Fluent Essays

In this paper, you will be analyzing a particular movie from the 1980s (of your choosing, from the list that follows), based on the question What makes your movie an “Eighties film”? untitled_3.pdf Unformatted Attachment Preview Length: 3 pages, double-spaced, with standard margins and point sizes Description: Many people – including many who don’t even have a first-hand memory of the decade – have positive thoughts about movies from the 1980s. One writer, Hadley Freeman in the book Life Moves Pretty Fast, even argues that popular movies from the 1980s are better than their counterparts from any other decade – especially the current one. She might be a little nostalgic, but it is hard to deny that movies were an important medium in the 1980s. Thanks in part to the popularity of the VCR and video rental stores, movies became a much more common presence in people’s lives than ever before. It’s only natural, then, that we examine the movies of the 1980s in a class devoted to that period. In this paper, you will be analyzing a particular movie from the 1980s (of your choosing, from the list that follows), based on the question What makes your movie an “Eighties film”? You will need to focus on ONE particular approach to this question: 1. Content: How is this movie connected to real world events of the 1980s? Does it address those issues directly or metaphorically? How is the film portraying the events discussed or alluded to in the movie? What exactly are the filmmakers trying to say about those events or trends? 2. Style: To what extent is your movie consistent with filmmaking trends of the 1980s? How does it “feel” different from movies of other recent decades? Think about the choices made by the filmmakers – how are those typical of movies in the 1980s? How are they different? (Avoid focusing on special effects; this kind of difference is too obvious.) Does your movie represent the blockbuster style or the new “independent film” trend? Why? 3. Values: How does your movie appeal to the concerns, hopes, and fears of an Eighties audience? How does it represent an important “mood” or “attitude” of the Eighties? What does it tell us about the values of the audience that the movie is clearly aimed at? Remember, you will need to focus your paper on ONE of the approaches above. This will allow you to develop your argument with depth and detail. For example, if I was writing this paper about The Breakfast Club, I could use any one of the approaches, but I wouldn’t want to use all of them in one paper. For “Content,” I could write about the attitude towards drugs that is displayed in the film. For “Style,” I could write an essay addressing how The Breakfast Club compares to the rest of the teen movie genre. Or, how it works as a repudiation of the blockbuster style. For “Values,” I might want to examine how the movie depicts parents and adults, and how this runs counter to the feeling of optimism that people associate with the 1980s. (Because I am using it as an example here, YOU CANNOT WRITE YOUR PAPER ABOUT THE BREAKFAST CLUB.) One key to thinking about this assignment is to remember that it’s perfectly okay to write about a specific aspect of the movie you have chosen. Don’t feel like you need to address every aspect of the movie. I want to see your analysis of a specific idea rather than an attempt at a comprehensive examination of the movie. You won’t be able to do it in three pages, so you would be better off focusing on something specific. The questions listed in each approach are meant as a guide for thinking, not a structure for your paper. Don’t try to answer all of them. Your paper is not going to be very focused if it’s just a laundry list of answers. Develop your analysis into a focused discussion that delves into the significance of the ideas you address in your paper. (You might find that your movie doesn’t address any of the areas described above. If that’s the case, you can develop an argument about how your movie, despite being released in the 1980s, is not really an “Eighties film.” Explaining why this is the case might be a more difficult option, though.) Make sure that your paper has some specific references to the movie, but do NOT spend more than a short paragraph providing a summary. Your focus in the paper needs to be your analysis and insights. If you need an outside source for background, make sure that you cite it and include it in a bibliography. Remember, though, that the paper is not a report about the movie, or a review. It’s your analysis of how your movie can be considered an “Eighties film.” F 1980s Movie List (Notes: If the movie has been remade, you obviously need to watch the 80s version. Also, some of these movies are rated “R” for nudity, sex, adult language, drug use, and violence; if these things concern you, do some research into the content of the movie before selecting it. In addition, be aware that some of these movies include racist, sexist, and homophobic imagery and dialogue that we in 2020 look at differently than audiences did in the 1980s. Finally, you may NOT write about Pretty In Pink, The Breakfast Club, Back to the Future, or They Live. Papers about any of these movies will be penalized. There are plenty of other 80s movies to write about; try to avoid clichés by being original with your choice.) White Nights School Daze Working Girl After Hours Adventures in Babysitting Beverly Hills Cop Top Gun Dirty Dancing Airplane! Field of Dreams The Abyss Rocky IV Batman Sixteen Candles Wall Street Baby Boom Gleaming the Cube Who Framed Roger Rabbit American Werewolf in London Some Kind of Wonderful Aliens Alien Nation Coming to America Altered States Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Raising Arizona Blood Simple Big Body Heat Bull Durham Blade Runner Cocktail Brazil Broadcast News Desperately Seeking Susan Born on the Fourth of July The Color of Money The Color Purple Continental Divide Weird Science Dead Ringers The Fly Star Trek: Wrath of Khan Iceman Running Scared The Untouchables River’s Edge Say Anything The Right Stuff Repo Man Running on Empty Raging Bull The Princess Bride Raiders of the Lost Ark Risky Business Purple Rain Rambo: First Blood, Part II Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure Fatal Attraction Poltergeist Peggy Sue Got Married Platoon Police Academy Witness The Terminator When Harry Met Sally Scarface The Shining Something Wild sex, lies, and videotape Stand By Me This is Spinal Tap Stripes Three Men and a Baby Revenge of the Nerds Driving Miss Daisy Under Fire Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home To Live and Die in L.A. Real Genius Better Off Dead Spies Like Us Trading Places Urban Cowboy Die Hard Flashdance She’s Gotta Have It ET Stripes Escape from New York Footloose 48 Hours Friday the 13th Full Metal Jacket Fast Times at Ridgemont High Good Morning, Vietnam Ghostbuster s Gremlins Last Temptation of Christ Crimes and Misdemeanors Romancing the Stone Return of the Jedi Blue Velvet The Goonies Beetlejuice Cocoon Red Dawn Tron Valley Girl Diner Moscow on the Hudson Heartbreak Ridge Hannah and Her Sisters First Blood Innerspace The Last Starfighter Enemy Mine Labyrinth The Karate Kid American Gigolo House of Games La Bamba Lethal Weapon The Verdict Mr. Mom Missing in Action The Natural Nightmare on Elm Street No Way Out Near Dark Officer and a Gentleman Henry: . . . Serial Killer Child’s Play Funny Farm National Lampoon’s Vacation Miracle Mile Parenthood Pale Rider Videodrome Scanners The Howling Fright Night Hellraiser The Naked Gun The Evil Dead The Running Man Rain Man Robocop Adv. of Buckaroo Banzai About Last Night The Road Warrior The Killing Fields The Sure Thing The Quiet Earth Roxanne Predator Romancing the Stone Moonstruck Tootsie Just One of the Guys Mystic Pizza Arthur Uncommon Valor Midnight Run Casualties of War Silverado Splash A Fish Called Wanda Akira Heathers An American Tail Do the Right Thing The Thing Country Can’t Buy Me Love Young Guns Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adv. The Big Chill Night of the Comet The Lost Boys ... Purchase answer to see full attachment