Movies and the Reagan Presidency: Success and Ethics

(Hardback)

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The 1980s were unique in both American history and the history of American cinema. It was a time when a United States presidenta former B-movie actor and Cold War industry activistserved as a catalyst for the coalescence of trends in Hollywood's political structure, mode of production, and film content. Ronald Reagan championed a success ethos that recognized economic and moral self-governance as the basis of a democratic society. His agenda of tax reform and industry deregulation simultaneously promoted the absorption of Hollywood's major studios into tightly diversified media conglomerates, and concentrations of ownership promoted the production and release of movies with maximum revenue potential. Indeed, the most commercially successful movies of the decade put forth the ideologies of WASP America, nuclear family self-sufficiency, and conspicuous consumption. Three genres in particularthe biracial buddy movie, the MTV music-video movie, and the yuppie movieprovide case studies of how Reagan-era cinema addressed issues of race, gender, and class in ways very much in tune with Reaganomics and the President's cultural policies. Author Chris Jordan provides a complete overview of both the influence of Reagan's presidency on the film industry and on the films themselves. Exploring 80s genres and movies with both a sociocultural and aesthetic eye, this book will be invaluable to historians, cinema scholars, and film buffs.

Reviews

"Congratulations to Chris Jordan for this much-welcomed text on the vision of American success in Reagan-era movies--one based in a moral and economic conservative agenda and wrapped into films featuring patriarchal family values, interracial buddydom, closely watched borders, vigilance against international terrorism, and yuppie consumerism. These always insightful and multifaceted readings do much to help us understand the complex interplay between popular culture and politics in an era."-Jane Caputi Professor of Women's Studies, Florida Atlantic University
Examines how Reaganomics influenced the film industry and how conservative ideology was reflected in filmmaking.-The Chronicle of Higher Education
"Examines how Reaganomics influenced the film industry and how conservative ideology was reflected in filmmaking."-The Chronicle of Higher Education

Author Bio

CHRIS JORDAN is Assistant Professor of Communication at the Pennsylvania State University. He has published articles in journals including The Journal of Popular Film and Television and collections including The St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture and The Encyclopedia of Documentary Film.