T W E N T I E T H - C E N T U R Y A M E R I C A N C U L T U R E T W E N T I E T H - C E N T U R Y A M E R I C A N C U L T U R E A Series Editor: Martin Halliwell American Culture m This series provides accessible but challenging studies of American culture in the twentieth century. Each title covers a specific decade and offers a clear overview of its dominant cultural forms and e influential texts, discussing their historical impact and cultural legacy. Collectively the series ir in the 1980s reframes the notion of ‘decade studies’ through the prism of cultural production and rethinks the c ways in which decades are usually periodised. Broad contextual approaches to the particular a decade are combined with textual case studies, focusing on themes of modernity, commerce, n freedom, power, resistance, community, race, class, gender, sexuality, internationalism, war, C technology and popular culture. u l t American Culture in the 1980s u r e Graham Thompson i n ‘A fresh angle on cultural works recent enough to exist in the collective memory, but also now distant enough to warrant analytical consideration t within a discrete historical framework’ h Paul Giles, Professor of American Literature, University of Oxford e 1 This book looks beyond the common label of ‘Ronald Reagan’s America’ to chart the complex 9 intersection of cultures in the 1980s. In doing so it provides an insightful account of the major 8 cultural forms of 1980s America – literature and drama; film and television; music and performance; 0 art and photography – and influential texts and trends of the decade: from White Noise to Wall s Street, from Silicon Valley to MTV, and from Madonna to Cindy Sherman. A focused chapter considers the changing dynamics of American culture in an increasingly globalised marketplace. G r Key Features: a h • Focused case studies featuring key texts, genres, writers, artists and cultural trends a m • Chronology of 1980s American culture • Bibliographies for each chapter T • h Ten black-and-white illustrations o m Graham Thompson is Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Nottingham. He p is author of The Business of America: The Cultural Production of a Post-War Nation (2004) and Male s o Sexuality under Surveillance: The Office in American Literature (2003). n ISBN 978 0 7486 1910 8 E Cover image: Top Gun (1986), Tony Scott, Director. d Paramount/The Kobal Collection i n Cover design: Cathy Sprent b Edinburgh University Press u 22 George Square r Edinburgh EH8 9LF g Graham Thompson h www.eup.ed.ac.uk American Culture in the 1980s Twentieth-Century American Culture Series editor: Martin Halliwell, University of Leicester. This series provides accessible but challenging studies of American culture in the twentieth century. Each title covers a specific decade and offers a clear overview of its dominant cultural forms and influential texts, discussing their historical impact and cultural legacy. Collectively the series reframes the notion of ‘decade studies’ through the prism of cultural production and rethinks the ways in which decades are usually periodized. Broad contextual approaches to the particular decade are combined with focused case studies, dealing with themes of modernity, commerce, freedom, power, resistance, community, race, class, gender, sexuality, internationalism, technology, war and popular culture. American Culture in the 1910s Mark Whalan American Culture in the 1920s Susan Currell American Culture in the 1930s David Eldridge American Culture in the 1940s Jacqueline Foertsch American Culture in the 1950s Martin Halliwell American Culture in the 1960s Sharon Monteith American Culture in the 1970s Will Kaufman American Culture in the 1980s Graham Thompson American Culture in the 1990s Colin Harrison American Culture in the 1980s Graham Thompson Edinburgh University Press city centre, always © Graham Thompson, 2007 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh Typeset in 11/13 pt Stempel Garamond by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester, and printed and bound in Great Britain by Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, Wilts A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 1909 2 (hardback) ISBN 978 0 7486 1910 8 (paperback) The right of Graham Thompson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published with the support of the Edinburgh University Scholarly Publishing Initiatives Fund. Contents List of Figures vi List of Case Studies vii Acknowledgements viii Chronology of 1980s American Culture ix Introduction: The Intellectual Context 1 1. Fiction and Poetry 37 2. Art and Photography 63 3. Film and Television 89 4. Music and Performance 123 5. American Culture and Globalization 153 Conclusion: The Cultural Legacy of the 1980s 179 Notes 185 Bibliography 197 Index 221 Figures 1.1 In Country(1989) 54 2.1 Basquiat(1996) 69 3.1 Top Gun(1986) 95 3.2 Back to the Future(1985) 105 3.3 Blue Velvet(1984) 107 3.4 Wall Street(1987) 109 3.5 J. R. Ewing of Dallas 116 3.6 The cast of Hill Street Blues(1981–7) 120 4.1 Do the Right Thing(1989) 126 4.2 Michael Jackson in the ‘Thriller’ video (1983) 128 4.3 Desperately Seeking Susan(1985) 132 5.1 The Vietnam Veterans Memorial 174 Case Studies Introduction Televangelism 16 Silicon Valley 27 The Closing of the American Mind(1987) 34 1.Fiction and Poetry White Noise(1985) 46 In Country(1985) 52 Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza(1987) 59 2.Art and Photography Jean-Michel Basquiat 67 Jeff Koons 71 Cindy Sherman 81 3.Film and Television Top Gun(1986) 93 Wall Street(1987) 107 Hill Street Blues(1981–7) 117 4.Music and Performance Madonna 129 Public Enemy 144 Split Britches Company 150 5.American Culture and Globalization CNN 158 Disneyland Resort Paris 165 The National Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington 171 Acknowledgements I am grateful to several people who have helped in the writing of this book. Martin Halliwell has been a patient and supportive Series Editor, while all the staff at Edinburgh University Press – Nicola Ramsey, James Dale, Esmé Watson and Stuart Midgley – have been impeccably efficient and helpful. Thanks to Sarah MacLachlan for prompting me to re-read In Country, to Paul Grainge and Julian Stringer for their help with film matters, and to Celeste-Marie Bernier for her advice on art. I am grateful to Paul Giles for his initial comments on the book proposal and to Sharon Monteith for sharing conversations about decades. Thanks also to the University of Nottingham for providing the study leave that enabled the completion of the book. Chronology of 1980s American Culture