News & Politics in the 1980s

By Anthony Butsikares

Politics in the 1980s was centered around Communism vs. Democracy/Capitalism. The idea behind a Communist government was to try and create a “perfect society”, where everyone was equal. But, as we all know, a “perfect world” is impossible to create. Communism helped the poor rise, and made the rich sink. In a Communist system, the government owns almost everything, and private citizens rarely own their own business. Democracy, on the other hand was very different. In a Democratic society, each person had rights, and you could be more independent. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Democracy is a government “run by the people”, where there is no king or dictator. Capitalism is very similar; you could own private property, and businesses without the government. Capitalism is the exact opposite of communism.

In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was our president for most of the decade. Jimmy Carter was president before Reagan, and George H.W Bush came after him. Reagan was a hard core Republican, and he strongly disagreed with what Jimmy Carter (a Democrat) accomplished throughout his presidency. The 1980 presidential debates between Carter and Reagan were the most watched in American history. The debates featured Reagan coming back at everything Carter said. For example, Reagan turned to the crowd and said “Are you better off than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was [sic] four years ago? Is America as respected throughout the world as it was four years ago? Do you feel that our security is as safe, that we're as strong as we were four years ago?” Reagan also chuckled and said, “There you go again” after one of Carter’s claims. Reagan continuously attacked Carter’s medicare programs, and his Social Security benefits. Reagan won the election because of his skills in the debate, and his connection to the people.

The Berlin Wall was built on August 13th, 1961. It was built to prevent emigration to Allied West Germany. Many people who lived in East Germany at the time tried many different things to “escape” into free, democratic West Germany. German soldiers killed many people who tried crossing the wall with machine guns. When the wall was torn down, a huge burden was lifted from the world. Once the Berlin Wall came down, the USA was considered the winner of the Cold War. The Cold War was a “war” between Democracy and Communism. But, the Cold War had almost no fighting involved. It was mainly between the USA and the Soviets, and each “super-country” threatened each other by making bigger, more powerful weapons. Ronald Reagan helped end this war by standing up to the Soviets, and overextending the financial resources of the Soviet Union. He exploited the Soviet Union’s weaknesses, rather than matching, and copying what they were doing. This helped the USA, win the 45 year long "war". After losing the Cold War, the Soviet Union fell apart and broke up into many different countries, with the biggest being Russia.

Space exploration in the 80s brought many newfound discoveries, and changed the way we now see space. Space exploration also played a large role in the fight for women's rights. In 1983, Sally K. Ride became the first American women to travel to space. In 1981, Voyager 2 arrived in Saturn, and began sending pictures back to earth. In 1982, we got soil samples from Venera 13. In 1989, Voyager 2 arrived at Neptune. Space exploration in the 80s also helped the USA win the Space race- a part of the Cold War where the US and the Soviets raced to see who can accomplish more things space-related first.

Sports in the 1980s was connected to news because of drug abuse. In almost all major sports, players took steroids. Luckily, the 1990's helped fix this problem. In the 1980s, sports also became attached to media, and many more sports games were on national TV.

Sports in the 1980s brought out some of the best sports players of all time- especially in Basketball, where many of the greatest players, and the greatest teams showed off their skills. In the 80s, the best teams were the rival Celtics and Lakers. Michael Jordan- who is thought by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time- was drafted. He was drafted with the third overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 draft. This draft was considered the best NBA draft in history. Other than Jordan, Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon (first pick), Charles Barkley (fifth pick), John Stockton (sixteenth pick), and Oscar Schmidt (one-hundred thirty first pick- only 58 of the 228 picks played in the nba). Many players who were not drafted in the 80s reached their prime in the 80s, and many great players were drafted in the 80s, but reached their prime in the 90s. Besides Jordan and all the others drafted in 1984, there were many other Hall of Famers who were in their prime in the 1980s, such as: Clyde Drexler, James Worthy, Bernard King, Sidney Moncrief, Dennis Johnson, Dominique Wilkins, Kevin McHale, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas, Karl and Moses Malone, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. In the 80s, the best teams were the rival Celtics and Lakers. These players revolutionized the sport, and helped spread its popularity.

Football in the 1980s was all about the San Francisco 49ers, led by QB Joe Montana, and WR Jerry Rice. But, there were some other great teams as well. The Bears, led by star RB Walter Payton were also really good. Some other great players from the 1980s include: Eric Dickerson, Lawrence Taylor, Reggie White, Ronnie Lott, Anthony Munoz, and coach Bill Walsh, who led the 49ers to five Super Bowls in the span of 14 years (1981-95).

Hockey in the 1980s featured arguably the best NHL player of all time in Wayne Gretzky. The best teams were the New York Islanders, the Edmonton Oilers, and the Montreal Canadiens. Other great hockey players of the 1980s included Mike Bossy, Paul Coffey, Wendel Clark, Mark Messier and Scott Stevens.

Baseball was at its low point in the 1980s, while Hockey, Basketball, and Football were all rising in popularity. Many players did drugs, and took steroids in the 1980s, and there weren’t many superstars in the 80s. The best player from the 80s was Nolan Ryan, and the best team was by far the New York Yankees.

Film in the 1980s

By Maggie Hale

The Breakfast Club(1985), E.T.(1982), The Shining(1980), Back to the Future(1985), Top Gun(1986), Die Hard(1988), Poltergeist(1982), Dirty Dancing(1987), Ghostbusters(1984), Sixteen Candles(1984), The Terminator(1984), Who Framed Roger Rabbit(1988), Airplane(1980), Risky Business(1983), Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure(1989), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off(1986), Mr. Mom (1883), Nine to Five (1980), Footloose (1984)

One common theme in 80s movies was that women were starting to work more, and not having to depend on their husbands. This theme is shown in films like Mr. Mom and Nine to Five. There were also a lot of teen movies, for example The Breakfast Club, Dirty Dancing, Sixteen Candles, and Footloose, that were relatable for teens and preteens from the 80s. These movies also included many popular songs that brought out the true color and excitement of the 80s. One could argue that growing up in the 80s would have been difficult due to politics at the time, but it’s feel-good movies like the ones listed above that helped people take their minds off everything going on, and just enjoy themselves. This is very similar to the 70s, when lots of sci-fi movies were released, because the idea was that these films would explore new ideas and possibilities. This represents the American Value system, specifically change and progress.

As was mentioned before the 1980s were very famous for the many different types of films released. From classic horror movies like Poltergeist and The Shining, to comedies like Airplane and Ferris Bueller´s Day Off, 80s movies are still just as popular and loved today as they were all those years ago. It seems as though the main purpose of these films was to raise people’s spirits by showing them things they could relate to and learn from. Connecting back to the use of songs in these movies, the types of songs used also promoted the idea that the 80s were about emotion and passion. Whether you lived through the 80s or not, we all have an idea of what it was like, and film was a huge part of what made the 80s so memorable.

The Breakfast Club is a very famous movie about a princess, a criminal, an athlete, a brain, and a basket case that are forced to spend nine hours in detention together. They realize they have a lot more in common than they thought they did. The Breakfast Club is a classic teen movie that would appeal to many kids from the 80s.

E.T. is yet another excellent film from the 80s. It proves that during the 70s and 80s, movies were starting to become more about different worlds and possibilities. This meant lots of sci-fi and horror movies. Seeing as it is about an alien that comes to Earth, and befriends a little boy, E.T. is a good example of one of these movies.

Just like E.T., Poltergeist was directed by Steven Spielberg and is a very well known horror movie. It is about a family who is visited by ghosts. At first the ghosts seem friendly, but they turn against the family and “kidnap” their youngest daughter. Poltergeist perfectly represents what a scary movie should look like, and really shows how there was a wider range of movie ideas in the 80s.

Similar to The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles is a movie about teenagers starring Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall. It perfectly represents what it was like to be a teenager at the time, which meant dealing with school, and by extension social lives and love lives. Most people can easily relate to the feeling that you will never find anyone to care about you. Sixteen Candles explores this idea.

Nine to Five is a movie about three women working for a really terrible boss who takes them for granted. It is a very empowering movie that shows that a woman doesn’t need a man to be successful. Nine to Five is similar to Mr. Mom in this way. This connects to the American Values because the 80s were about change, and making breakthroughs for different types of people.

music in the 1980s

by Aly Skoczylas

The 1980s made a huge difference in music taste. It introduced a new style: dance music/dance-pop. In the earlier part of the decade, disco was very popular. In addition to this music, new hairstyles, different clothes, and cultures emerged. Even though disco was very popular, some people didn’t like it. Another genre people enjoyed was rock ‘n’ roll. The song “Livin’ on a Prayer”, by Bon Jovi, is the type of song that was included in these years of rock music. Artists like Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop”, are still remembered, and honored.

Although it was just music, and it was for entertainment, it had a much bigger, deeper purpose. Artists wrote songs to remember, to protest, and to raise awareness for certain subjects. One song, called “Another Brick in the Wall” (it was made in 1979, but it was basically 1980 when published [December 8, 1979]), by Pink Floyd, a rock band, was made because after being insulted by the teacher, he dreams that the kids in his school begin to protest against their abusive teachers. The song talks about how he had a personal wall around him from the rest of the world, and the teachers were just another brick in the wall. It rose awareness of abusive, not kind, nasty teachers.

Another example of meaningful music, was "1999", by Prince and the Revolution. 1999 is a song about the Reagan administration and the common use and access of bombs and nuclear weapons in the US. Prince is saying that everyone has a bomb we could die any day, so tonight I'm gonna party.

Most songs in the 80s were about love. Some famous songs were Keep on Loving You, Endless Love, and Tainted Love. Music was how people could express themselves, and their feelings, toward someone, or something. Love seemed to be a big topic people wanted to write and sing about because back then, but society was a little conservative and harsh towards love.

Advertising in the 1980s

By Maggie Hale and Aly Skoczylas

Lots of ads from the 80s were still a bit demeaning for women. For example the “wifesaver” oven promoted the idea that cooking is the only a woman can handle.

There were also lots of ads, mainly Nintendo, that were selling video games and other sorts of electronics. These games were very popular for kids in the 80s. Gameboy, made by Nintendo, is a gaming system that every kid wanted. Advertisements were targeted towards children when played on TV.

Apple was a very famous company back in the 80s, and it still very important today. While they are nothing compared to the technology we have today, the advancements made by Apple in the 80s were crucial to making the discoveries we did in the future.

Advertisements included music, for example some coca cola ads, which helped to increase the appeal of the product. In one specific ad, it shows a families having fun at a soccer game, with happy music in the background.

Introduced in 1982 as Budweiser Light, Bud Light aired 30-second commercials featuring Rob and Laura from the CBS series The Dick Van Dyke Show. Coors mainly focused on getting the men’s attention, in one commercial for example, it shows how after a hard day of work you can have a beer, and have it taste so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n-qie51FVA

Some of the ads targeted at teens, sold things like cigarettes. Cigarettes were big in the 80s because lots of the ads used to sell cigarettes were made to make it seem cool and popular. One of the techniques used by tobacco companies to sell cigarettes was to have people’s favorite stars smoke in the ads. In addition to this, the cigarette ads were designed to make people believe that they needed the product. This was a strategy used by many companies to sell a variety of different things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD6j_7bgrtA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53N7dJ1QDPM

Television in the 1980s

By James Trachuk

The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Alf, The A-Team, Growing Pains

The 1980’s was when many TV shows experienced great change.For example, we had more diverse and more “realistic” shows. As opposed to earlier TV shows, based on a white family with an at-home wife and a working husband, these TV shows are more modernized featuring more serious themes such as race, obesity, and drugs. We also got some shows that were much less realistic and more ridiculous, such as Alf. Then, there were action shows, which weren’t a new idea, but were popular nonetheless, such as The A-Team.

Growing Pains revolves around Dr. Jason Seaver, a psychiatrist who moves his practice into his home in Long Island, New York, to allow his wife to resume her career. This show deals with many issues such as drugs, alcohol, peer pressure, and suicide, which (as stated before) haven’t been usually discussed in TV shows from earlier years.

The Cosby Show is about the Huxtable Family. Heathcliff and Clair Huxtable are a black married couple, and the show is based on them raising their children. Since not many shows at the time had black main characters, this could have contributed a lot to the shows popularity.

Roseanne is a show about what is supposed to be the average working class american family. This show was a big change from previous shows from the past, as 2 of the main characters were overweight. This change probably contributed to the popularity.

Alf was a Sci-Fi Sitcom about an alien who crashes into an american family’s garage and lives with them. This was very popular in the 80’s, which is surprising, as the main character, Alf, is quite creepy, but it is most likely due to the fact that the plot of the show was very new and creative at the time.

A group of ex-special forces on the lam from the military police (even though they didn't really commit the crime for which they had been accused of) . The show follows them trying to clear their names. No surprise as to why it was popular, as many action shows were at this time.