Trashy Films of the 1980's
An Introductory Glance at an Oft-Misunderstood and Highly Under-acclaimed Era in American Cinema
Steve Levin, MBA2
Issue date: 1/24/05 Section: Features
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Cinema in the early 1980s picked up right where the 1970s left off. Sure, the fros may have been a bit tamer in 1981 than they were in 1977... and polyester may not have glistened with such lustrous abandon. Nevertheless, there were certain themes, mores, and social conventions that refused to give way to ever increasing moral scrutiny. Sex, nudity, slapstick comedy and the like proliferated in the pre-AIDS 1980s cinema in ways that can only be described as "awesome - totally awesome!"
In this series of articles, it is my goal to lead you through an era in cinema that holds a special place in my heart. Though you may initially want to jump straight into the films of the 1980's, I think it wise to first gain our footing. For example, how can you watch Revenge of the Nerds without first watching Animal House? I hope that by watching the two movies together, you can see how a filmmaker - or should I say auteur - in the 1980's modeled his craft on the groundbreaking work that swept through Hollywood during the late 1970's. Similarly, how could you watch all these fabulous 1980's movies without screening perhaps the best high school sex comedy of all times - American Pie.
A quick note on the list of films - I have made a concerted effort to select movies that border on obscurity. For example, many of you have seen Top Secret. But have you seen The Kentucky Fried Movie? This movie, the first from Zucker, Abrams and Zucker (Airplane, Top Secret, The Naked Gun) may be a bit rough around the edges, but I think it will help contextualize your viewing of Airplane, the trio's most highly esteemed masterpiece.
Here's a preview of things to come:
"Let the initiation begin" - The Raunchy Fraternity Flicks
Animal House
Revenge of the Nerds
What is a fraternity, you ask? After watching these two movies, you will have a pretty good idea about what some - not all, but some - fraternities are actually like. Animal House was a truly revolutionary movie. While the movie may seem tame by today's standards, when it came out, no film had ever been so outrageously irreverent. The movie had a huge impact on the Greek system at American universities. Membership surged after the movie was released.