9.S6P33 1993 302.23'43'097309048 - dc20 - ISBN 0-8093-2029-0 ( pbk ...
... social history , was a sequel . Call it The Fifties II . Billy Joel's popular song of 1989 , " We Didn't Start the Fire , " a flashcard social history of America from the fifties to the eighties , sums up this reduplication of history ...
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 |