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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 72
... whole hierarchy of forms in the film . In Platoon's rudimentary story structure , Chris Taylor suffers from a severe identity confusion . Even though Taylor's letters to his grandmother read in voice - over are generally sentimental ...
... whole section of the film satirizes the manner in which the military attempted to manipulate the media coverage of the Vietnam War by the manipulation of words . Joker is literally fighting a war of words , and his John Wayne imitation ...
... whole passage finally argues is that this sacrilegious use of words leads men into . war . What this whole dialogue exchange demonstrates is the patent ridiculousness of the word manipulation of the military in Vietnam . How can anyone ...
Contents
The Vietnam War as Film Text | 16 |
The Coming Home Films | 61 |
The Terrorism Film Texts | 114 |
Copyright | |
6 other sections not shown